Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 12th January 2009

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Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Details:

Goto Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Game Page

	Beat 'em Up
	PlayStation 3/Xbox 360
	Midway
	Midway

16+

Out Now

1-4

Many of us will have posed the question to friends of who would win in a fight between Batman and Superman or the Flash versus the Green Lantern? However those good folks at Midway must have pondered one day who would win in a fight between Sub Zero and Captain Marvel and then decided to make a game to find out giving us the gaming public Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

The story of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe sees the two universes collide and begin to rip each other apart after a cataclysmic force merges conquerors from the two universes. One time enemies on both sides must form alliances with each other in order to save all they know and stop their two worlds merging and ultimately being destroyed.

If you’ve ever played any of Midway’s previous Mortal Kombat games then Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will have a very familiar feel to it, that’s not to say it’s a carbon copy of past Mortal Kombat games however, it does have a common flaw that has plagued past games and that is the speed the game runs at. At times it’s fine but a lot of the time it’s too damn slow. Moving your character towards an opponent can be a real chore whilst pulling off moves is often hindered by getting hit before your character can be bothered to perform it. Maybe I’m getting off on the wrong foot here as there are many good points to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

Modes of play in MK vs. DC:U are fairly standard for the beat ‘em up genre. There’s a Story Mode which obviously allows you to play through the games story from either the viewpoint of the DC characters or those from Mortal Kombat games. The standard Mortal Kombat Arcade mode, Kombo Challenge and versus modes are all present as is support for online fights via Xbox Live or PlayStation Network.

As mentioned already fight action is fairly similar to that of previous Mortal Kombat games, each character has a unique set of signature moves and combos for you to learn, and many characters feature the same commands that we have become accustomed to over the years making the game controls easy to get to grips with, however all is not well in that department either. Controls can be fairly sluggish which can be very frustrating when trying to pull off combo’s or special moves.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe does introduce a couple of new features in the franchise in the form of Free Fall Kombat. This new fighting mechanic allows you to battle your opponent in the air as you fall from different levels of the arena and whilst it does feel like a gimmick, it does enable you to inflict huge amounts of damage on your opponent with carefully timed button presses, even if you didn’t implement the initial attack thanks to the games countering system. There’s also a variation on the Free Fall Kombat for arenas that don’t have multiple levels. Instead of falling down several levels you instead smash your opponent through a series of walls timing button presses to each time your opponent impacts a wall will inflict maximum damage.

The other new fighting mechanic making its debut in MK vs. DC Universe is Klose Kombat, this allows you to see progressive damage being inflicted on the characters as fights go on. Ripped clothing, bruises and cuts all become apparent during the course of Kombat and whilst this new mechanic is simply visual and doesn’t affect your characters ability to fight it does look rather good.

Fights are set out in the classic beat’ em up way, with the winner being determined within three rounds. Rounds carry on seamlessly from each other with the defeated player from the previous round getting up and brushing themselves off or whacking the ground before the beginning of the next round, which is a nice touch.

Sadly the challenge on offer in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is somewhat lacking and as a result progression is fairly rapid. You will occasionally come up against a character that your chosen fighter has difficulty getting past but for the most part the game will not really challenge any experienced beat ’em up gamer.

Visually the game serves up a bit of a mix character models and animation are excellent as are the games special effects. Where the game falls down is with the arenas some are pretty good but for the most part they are fairly bland looking and lack any real detail. The games sound is good, voice acting for the most part has been done well and fans of previous Mortal Kombat games will be pleased the developers have stayed faithful to the franchise by including many of the famous Mortal Kombat sound effects.

Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a fairly solid beat ’em up however the game doesn’t really fulfil it potential, due to a somewhat clumsy control system and slow pace of the fights. It’s not the best beat ’em up ever but things could have been worse. Mortal Kombat fans will definitely want to try it out whilst general gamers might want to look else where for a does of beat’ em up action.