So my dear friend Paul Walker, who is currently serving in Afghanistan, sent me an amazing graduation gift. I opened the packages and out fell Dragon Ball Z seasons 4-6, Portal 2, and Mortal Kombat! So special shout-out to Paul. I really hope my future husband asks Paul for gift advice before buying me anything.
I’ve started playing MK, and here are my thoughts so far:
Graphics
These graphics suck! Horribly! Armageddon for PS2 looked better!
All of the females have these amazingly unreal bodies (which we’ve come to expect from MK) but then ugly faces and terrible hair!
The men are big, bulky, square-faced, flat-nosed creatures. Where is the eye candy I so desire? There is none to be found here.
I have the old SNES MK and I took another look at it and, yes, characters look better on MK 2 than on this new Mortal Kombat.
I just can’t understand why the graphics are so bad on PS3. To me, this is unacceptable. It is a simple game. All they had to do was make people. It’s not like they had to make an RPG or something!
Now, to be fair, this probably is only a problem in story mode, since you can’t really see any character’s face that well in an actual fight.
WTH?!
Controls
So far, I am having a little trouble getting the rhythm of the tag team combos. I can’t figure out if I’m just doing them too fast or what…any advice on that would be appreciated.
Other than that, all our longtime favorites are back, and they now have a Fatality tutorial section so everyone can get a chance to Finish Him/Her!
They also have a new (and in my opinion, strange) special move bar that starts with the ability to add a little kick to a normal special move, then progresses to a combo breaker, and then finally into an x-ray-destroyer-mode move (my own personal name for it).
So far, I haven’t found any but the first very useful, but I’ve just started and this may change as I get further into the game.
Story
So far, it appears that everything else that happened in MK world was just a vision that Raiden was having. >_>
And we now get to start all over, yay!
I’ve gotten to the highly-predictable part where Johnny Cage gets too frisky with Sonya and they get into a fight. Then my ride came and I had to go, so more on this when I finish story mode.
IMO
So far, I’m not impressed, but I am staying open-minded because there is a LOT I haven’t checked out yet, such as online, challenge tower, versus, etc.
In the meantime, please check out this great and very thorough review from my friend Hannah.
In your face!
Nerdy But Flirty 
I sorta have to disagree with you on the graphics. I’m playing on a 40 something inch HD screen hooked up with the right cables and the game looks great. You also have to take into consideration how dynamic this fighter is compared to others. Each level uses some sort of unique physics processing for unique stage characteristics and finishes. The 2D fighting plane also frees up resources and allows for better detail. Plus the game also renders each characters insides uniquely. I think that might be a first for this genre. But the 360 version might look a little different cuz I know your playin on PS3.
Spend some time with this. The special meter on the bottom is very useful. When you begin to study your character you’ll discover ways to link enhanced specials into your combos and when you get really good you can chain an X-ray at the end. This is what I really love about this game. The fact that each character is unique and you are given the freedom to create custom combos. Pulling off combos can be tricky, you have to know how to press a sequence of buttons in groups and on the right frames. Since your using Dualshock your gonna have a much easier time with this. THE 360 CONTROLLER SUCKS FOR FIGHTERS! I can say this is a fairly balanced fighter.
Have you noticed the sound in this game? The special effects sound soo cool and the classic MK music is back. My biggest gripe is with Shang Tsungs voice acter. Hes supposed to be this big fearsome evil character but his voice doesn’t make him intimidating at all. He sounds like he belongs in an English dub Kung Fu comedy flick. Besides that everything is miniscule.
I think the story mode dialogue can be pretty corny at times but I think its funny. MK is supposed to have comedic elements. I freakin hate Johny Cage but I can’t lie he does have me laughing at times. They even added babalities. and cheat codes for headless fighting and other funny things. Keep messin around with it. I’d like to know what you else you think.
Maybe it is different…. I’m hating on the character designs more than the graphics though I suppose. It’s like fighting with block people!
But yeah I figured I would find “my” character and get more into it after I started specializing. I hate Johnny as well lol but I love babalities so I’ll have to search for that!
And yes, I laughed when he started speaking lol I feel like if Mako was alive they would have tried to get him lol.
I did notice and enjoy the classic music. I also chuckled to notice that they are using the oldschool levels but giving them meaning (why were those monks sitting there? I always asked that lol).
But overall, these are first impressions, and I will be updating with a full review when I’ve explored everything fully!
Thanks for the shout out lol i wish you enjoyed your gift more though. the graphics are pretty bland, and the story isn’t the best, but it’s better than most fighters (I know that’s not saying much). The story will get slightly better as it goes on, though story mode bouts can get annoying. And you can’t do fatalities at all during it, it’s stupid. But I got it for you because I figured you could enjoy the stuff I can’t on there, like the online play and the Klassic Kostumes with the extra fatalities that come with them. Also they bring back the only fatality I liked from that excuse of a fighting game called MK vs DC, see if you can find it lol. But like most fighters, it’s more enjoyable to play it with another person. And if not…you got Portal 2!
Well like I said I just started! I’m sure I will love it, these are just first impressions!
Looking forward to a full review when you’re all finished! I’m not a beat-em-up fan by any stretch, but even I noticed the graphical downgrade this game seems to have.
Thanks!
And yeah, I mean, even if they claim they were trying to make it look like the old ones, they still failed! lol