The video Story Mode Review
Any of you remember that review I talked about? Well, it's finally finished.

It's finally finished

(I don't know how to embed links)

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2UjnAJrNA&feature;=channel_video_title

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD0prf0wXCs&feature;=channel_video_title

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Unl1he0B5c&feature;=channel_video_title

Let me know what you think and yes, I had to get used to my own voice too.
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totheark
08/19/2011 10:13 PM (UTC)
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keyara412
08/19/2011 10:15 PM (UTC)
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EDIT: NVRMND...totheark did it wink
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totheark
08/19/2011 10:38 PM (UTC)
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Great review dude!

One of your main points throughout the whole review was the fact that NRS made reasons to promote actions in the story mode. Instead of finding a flowing and reasonable way for some events to occur, they just shove a scene in the story which makes little to no sense; all just to try and attempt to make there new additions to the timeline fit in.

Like the part where you discussed Cyber Subzero and the Sindel Onslaught scenes, they tainted the story just so those certain events could happen. I'm all for new ways to tell a timeline and if it means altering certain events or characters that's fine, but just don't jot down an unnecessary and ridiculously stupid scene just for it to make sense. Take the time to really make it flow; that or fire your storywriters.
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FROST4584
08/19/2011 10:51 PM (UTC)
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I just got finished watching the first part of the review. I have to say, you hit the nail on the head. What were they thinking when they created this story mode? Generally speaking, there were many things wrong in terms of character origins, characterization, or more. They could have made the characters more realistic in terms of seriousness.

The only thing I really dis agree with you about MK 2011 is the gameplay.
Overall I didn't like it. It has too many special moves, I am not a fan of X-rays, also most of all the game itself would have been 100% better with a NEW fighting engine with some old elements. Don't get me wrong, I loved 2-D MKs, but like MK1- MK4 that gameplay is getting tiresome. I felt like I was playing a modded MK2 or MK3 series game. It’s like MK Armageddon, feels like a old fighting engine that was introduced years ago.

At this point, with MK2011’s gameplay engine and the "New" storyline. I've lost all my interest in the series. Everything about 2011 is just a rehash for the sake of nostalgia again for the 3rd time. The MK team hasn’t done anything original since 2002’s Deadly Alliance. Since Deception to present, every MK game has had more than half its game based on nostalgia or a mod of old gameplay. I am just tired of waiting for a real sequel to Mortal Kombat. I wanted a game that has much new as possible, this holds true both gameplay , storyline and characters.

I don’t even consider myself a MK fan anymore. Great Video Review!!! 5 stars

In general, MK shouldn’t have guest characters.
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KuaiLiang
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About Me

PSN: manu_erizo
08/19/2011 10:57 PM (UTC)
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Wow. These were great.

The only, little thing that bugged me a little was the sound editing, some voice clips sounded too loud while some were too low, so I had to constantly turn the volume up or down.

But you made a great analysis, I agreed with pretty much everything, even though I liked the story, some things were obviosly bad writing, and you did a great job pointing them.

Kudos for you good sir.
Yes, I apologize for that. Technical errors during recording. Tried to fix that best I could.
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stinky_thc_cloud
08/19/2011 11:19 PM (UTC)
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The noooo god noooooo Part made me lol so hard, really well placed. And of course "the character death they got right .... WTF?!"

Some of the audio is off but other than that well done. I never even thought about raiden not healing kitana, what a goof!
*Watches part 3*
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Espio872
08/19/2011 11:27 PM (UTC)
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It's quite clear you put a lot of time and effort into this review and overall, it was executed fairly well, some audio issues aside.

The one point I disagree on is the sparing of Sonya and Johnny Cage, they're not any less important than the rest of the roster, they weren't even portrayed as the weakest of the warriors for that matter, not to mention they've been building Johnny Cage up in this game to be much greater than we originally thought, though I'm sure he'll keep his comedy relief, it shows in his Arcade ending and his bio, as for Sonya, I presume they also wanted a more serious character to balance out Johnny Cage's humor for the next game, plus she will probably be leading the military in the onslaught against Shinnok, she's also one of the more caring and emotional characters and the most team oriented, I think her personality is going to really shine through in liberating their lost allies, but it's a minor detail and simply my opnion.


Excellent review overall and I think you covered the pitfalls, retcons, and other issues with superb detail and the review was actually easy to get through despite its length, there was a decent ammount of humor and nods to the old canon.

Good work.
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superbn0va
08/19/2011 11:42 PM (UTC)
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Excellent review!!

i enjoyed this 30 minutes review more than MK9 160 minutes story mode.
you should tweet boon/NRS a link to your reviews, so they can learn some...
superbn0va Wrote:
Excellent review!!

i enjoyed this 30 minutes review more than MK9 160 minutes story mode.
you should tweet boon/NRS a link to your reviews, so they can learn some...


I did tweet it to Ed Boon.. whether or not he sees it, who knows?
ProudNintendofan Wrote:
superbn0va Wrote:
Excellent review!!

i enjoyed this 30 minutes review more than MK9 160 minutes story mode.
you should tweet boon/NRS a link to your reviews, so they can learn some...


I did tweet it to Ed Boon.. whether or not he sees it, who knows?


You should've tweeted it to Vogel. wink
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Kramer
08/20/2011 12:49 AM (UTC)
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At work right now so I cant watch the vids. Interested to watch them though and will let you know what I reckonglasses
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daryui
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About Me
08/20/2011 01:14 AM (UTC)
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About the Lin Kuei finding them, I'm sure Sektor detected CSZ with them..
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CyberDemon13
08/20/2011 01:40 AM (UTC)
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Wow... you're totally right. It's sad, but true. NRS really ignored the established continuity and it really pisses me off (Quan Chi's tats, "pure" souls allowed in the Netherrealm, etc.). And yes! Why turn Sub Zero into a cyborg?! At first I didn't mind (I even stated so in the Cyber Sub thread); but now looking at it, it was just SO unnecessary! Why couldn't Smoke AND Sub Zero escape? Okay, whatever... I see Smoke's going to be his replacem-WTF, you killed him! Okay so Sub's still going to be a main, albeit changed, charac-oh come on! Also, I really liked Quan Chi in this game, but he was shoved down our throats; he basically rendered Shang Tsung utterly useless and made Shao Kahn look like a bumbling idiot. All told, he was given much more credit than he actually deserved, in the "new" timeline that is. Don't even get me started on Raiden's incompetence. And, finally, why did they have to kill EVERYONE in that Sindel scene? They could have had a few of them die to, you know, "thin the herd," but everyone didn't have to die. I could have seen Jade, Sub Zero, Smoke and Stryker survive, in addition to JC and Sonya (the rest I think are "justifiable losses"). I'm fine with Kitana and Liu Kang dying: Kitana by Sindel, while the others are unconscious; and Liu Kang after challenging Raiden, (correctly) believing it to be his fault. The Nightwolf death was just perfect. The only good I can see coming out of killing all the "main" good guys is making room for people like Kai and Kenshi. Okay, last thing, Raiden's fight with Shao Kahn should have gone like this: he asks for the assistance of the Elder Gods, he is seemingly ignored, Johnny and Sonya are knocked unconscious, Raiden makes a last ditch effort to fight him off, you fight him, then comes the cutscene where Raiden is tossed around, THEN comes the cutscene where the Elder Gods blast Shao Kahn with... dragons(...), then he explodes, the end. So in the end, the good survivors would be Raiden, Johnny Cage, Sonya, Smoke, Sub Zero, Jade, and Stryker. I think losing the likes of Liu Kang, Kitana, Kung Lao, Jax, Kabal, and Nightwolf (to Quan Chi) are more than enough. Literally, more. Ugh.

Sorry for the poor paragraph structure, I don't feel like fixing it. grin

Anyway, good points, nice review, and I agree 100%. smile
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Espio872
08/20/2011 01:47 AM (UTC)
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daryui Wrote:
About the Lin Kuei finding them, I'm sure Sektor detected CSZ with them..


Good observation, I forgot to mention that, but it's the thing that makes sense. In story mode, Sektor even knew that something was off with his neural network, saying it had been recalibrated or something to that effect, which is why he wanted to talk to Sub-zero and confront him in Subbie's chapter.
Espio872 Wrote:
daryui Wrote:
About the Lin Kuei finding them, I'm sure Sektor detected CSZ with them..


Good observation, I forgot to mention that, but it's the thing makes sense. In story mode, Sektor even knew that something was off with his neural network had been recalibrated or something to that effect, which is why he wanted to take deal with Sub-zero and confront him in Subbie's chapter.


I suppose so, but they don't say that's the reason. A simple: "We detected you by him "points at Sub-Zero" would've sufficed.
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daryui
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About Me
08/20/2011 01:50 AM (UTC)
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ProudNintendofan Wrote:
Espio872 Wrote:
daryui Wrote:
About the Lin Kuei finding them, I'm sure Sektor detected CSZ with them..


Good observation, I forgot to mention that, but it's the thing makes sense. In story mode, Sektor even knew that something was off with his neural network had been recalibrated or something to that effect, which is why he wanted to take deal with Sub-zero and confront him in Subbie's chapter.


I suppose so, but they don't say that's the reason. A simple: "We detected you by him "points at Sub-Zero" would've sufficed.


I'll just think of it as offscreen storytelling...
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RazorsEdge701
08/20/2011 08:03 AM (UTC)
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Espio872 Wrote:
The one point I disagree on is the sparing of Sonya and Johnny Cage, they're not any less important than the rest of the roster, they weren't even portrayed as the weakest of the warriors for that matter


They both charged at a villain Liu Kang can defeat, intending to double-team him, and were swatted away like flies.

If Johnny's arcade ending does come true and he suddenly goes super-saiyan for no reason to power him up for the next game, it'll be kinda funny that the only way they could think of to make Johnny a belieavble main hero was to kill off EVERYONE else so that no one more powerful could hog the spotlight.

Anyway, my thoughts on the review...the editing could be a lot smoother, to be honest. The cuts were choppy at parts and the audio levels need quite a bit of evening out, particularly when it would cut to a scene so you could hear the dialogue but the game's voices were so low you couldn't hear them. But I'm happy to finally have a video out there that expresses our concerns.

I get the impression that outside of our little community, every other gamer in the world is happy with MK9's story mode because they're just impressed to see a fighting game HAVE a story mode at all, and they don't take the MK franchise seriously, so their lowered expectations have led them not to view it with a critical eye and see that there are so many plotholes and poorly executed ideas, or to see them but let them go because they expected that and don't care.
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Espio872
08/20/2011 08:49 AM (UTC)
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RazorsEdge701 Wrote:
Espio872 Wrote:
The one point I disagree on is the sparing of Sonya and Johnny Cage, they're not any less important than the rest of the roster, they weren't even portrayed as the weakest of the warriors for that matter


They both charged at a villain Liu Kang can defeat, intending to double-team him, and were swatted away like flies.

If Johnny's arcade ending does come true and he suddenly goes super-saiyan for no reason to power him up for the next game, it'll be kinda funny that the only way they could think of to make Johnny a belieavble main hero was to kill off EVERYONE else so that no one more powerful could hog the spotlight.


Sure, Liu Kang's the strongest and went toe to toe with Shao Kahn, but I suspect Stryker, Jade, Kabal, Jax, Kitana,Smoke etc wouldn't have faired any better than those two, all I'm saying is they aren't the weakest and most unimportant(I think every single hero is on fairly equal footing), it's not really established who the weakest is among the heroes anyway, the only confirmed power dynamic is Liu Kang being the strongest, but I digress.

In regards to your last paragraph, I agree it is a bit silly that they would kill off everyone before they give him the spotlight, everyone could have lived and they could still give Johnny his moments, I dunno but that tends to be how they do things, like with Deception, all the main heroes were dead and then they brought a whole bunch of old characters back into the spotlight, who we hadn't seen in 2 games and gave them their shine, I don't personally think they should make it necessary to kill somebody before a character shows up or gets a bigger role, but meh....

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RazorsEdge701
08/20/2011 09:09 AM (UTC)
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Espio872 Wrote:
it's not really established who the weakest is among the heroes anyway


No offense to you as a Stryker fan, but one of the heroes has no superpowers so yeah, it is.
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TheGecko
08/20/2011 10:31 AM (UTC)
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guys guys i think your forgetting that stryker took out reptile, mileena, kintaro and mutha fuckin ermac yo
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RazorsEdge701
08/20/2011 10:46 AM (UTC)
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The Brooklyn Brawler once beat Triple H while he was World Champ. Batman has wins over Superman. Sometimes writers allow characters to win solely because it's the only way they can think of for the plot they're trying to tell to move forward, even though it should be impossible. The technical term for it is "jobbing".
One of the many downsides of the Chapter system in MK9 is that they were forced to give Stryker 4 fights in a row, with increasingly more and more powerful enemies, when he really shouldn't be fighting a guy like Kintaro or Ermac at all.
In fact, one of the problems of Story Mode is that MK has told us both in Deception and in this game how Ermac is one of the most powerful characters, but because he's a bad guy, and you only play as the good guys, that means he HAS to lose every single time he fights in the game.
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