Yet another review of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon out of a European gaming site has surfaced, this time from Pro-G. In contrast to the first European review posted here, Pro-G's seems to be more in line with the major American sites that have reviewed the game during the last month. While flaws are noted, in the end MK: Armageddon scores a 7/10, which is termed "Distinguished" by this site. Among the reviewers positive notes were the large selection of combatants and the Kreate-a-Fighter system:

Speaking of other features, as Vanessa Williams would say, I've saved the best for last (I hope for your sake that you don't get that reference): Kreate-a-fighter. Ever wanted to see Lara Croft in the ring? Or maybe see how well the Terminator would fair against Kahn? Kreate-a-fighter lets you create just about any fighter you can imagine, tweak their aesthetic features, give them their own set of moves, and even write a short bio to complete the full package. Better yet, the sheer amount of outfit options, provided you have the koins to purchase them, is enough to wet any fan's creative appetite. It is worth noting, though, that your creative juices are limited to one fighter per-profile, so unless you want to create multiple profiles and load them up each time, one fighter is all you're going to get.

He notes that while the gameplay has been improved with aerial kombat, the large roster negatively impacts the overall balance of the game and uniqueness of each character:

But having that many characters in one game does have its costs. Instead of having two separate fighting styles and one weapon style like in Deception, most characters are now limited to two in total, with most of the boss characters only having one style to rely on. Granted, it would have been a nightmare for Midway to animate and code that many fighting styles, but it is nevertheless a disappointment. And in case you were wondering, yes, every boss character from Shao Kahn to Motaro has seen a serious downgrade in terms of sheer power, so choosing one of the less intimidating characters over a behemoth like Kintaro will have little-to-no bearing on the amount of damage caused during the fight.

This review also covers Konquest mode and Motor Kombat, but seems to skip over the online playability of the game. Regardless of that, this review is rather lengthy and covers quite a bit of things in much detail. To read the remainder of Pro-G's review, click here.

Thanks to MK Online reader James for sending in this lead!

One of the largest European gaming sites, Eurogamer, has posted their review for the recently released PAL region version of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. In terms of reviews from well known sites, this is the poorest rating the game has received as of yet. In the end, MK Armageddon was rewarded with a 5/10. Numerous issues were cited by the reviewer, including the lack of change from the previous two games and similar looking characters and moves.

Armageddon welcomes back every character ever to have graced the series but with a roster sixty characters strong, don't expect any kind of real balancing. While fans of the series may struggle not to drown in their own drool over this massive cast, anyone even marginally less fanatical won't recognise at least half of them. Much of this number is made up by the huge number of clone characters that were nothing more than cheap additions to the digitised versions and while there's obviously been some attempt to differentiate between them, the fact that so many characters look and play alike is still very much in your face. Some of the bigger characters and bosses have been toned down to be made playable too, so where Motaro was once a giant centaur, he's now lost a couple of feet for his bipedal and far less imposing look in Armageddon.

Strangely, unlike the other major sites Eurogamer mentions the Kreate-a-Fatality system in a positive light, stating it is arguably one of the game's strongest points:

One of the strangest choices with this final MK of the generation is to do away with traditional character-specific fatalities and replace them with the universal Kreate-A-Fatality mode. Once the trademark 'Finish Him!' booms forth, you're now able to string together any number of minor punishments into one huge string of hurt. Much of the lure of each new Mortal Kombat title is going through the characters and seeing what gruesome new ways those bloody-minded chaps at Midway have come up with for putting a full stop at the end of a fight, so to do away with this is really pretty brave. The move pays off though, and while there's only so many times you can enjoy Liu Kang setting someone on fire or Reptile getting his snack on with the loser's limp body, this freeform system is arguably one of the strongest points in the game's favour.

On one final note, the reviewer mentions online play as hazardous for Europeans. From the quote under the second image on the review page:

Online modes are always welcome but expect to get pummeled by Americans who wrongly think that Armageddon is the best thing to happen to gaming since Master Chief picked up a second gun.

To correct Mr. Albiges on this point, PAL and NTSC games can not play one another in MK: Armageddon's online play modes, so it's pretty obvious that this judgement was made without even bothering to test the mode. Despite this slight anti-American gaming bias, click here to read the rest of Eurogamer's article.

Thanks to forum member for sending in the lead on this review!

Midway Games, developer and publisher of the Mortal Kombat series, has announced their results for the three month period between June 30th, 2006 and September 30th, 2006, commonly referred to as Quarter 3 of the year. From the press release:

Net revenues for the 2006 third quarter were $27.4 million, compared with 2005 third quarter net revenues of $29.5 million. The 2006 third quarter loss applicable to common stock was $22.2 million which includes $1.0 million of stock option expense, or a loss of $0.24 per share, compared with a 2005 third quarter loss applicable to common stock of $29.1 million, or $0.33 per share.

In a rather optimistic view of Quarter 4, Midway mentions the already released MK: Armageddon and the soon to be released MK: Unchained for the Sony PSP.

For the quarter ending December 31, 2006, Midway expects net revenues of approximately $86 million and net income of approximately $2 million. For the fourth quarter, Midway has already released Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and Unreal Anthology for the PC. During the remainder of the quarter, the Company expects to release Happy Feet for multiple platforms; The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Rampage: Total Destruction, and The Ant Bully for the Nintendo Wii; Blitz: The League for the Xbox 360; and Blitz: The League Overtime, Mortal Kombat: Unchained, and Rush for the PlayStation Portable (PSP). For the year ending December 31, 2006, Midway continues to expect net revenues of $155 million, and is revising full year earnings expectations to a net loss of approximately $73 million, compared to our prior guidance of a net loss of approximately $70 million. This is primarily due to decreasing margins on current generation titles. The full year guidance includes approximately $3.5 million of stock option expense.

There was also a Conference Call, which took place earlier today, which can be reviewed as seen below:

Midway Games Inc. is hosting a conference call and simultaneous webcast open to the general public at 4:30 P.M. EST today, Thursday, November 2, 2006. The conference call number is (866) 510–0704 or (617) 597–5362 (international callers). The passcode for the call is 82744623. Please call ten minutes in advance to ensure that you are connected prior to the presentation. Interested parties may also access the live call on the Internet at www.investor.midway.com or at www.earnings.com. Please log–on fifteen minutes in advance to ensure that you are connected prior to the call's initiation. Following its completion, a replay of the call can be accessed until November 9th by dialing (888) 286–8010 or (617) 801–6888 (international callers). The passcode for the replay is 79391706. Additionally, a replay of the call will be available for twelve months on the Internet via www.investor.midway.com.

To view the press release in full on Midway's site, click here.

Thanks to forum member for notifying us of these results.

GameSpot has offered up yet another MK related tournment, this time an online play Mortal Kombat: Armageddon tournament! This time, the game itself takes the stage as the gaming site announces the Fatal Face-Off MK: Armageddon XBox tournament! From the article:

In FATAL FACE-OFF, sixty four players will have the chance to compete for the top prize and bragging rights as the best Mortal Kombat fighter on GameSpot. Every match will pit two players against each other in a fatal do-or-die fight, so step into the arena and get ready for the most lethal fighting experience ever!

And this time around, we'll broadcast a special episode of GameSpot Tournament TV! It'll kick off with a fight between our Fatal Face-Off winner and a special Mortal Kombat guest, followed by a Motor Kombat race against our editors, and more! You'll get to see your favorite GameSpot editors and special guests provide commentary on the action, as well as interviews with some of the top fighters.

The prizes are as follows:

1st Place - The 1st place winner will receive a gift certificate from Best Buy worth $400. BONUS: If you win the Tournament TV Exclusive Bonus Match versus our special Mortal Kombat guest player, you will receive an additional $200 Best Buy gift certificate!

2nd Place - The 2nd place player will receive a gift certificate from Best Buy worth $200.

3rd Place - The two 3rd place player will receive a gift certificate from Best Buy worth $100.

Registration for this contest begins tomorrow, November 1st, 2006 and all residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) are eligible to participate. Keep in mind, this contest is for XBox players only. To view the registration page and countdown, click here.

Thanks to forum member for pointing us in the direction of this tournament!

Just in time for Halloween, Cinder from the official Midway Boards has posted a wallpaper featuring images from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon! In this large size wallpaper, the haunting skulls seen on the official MK: Armageddon site and in the intro portions of the game itself are prominently featured. The MK: Armageddon game information appears in the lower right hand corner.

To view this Halloween wallpaper in its original location, click here.

Thanks to forum member for the lead on this image!