The folks over at IGN have previewed MK Shaolin Monks, in addition to posting eight direct feed videos of the game! From the article:

Our gameplay demonstration began with Liu and Kung leaping heroically into an awfully disgusting pit. Turns out we were in Goro's Lair, the second to last boss stage from the original Mortal Kombat – even the piles of skeletons were intact. Before we could get to punching some ogre face, Raiden showed up and spoke briefly about duty, heroism, the plight of Earth, electricity, amperage, etcetera. The basic gist of his little speech was, "Y'all need to be pummeling some bad dudes, so...get it on!" And right about then, the combat began.

Enemies, like in most beat 'em ups, appear in waves. We fought them with normal attacks, power attacks, launching attacks, throws, an attack modifying shift button and a lock-on / block combination button. The basic action included a lot of fluid combos. It was somewhat reminiscent of Soul Calibur in that pressing any buttons in sequence without any real applied skill yielded an appreciable result. It was also super easy to transition in and out of moves and switch from blocking to fighting, unlike other games that play long animation routines and force their users to stupidly sit and wait until the combo is finished.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Also, be sure to check out the 8 videos. Here's a list of what to look for:

• 2-Player Co-op
• 2-player VS.
• Single-player 01
• Single-player 02
• Moonlit fight
• Clearing the caves
• Baraka fight pt. 1
• Baraka fight pt. 2

So definitely check out the videos page here. The videos are free to download in the WMV (Windows Media Video) format for all, or as QuickTime files for IGN Insider members. Thanks once again to MK Online chat/forum member DECEPTION for the word!

Sites like GameSpot and GameTrailers have updated with the latest trailer for Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks! It's being widely referred to as the E3 trailer, but since E3 hasn't started yet, it's more like a Pre-E3 trailer, or as I call it, a PrE3 trailer.

Long-time fans will note that unlike the other intro video which seemed to contradict some elements of the MKII storyline, the details mentioned in this video seem to go hand-in-hand with it. This time, it shows that Shang Tsung hungered for revenge after losing to Liu Kang in the Shaolin tournament. The Shaolin, having control of the tournament restored to them, awarded their champion with a medal. Then the famous battle of Baraka (and his Tarkatan hordes) attacking the Shaolin temple is depicted, and Liu Kang and Kung Lao practice fighting before venturing into Outworld.

Definitely worth a download! Check out:

• MKSM PRE3 Trailer (Quicktime) - 15.6 MB
• MKSM PRE3 Trailer (WMV) - 16.3 MB

Thanks to MK Online user DECEPTION for this news (as well as many other recent news postings here!)

On the verge of E3, Midway Games has officially begun Mortal Kombat fever with the release of the finalized box art for Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks!


Click the thumbnails for larger images.

While we have seen conceptual box art for this title previously, we have word from Midway that this is the finalized artwork for the game. Stay tuned to Mortal Kombat Online as we bring you all the latest for Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks!

The folks over at Jazwares sent over some pictures of their MK: Deception action figures. These are the full versions of the teaser images that have been released in the past. What we have are four figures from Wave 1 including: Baraka, Raiden, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero.



No joke, these look to be the coolest MK action figures ever created!

GameSpot has obtained an early exclusive first-look at the demo of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks that will be available at the E3 Expo next week. The one page overview of the playable demo provides a link to their official movie 3 video clip of the game in action showcasing a one on one brawl between our two heroes, Liu Kang and Kung Lao, as well as showing The Tomb in miraculous 3-D. Provided as well are seven new screenshots for your viewing pleasure. From the preview:

Shaolin Monks goes out of its way to create a vibe very much like that of MK II. The opening level has you battling ugly, ogre-looking creatures inside Goro's lair. As you progress, you'll eventually end up at the bottom of the classic pit stage, complete with plenty of corpses impaled on the spikes around you. In fact, once you climb out of the pit after a brief platforming sequence, you can uppercut enemies into the pit. À la MK II, the game even goes the extra mile of switching to a top-down camera view of the enemy shrieking as it falls to its doom. The graphics shown in the demo weren't exactly awe inspiring from a technical perspective, but aesthetically, they caught the feel of old-school Mortal Kombat very well.

Of course, Liu Kang and Kung Lao aren't the only classic characters to make an appearance in Shaolin Monks. During the course of our play time, we counted no fewer than three brief cameos from characters like Raiden (who acts as your tutor during this first level,) Johnny Cage (who shows up just long enough to uppercut an ogre into the pit, as well as put on his trademark sunglasses,) and Reptile, (who disappears via his invisibility power before you get the chance to take him on). The demo was also bookended by a boss fight against everyone's favorite Outworldian ginsu knife, Baraka. The fight began simply enough, with us executing combos on the bladed one, while he did the same to us. After Baraka's health was depleted to a certain level, however, he jumped back across the stage to grab a couple of caged monks and then set them on fire. This made things a tad more difficult, as we now had to fight Baraka while a pair of flaming monks ran wild, constantly knocking into us and damaging us. It took a couple of well-placed fireballs to finally do away with the monks and resume the fight. The fight continued to build up to the big climax, and then right before we could actually vanquish Baraka, the game thanked us for trying the demo and ended. A painful, harsh tease, but effective, as we now can't wait to see what happens next.

Read the entire preview in full here. GameSpot's official movie 3, as well three additional raw footage videos featuring Fatalities and Raiden, and a new intensive Developer Interview with series co-creator Ed Boon, can be found via this link; with the screenshots available at this link.

Thanks goes out once again to site member DECEPTION for breaking this news!