Once again, we are able to bring you screenshots of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, straight from the show floor at E3! This time around, we concentrated on getting you select screen shots of each character (plus quick stats), images of each choice on the main menu, and a couple of win poses featuring Sonya and Jax (the latter wearing a black beret which is part of his alt costume). We'll have more images later on tonight, including new high quality screenshots and renders.

Today marked the final day of E3 for 2002. Today was spent playing the game, going over it some more, and getting a final impression of what we can expect. As we said before, if what we have seen here is an indication of things to come, then the fans will not be disappointed.

One of the first things we did this morning was speak to a gentleman from Midway's marketing department and with Ed Boon concerning the possibility of a Mortal Kombat C(K?)ompilation collected game for the next-gen systems. The answer was that while it was a very good idea, and Ed had actually tossed it around before, but there were currently no plans to produce one. HOWEVER, once we mentioned the interest the fans had been showing in such a release, the gentleman from marketing (and please forgive me, I should have gotten your name) told us he would bring the idea up at the next meeting. So, it's POSSIBLE the Kompilation may become a reality.

The main menu of the game, even unfinished, gives a peek into what is in store for the fans. Even though the only option that was enabled was Versus mode, there was a little window at the bottom right of the screen which explained each mode. The modes (and a brief explanation) were:

• ARCADE: This apears to be the standard one-on-one single-player mode like the classic games.

• VERSUS: This was the mode we played in at E3. It appears to be the standard two-player matchup.

• KONQUEST: This appears to be the quest mode mentioned earlier, where you embark on a mission to earn money (called "kurrency" in the game) and overcome obstacles and challenges (Test Your Might and/or Sight?) as you proceed to your journey's end... whatever it may be.

• PLAYER PROFILE: This might be where the settings for specific players could be stored, if the game is played with a memory card or (in the case of an X-Box or possibly the Playstation 2) used with the hard drive.

• OPTIONS: This is where the system and game specific settings are configured, including game options such as ring-outs, memory card usage in general. Also, it mentions an option called "VIEW WORLD RECORDS", though that may indicate system-specific records as Midway has already made it clear MK:DA will have no online capability.

• KONTENT: The only thing this one says is"THE MAKING OF MKDA CONCEPT ART". This probably is where non-video or static bonus materials such as pictures would be located.

• EXTRAS: This section will probably host the videos. The only information shown about this option is "THE MAKING OF MKDA THEATRE VIEWER". It's also possible this will hold the same kind of "theatre" that the home versions of MK4 had, where one could see completed characters' endings and the like.

Combos in the game are measured in the same way as in Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat 4. While there were none of the "dial-a-combos" present in MK3 (and to a lesser extent MK4) in MK:DA, the system would still show you how many hits your combo did, and the percentage of damage. One thing we did notice on the Playstation 2 version (but not the X-Box version; it may not have been enabled yet) is that when a character is hit by 50% damage combo, the letter size on the "50% DAMAGE" notice in the combo pop-up is significantly larger. Also, on the same subject of the fighting system, the attack buttons usage would be different between fighting styles; what would be a kick in one style would be a punch on another, simply due to the particular focus of that fighting style. (A fighting style that depends on kicks would need more kick buttons than punch buttons, for example.) This is another example of the amount of attention to detail that the design team has put into the differing fighting styles.

The question of whether Flawless Victories would be counted has been resolved as well; a perfect win would bring up the standard "FLAWLESS VICTORY" message, plus the announcer stating it. We have a screenshot showing the "FLAWLESS VICTORY" message that we will upload in a few hours. As in Mortal Kombat 4, characters share some win poses. However, the characters are not limited to one victory pose; at the end of one round, a character may flex his/her arms and stand rigid, while at the end of the next he/she may kneel down and look down at the camera. Some characters have unique win poses; Quan Chi would twirl his "butterfly" blades with his arms crossed in a victory stance, and Jax would kick the camera away when it got too close in one of his poses. The victory poses show the characters up-close, and reveal the level of detail went into making them.

Tonight we will be uploading images taken from the menu options, and select screen images for each character, and later on we'll have some screenshots for you kindly provided by our friends at Midway. Tomorrow, we'll also be providing actual video taken on the show floor of actual in-game fighting and screens.

This is D'Arque Bishop and ]{0MBAT, reporting live from Los Angeles. We thank you for your support while we've been out here, and remember:

Mortal Kombat has been reborn.

At long last, here are the images from E3! These photos (save one) were taken using ]{0MBAT's trusty video camera. All of the screenshots shown were taken from both the Playstation 2 and X-Box versions of the game. The one exception is the image of the green fireball; that was taken from a trailer shown on the large screen featuring a battle between Quan Chi and Scorpion. The concert images are Adema performing for the E3 crowd at Midway's booth, and the model shown is dressed as Li Mei. We'll have more images and information for you all tomorrow!

All of these and more can be found in our E3 Coverage Section!

It's the second day of E3, and during this day, we worked on getting more information in regard to the game, and also learned more concerning Adema, who wrote the song "Immortal" especially for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. We also finally managed to get some decent shots of the game, which we will also share with you. Also, we were treated to the world premiere performance of "Immortal".

Some more information was made available to us about the game by Ed Boon, who we had the chance to chat with over lunch. As far as characters go, it turns out that Blind Kenshi's name is only temporary. What the new name is hasn't been decided on yet. However, the name "Blind Kenshi" was recorded and spoken by the announcer. Moreover, Moloch has been confirmed as a sub-boss. When asked who the main boss is, Ed would only smile and say, "You'll see." Also, Ed did confirm that another of the stages that will be in MK:DA is an update of the Portal stage from Mortal Kombat II.

We then brought up the question of whether ring-outs would be included in the final game. Ed replied that he was actually working on such a system right now. As it stands, when warriors are knocked against the border of the arena, they hit up against some kind of invisible barrier, with flashes showing the impact against the barrier. (Images of the barrier impacts will be provided in the screenshots tonight.) What Ed is working on is a system where the barrier's resistance is set in the system options, so that a warrior would need to be hit against the barrier so many times before being knocked through and out of the arena. The warrior would then be sent to whatever fate awaits him out of the arena. (For example, a warrior knocked out of the Acid Bath stage would find himself taking a dip in the acid...) The number of hits needed to knock through the barrier (or whether such ring-outs are even enabled) would be set in the game options.

Although the game does not feature it now, weapons can and will be dropped by characters during battle. This system may be partially enabled in the demo we played: while fighting, I would notice that my character would switch from an armed style to one of his unarmed styles after being knocked down occasionally, without me pressing the style change button. Also, one thing that we noticed is that the fighting style the warriors were using at the end of the previous round carries over to the next round. When the game goes between rounds, instead of a sudden switch from one round to the next, the scene fades from the end of one round to the beginning of the second.

We also had a chance to speak with Midway officials concerning Adema and their song, "Immortal". Apparently, Adema are hardcore MK fans themselves; when Midway approached them about performing a song to be the theme of MK:DA, they immediately opened up with questions about the game, such as who the Deadly Alliance was, etc. They enjoyed making this song for the game, and we were fortunate enough to be able to watch Adema premiere the song at Midway's booth at E3. The song really does fit the game very well; I should imagine the majority of MK fans, even those who are not really Adema fans, will not be disappointed. As it stands, parts of the song have been used before on the Flash intro to the Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance website.

We will be updating the E3 section for today in the next hour or two with gameplay screenshots, images from the trailer shown at the booth, Midway's MK:DA display, a model who played Li Mei, and images from Adema's concert at E3. Stay tuned for more information!

This is D'Arque Bishop and ]{0MBAT, once again reporting live to you from Los Angeles.

This morning, our intrepid reporter ]{0MBAT was able to get an interview in with Ed Boon while at the Midway booth at E3. We recorded the interview on audio casette, and are now making this file available for download. It is in MP3 format (which can be listened to by your media player of choice), and the file size is just under 4 megabytes.

You can download the interview from here.