This morning, I was privileged enough to be able to play several rounds of
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, and make no mistake: this
IS the Mortal Kombat game we have all been waiting for.
The game was shown on two platforms: Playstation 2 and X-Box. Loading time was pretty bad on the PS2 compared to the X-Box, but Ed Boon assured us that when the game is finished, the loading time would be a quarter of what it is now. The control scheme was similar on both games: five attack buttons, one button dedicated to blocking, and one dedicated to switching fighting styles. Characters' positions and attacks changed as they switched fighting styles. Each character has three styles: two unarmed martial arts styles, and a third based on their weapon of choice. Attack and defense strategies are paramount as you and your opponent swap styles.
The d-pad is unlike any of the previous Mortal Kombat games. The left and right still function as normal. Up and down, however, move in 3-D. Up-right and up-left do a jumping flip. Thus, there is no way for your character to jump straight up as in previous games. Also, ducking is performed by holding the d-pad down-left or down-right. It may sound strange now, but it feels completely natural in gameplay.
The preview we played had eight playable characters: Scorpion, Jax, Sonya, Blind Kenshi (no trace of "Blind GI" anywhere), Quan Chi, Li Mei, Sub-Zero, and Shang Tsung. However, there are a total of twenty non-hidden characters, and an unknown number of hidden characters. Among the unplayable characters are Kitana, Johnny Cage, Reptile, Rayden, the female Sub-Zero, and Kano. None of the characters had their special moves or fatalities enabled yet, which meant ALL we could do was spar. Another feature that may have been left out, according to a Tips and Tricks magazine we picked up, is the fact that weapons could be dropped and picked up by opponents, just as in MK4. There was no sign of Quan Chi's "living weapon" yet; his weapon was the "butterfly". (Two short blades.) With four months until release, there's plenty of time for these features to be added back in. The models are especially detailed; closeups of Sub-Zero, for example, show blue energy pulsing around his arms, and his breath misting as he exhales. Damage is shown somewhat realistically, too, with blood flowing off of characters, even after they've been damaged.
We couldn't hear too much of the sound, but all of the yells and screams that we have been accustomed to have returned in full force. In addition, the announcer from MK4 has returned to do the announcing duties in MK:DA. I couldn't hear anything of the music, though... the loud noise of the theater drowned everything out. The stages were also especially well designed; for example, an update of the Soul Chamber shows souls passing over your heads as you battle. Other stages include a rural fighting arena as monks beat on drums and gongs around you, the Kuatan Palace seen before, and the courtyard of a Chinese temple or palace.
Overall, we were very impressed with the game. Interestingly enough, one of my first matches was against Ed Boon himself; he played Jax, and I was Scorpion. I actually beat him! THAT made my day, I must say.
We could not get very many screenshots or pictures, because Midway was restricting access to photographers. We hope to have more images tomorrow evening. Later this evening, we will have images uploaded, as well as a special interview between ]{0MBAT and Ed Boon.
One last little tidbit: right before ]{0MBAT got the interview with Ed, he was interrupted by a gentleman named John Newcomer, who demonstrated Mortal Kombat Trilogy running on a Motorola cell phone, on a full color LCD display. The phone will cost $199, according to John, and Ed for one was excited about it. (The look on Ed's face was priceless when he first saw it; this was the first HE had heard of it too.)
This is D'Arque Bishop and ]{0MBAT, reporting live from Los Angeles.
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For the first time we see in-game footage of
Mavado (notice change in spelling) and Li Mei, a new
female character first seen in
