Desperately trying to break free of the shadow that is Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Midway Games has made every effort to pump brand new life into Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. While it still may be be three days until  all gamers are able to get their twitchy hands on the latest installment into the Mortal Kombat series (Shaolin Monks is already available as of yesterday at some retailers), the folks over at IGN.com have played through the game and come through with the first official review. From IGN:

Midway has done a great job of taking a very popular, well-entrenched franchise and moving it over to another genre with success. Shaolin Monks isn't without its faults, but the game's tenets are good, the moves, the fighting, the unlockables, and its surprising level of depth all count for so much. And all of this is topped off with the superb co-op mode. Grab a friend and play this, you'll have a blast.

That being said, both the XBOX and PS2 versions of the game were given an 8.0 rating, which means even though the game could still a few bits of work, it is still excellent and highly recommended. Congratulations to Midway Games and the entire Shaolin Monks team for bringing in yet another solid title!

If you wish to read the rest of IGN's review, click here. As always, keep Mortal Kombat: Online tabbed for all of the latest news.