It'sz Exceptional as of Now...

Lets wait until we have the complete version of the game to make the assumption that "this is the best next gen game"..

It looks TOASTY!!..

#1. Get your eyes checked.

#2. I'm going to laugh at your stupidity. Here I go. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Okay, I'm a bit of a graphics tech-head (as in I'm studying character modeling in 3D programs for video games at this moment), so I look at a lot of games models.

MK is.... decent. I'm not impressed, but I don't hate them either. Perhaps it's purely my position as a modeling student that I notice the little things, but when I start seeing texture tearing, anatomically incorrect figures, over-reliance on bump and normal mapping over good modeling, and faceted edges on high-definition models, I have a problem.

I'm a 3D modeler, too. And frankly, I think they look better than the 3D models in Soul Calibur 4. I looked at models like Taki, and their textures look lower resolution than MK vs. DC. It's possible that the models in SC4 just have less sufficient UVs, but as a texture artist, I consider it a flaw.

I might not be examining the right models. Where in MK vs. DC did you see texture tearing?

not a chance.

This barely looks next-current gen judging from the pictures.

Hell, a strategy game has better graphics in screenshots.

The graphics by far aren't the best. But I've also seen worse.

And as far as animations go, I've seen random anime fighting games, that are simply designed for a quick buck, with more fluid animations.

Detox can agree errrrr.... I agree with that. hehe

I'm not going to say that this is the best looking fighter thus far, because it's not. I will say however, that I like what I see. It's certainly not an eye strain by any stretch of the imagination. It looks quite cartoonish, but i'd honestly hate to see them try to emulate something like SC 4 or the latest DOA(there's already people going ape shit about the amount of detail in sonya's nipple on her render)

Bottom line, people are always going to be people that pick apart the graphics in video games period(Mortal Kombat is no exception).

I don't undestand why 'fluid' animations are considered such a standard. The way people move in real life, they aren't fluid. People twitch, people jerk, and when punching someone, it's best to snap into it, not swing fluidly, easing in and out of it.
So I don't understand why an animation is considered 'bad' when it's not fluid. I like the new sharp and stiff look of these animations, and I hope they keep them.

No, I don't think it is the best looking next gen fighter so far.

Don't get me wrong, it looks alright. And it seems well designed but I just don't think it looks as good as Soul Calibur 4 or Virtua Fighter 5. Mind you it could be a case of I need to put the game in my 360 at home.

I think it's pretty close with Soul Calibur. I mean, I've seen some models in SC4, like Taki, which aren't done that well.
While some other ones are done better.

But with Virtua Fighter 5. The graphics aren't as good.
The textures aren't bad, but they don't use their normal maps to their full extent.
And overall, I think I like the MK models a lot better.

They're very different styles, so it's really hard to say. But the MK models look a lot more solid than the VF5 models.

OK, here goes....

Technical power means nothing to me when it comes to graphics. Any idiot with some background in modeling can make a character and slap some hi-res textures on it. No, what matters to me is artistic choices. Look at World of Warcraft. It uses low technology but still achieves an awesome look. Why? Because the artists are good. They have a sense of what's visually appealing and what's not.

Second, animations are very important. Bad animations can almost kill a game for me, unless gameplay rescues it. So far, I've been unimpressed with the animations because they don't look very lifelike. Better than previous MK's, maybe, but not as good as other fighting games on the market.

And when I say stiff, I don't mean that in a good way. The animations in MK, more so in previous games, have been very stiff and unrealistic. Almost as if the rules of physics don't apply to the characters. The problem is, with the new game, I'm still seeing animations from previous games. That doesn't bode well with me. I definitely agree with whoever said they've seen better animations in low budget anime games.

As of now, I'm still unimpressed. I still see a mediocre effort at best. Yes, I'll be buying this game anyways, and hopefully, the gameplay turns it around for me. It seems like they're finally getting the idea and giving each character more special moves. But I see it as too little, too late. If you pull up your movelist in either Tekken or Soul Calibur, you've got at least 50-60 moves available to you, and it's been that way as far as I can remember. And the MK team expects us to be satiated by 6 moves per character? And half of them are silly and cartoonish.

Basically, all I'm saying is, wake me up when MK is ready to play with the big dogs. This franchise deserves far better than the treatment it's been getting for the last three installments.

It's not new. It's been like that since MKDA. This is just a more fluid version, but still; it's too stiff.

Also, I have to comment on people moving like that been realistic as a defense of the animation. People are not completely fluid, but the transitioning between mo-capped attacks is way too stiff for a human being, and frankly looks a bit off. It looks skippy, like it's missing frames.

Also, why are they still reusing animations from Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance? Some of the basic fighting moves are the same ones we've seen in MKDA/MKD/MKA. There are new fighting attacks, but it looks like most of the basics have been reused, especially with Joker's fighting style, which is ass, by the way. The close kombat appears to be composed of moves from MKA's Kreate A Fatality in typical slap together fashion. I could forgive this for the last gen games, but it seems like they should have started anew. I hear they've hired new mo-cap guys and girls to join Carlos and add variety, but it doesn't show too well unfortunately.

Also, get a new art team. Or at least some fresh talent.



EDIT: Something very important about good animation is that it's not purely aesthetic; it affects the gameplay as well. Stiff animation, and moves with too short frames can hinder playability and can contribute to an overall brokenness (and did so in MKDA/MKD/MKA).

its way too jerky

nope

Are you serious? I know, fights in real life aren't beatifully choreographed like in movies, but people also don't move like emotionless robots. And that's the vibe I always got from the last games.

There's no grace in a single animation of the game. Yes, people twitch and jerk, and attacks are mostly quick jabs, but whatever MK does doesn't look natural.

Watching footage of MKvsDC, is like watching characters fight who just recently took martial arts lessons and also don't know how to relax their muscles.

NO. get your eyes fucken checked. all you guys who doesn't think mk vs dcu is the best looking should get your fucken eyes checked. all you guys need to go back and take a look at the videos posted at gametrailers.com. what other fucken game has what mk vs dcu have. I mean shit, you can even rip/ tear cloths in this game, fight while you are falling and more. street fighter is colorful as hell. that's for gay people. sc4 is colorful as hell and boring. get your fucken eyes checked

You only have to compare to other fighting games like Tekken to see how jerky MK is, but the worst thing altogether is the reusing of animations. This is a shame really, because the graphics are very good in game and I feel hold to the standard if they don't out compete other fighters.

It's better to have simplistic graphics with pleasing looking motion, than very detailed graphics with stiff and unpleasant movement. In animation, a cartoon figure animated at 60 frames per second will always look better than something that looks like the Mona Lisa being animated at 8 frames per second with inconsistent placement in each frame. Just an example, since we know MK has the same sort of frame rate as other fighters, but the duration of time between fluid mo-capped attacks in a combo gives a jerky feel that wasn't there in the 2D MK games. Maybe it's the physical forwards backwards movement too. Still, MK vs DC looks smooth by the standards of MKDA/D/A but it could use some fine tuning, and they definitely need to stop reusing animation as I've said.

And also... OK, dare I say it? Carlos is a very capable martial artist, but perhaps his moves are too "chunky" looking even? I hear they've got some new people to join him, but it doesn't really show. There's something about the animation that's always been off since Deadly Alliance, and I'm not sure exactly what it is...

I would definetely put my schwanz into it...

I mean...yes it looks GOOD. Best? No.

Also it isn't Next-Gen..it's Current Gen.

I would really love to know how exactly Midway is making their games. How come there are dozens of fighting games who, even if they don't play well, manage to pull off to make the animation at least look good?

What is it that Midway is doing different? Heck, even Midway LA managed on their first attempt to make MKSM look amazingly fluid.

Well it is not that bad as you say .Each game has a style and this is MK style .I mean just compare Sub Zero’s fighting to lets say Lei Wolong’s fighting .Sub Zero uses his strenght and fight from all of his heart while Lei on the other hand is fighting with a pure art .

Yeah the animation isnt the great compared to Tekken but it still does fit MK perfectly .

Too bad to see that Soul Calibur lost its place amongest the best in animation .

No, what fit MK perfectly was the way it looked and played in MK1-4. After that, everyone looked like stiff rag dolls.


And I'd really like to know what's wrong with Soul Calibur's animation.

Okay so I agree with you but don't be such a (dare I say it?) fanboy. Also I think gays are friendly lol

lol if anything Mortal Kombat is gayer than Street Fighter. What with all the ninjas wearing hell bondage.

sorry, it's just that people have not seen the videos ina while and are not taking a close LOOK at the game and gameplay. I wasn't trying to offend the gays but they do like a lot of colors. I mean it's like people want mk to look like street fight and sc4. can youy imagen that. it would not look right.