HUGE fighting game fan..been playin since the first MK, Virtua Fighter, Karate Champ, etc. Blah Blah. I was smitten with MKAlliance (aside from some pretty difficult and long combos and hard to pull off fatalities). Couldn't wait for Deception. I got it, LOVE IT,
BUT......
and it's oh so huge a BUT.
When comparing DOA and MK, I easily prefer MK and this is stil the case with both of the new iterations. Here's why (and make sure you read to the end of this for the big BUT):
*Characters-MK has much darker and more violent characters. DOA comes at you with the cartoonish and wacky. The fighting style switches are fantastic and the weapons add a whole other strategy to MK.
* Levels- Again, far more devious and adult. The deathtraps range from good to incredible and the multi level maps are far more interesting than DOAs.
*Single Player-To Ed Boon and everyone else involved in this project...let me say one thing....no matter what any reviewer or short minded gamer tells you..the work you guys put into Konquest was well, well worth it. Going through that mode was absolutely addictive. When I realized there were actually six different "worlds" to travel through, I was blown away by the depth. I never opened all the koffins in Alliance..but had every koffin in Deception open within two days. This was solely due to how fun Konquest was. Sure, it's no Fable...but as an "add on" to an incredible main fighting game it was absolutely top notch. This is another way MK is superior to DOAUltimate. In order to unlock all the costumes in the new DOA, you have to play through the "mindless single player CPU battles" almost 270 times. Borrrring.
Having said all of the above(here comes the big BUT)..despite the fact that MKD is superior in practically every way to DOA Ultimate, DOA is the game I'm going to be playing much more of and the game I will STILL be playing in a year when MKD is gathering dust.
Why?
It is simply a crime that a multiple player lobby was not included in the game. Most people online now(especially XBOX LIVEers) are part of groups..that's why friends lists are so prevalant and important in the XBOX Live setup. By limiting MKD to only one on one you have SEVERELY limited the replay value of this otherwise brilliant online title. If four friends are on and want to play, it's impossible. The other night a few friends of mine and I resorted to fighting a few matches with each other and then calling the other two guys who were waiting(staring at the wall) and letting them know we were done and about to send them an invite.
It's just not worth it. Last night there were six of us in a lobby on DOA Ultimate and it was an unbelievable blast. As each two players fight, everyone else watches the fight and can stil communicate on the headset. Because of this "arcadey", socially powerful(and many times hilarious) feature, I will be playing a far inferior game instead of the one I really love.
So what's my point? It is certainly not to bash you post release. You've made what I consider to be the best fighting game EVER. But that one oversight is so powerful, it diminshes the entire product.
Is there any way whatsoever you could possibly integrate this feature post release? I assume it could not be done in a patch of any kind, but how about a special edition of the game for purchase? I would be more than happy to shell out more coin for the game again if it had this CRUCIAL feature.
Finally, before anybody flames me about how one vs one only is "no big deal", I beg you to play DOAUltimate for a night with seven other people. It is truly an incredible experience.
Please guys, don't make us wait until 2006(considering SM will be in 2005) for this essential feature.