Playboy Magazine has published one of the first reviews of Midway's soon-to-be-released action-adventure game, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The brief review, in which MK: Shaolin Monks gets four rabbits (their highest rating), is rather concise and to the point. From the review:

Rather than rehash, the newest in the series, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks ... takes the action out of the familiar one-on-one face-off that almost all fighting games employ and frees it, Double Dragon-style, to deliver a sprawling, explorative adventure positively packed with old-school cooperative arcade brawling. ... New tag-team combos provide a plethora of new fatalities, giving this intense and nostalgic joyride a fresh perspective.

The review (where MK:SM is labeled as "Game of the Month"), appears in the October 2005 issue of Playboy, which should be out to subscribers and at newsstands soon.

Our thanks to Joe of MK KOOL for the heads-up on this new review!