It looks like Game Informer isn't the only publication getting a hands-on look at Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Earlier this past week, British gaming site Pro-G posted its own impressions of MK: Armageddon. A few new items were mentioned in the one-page preview, including (believe it or not) a note of how difficult Arcade mode appears to be. From the article:
Before I get carried away with the combat system and the solid hour I spent trying to complete the arcade mode - which for the record was excruciatingly difficult, or at least that's what I tell people when they find out I could only make it to the fifth character - I'd like to touch a bit on the Kreate-a-fighter mode, which, even in its earliest form had me hooked right from the get go.
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As for combat, the game plays and feels much like its predecessor, with the exception of a few noticeable differences. The main difference being the ability to jump, which threw me off a bit during my first match as I had no idea that Midway was implementing aerial combat into the game. And when I say aerial combat, I don't simply mean punching and kicking in the air, I mean full-blown butt-kicking combos that can continue on the ground if you can get the timing right - which I couldn't. Despite my love for the series, I'm apparently not as good as I had thought. Chalk it up to old age.
In addition, one change that was noticed from the E3 build was that the boss characters now appear to be near the top of the ladder; in the E3 build characters such as Kintaro could easily be among the first fought. From the article:
I only made it past a half a dozen fighters before succumbing to a royal butt kicking, but I did catch a quick glimpse of what appeared to be one of the game's end bosses - another four-armed variation of Kintaro. Either that or it was Kintaro, and I need to make an appointment with the eye doctor.
On the other hand, it could have been the random order coming into play; we'll keep an eye out on that part. Finally, the article closes out with a description of Konquest, in which the previewer states not only that he found the Konquest mode like Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, he enjoyed it far more than he did Mortal Kombat: Deception's Konquest.
The version I played only featured a small portion of the first level, with eight levels in total, and, as was the case with Deception, featured plenty of brawling, puzzle solving and exploration. Unlike Deception, where all you could do was give NPCs love taps, in Armageddon you can engage NPCs using quite a few different combos, and once your opponent has had enough, you can press a face button to initiate one of a selection of fatalities. Neato.
The levels also play out much more like Shaolin Monks, which is certainly a good thing. Traps, chests and collectable items litter the playing field, and as you progress your character will learn new moves and be able to wield weapons, like the hammer for example, which appeared to be the only useable weapon in the preview build, but certainly served its purpose.
All in all, the article was quite positive about the upcoming game, with the only concern being the character models and the lack of detail; on the other hand, being a pre-release version, the previewer surmised that that would be a detail that would be taken care of before the game's release. To read the article in its entirety, click here.
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