Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game is part of the Mortal Kombat series, one of the most controversial franchises in video game history. As with its predecessors, this entry is extremely gory, allowing you to rip opponents' heads off, break their backs, impale them on spikes, and so on. The game also allows you to fight to the death online. While we don't recommend this title for anyone under 17, if you are letting younger teens play, you should be aware of the issues that online play creates.
Families can talk about fantasy fighting vs. reality. How awful would these fights be in real life? Why are they turned into a game here? Does the over-the-top gore in this game make it more appealing? More like a separate fantasy world than anything that could really happen? Does creating your own fighter make this fighting game more interesting? How about the Kreate-a-Fatality system -- does that make you feel more vested in the fighting experience?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marc Saltzman
One of the longest-running and most controversial video game series has come to a climactic end on current-generation consoles.
MORTAL KOMBAT: ARMAGEDDON, available for the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox, should satisfy thrill-seeking fighting game fans for its wealth of game modes and full roster of playable characters.
In fact, Armageddon is the first in the series to feature every character from the 14-year-old Mortal Kombat universe -- totaling more than 50 3-D fighters in all -- such as Scorpion, Kung Lao, Sub-Zero, and Motaro. Like any good fighting game, however, only a handful of characters are available at the start; part of the fun is unlocking the rest, each of whom has his own unique look, fighting style, and weapon preference.
If you don't want to go with a preexisting character, Armageddon is the first Mortal Kombat game with a Kreate-a-Fighter mode. You can select from thousands of physical features and attributes to design a custom fighter, give him or her a name, and then start a game to test his/her skills against others.
Fighting, which is very fast-paced, requires mastery in three key areas: hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and magic. Learning how to punch, kick, jump, and spin -- not to mention linking successive moves into "combos" -- takes some time to get right. Therefore, gamers who try their luck by random "button mashing" won't get very far in this title. It's also fun to learn how to fight in the air with the many aerial moves offered in this game.
Another Mortal Kombat calling card is the notorious "fatality" moves, which refers to the way one fighter can kill the other (often with plenty of gore involved). In Armageddon, a new Kreate-a-Fatality system gives players the ability to create custom fatalities by stringing together button combinations.
Throwing in everything but the kitchen sink, Midway has also expanded a few of its game modes; aside from the single-player game (against the game's artificial intelligence) and a two-player mode (on the same television), Armageddon also offers a deeper Konquest game (a story-based adventure) and expanded online play for head-to-head matches over the Net -- with faster response times than found in 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception. Players can also play their custom fighter in cyberspace.
But even with all of these additions, Mortal Kombat is still the same 'ol 3-D fighting game: each player picks a character and beats each other to a pulp, in a number of different environments. In other words, Armageddon doesn't really evolve the genre much, but rather, just gives the player a lot more of the same stuff, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Also, while this game's graphics look OK (better on the Xbox than the PlayStation 2), it doesn't compare to fighting games on the Xbox 360 such as Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4.
Mortal Kombat fans can pick up Armageddon for $39.95, or they may opt for the Premium Edition ($49.95), which also includes a playable of the original Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, more than 60 minutes of bonus DVD video content, a collectible metal case (with four unique box fronts in total), and an animation cell cover art autographed by franchise co–creator, Ed Boon.
Families looking for a fighting game with less violence might want to check out Capcom Fighting Evolution.
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ViolenceWhile not photorealistic, the game is highly violent and gory. You can rip opponents' heads off, break backs, impale them on spikes, etc. |
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