Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
September 24,2005 -

As a pure fighting game, Mortal Kombat has always been well received. However, when the game made the shift to platforming action, disaster struck. The MK series has made the bold leap twice before with Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, both of which were huge failures for the series. The MK team bravely took on the challenge of creating yet another action game set in the MK universe with Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. With past failures staring them in the face, and series creator Ed Boon personally overseeing the project, the future indeed looked bright for this latest endeavor. However, the question still remains; is it any good? In a word, yes.

Shaolin Monks picks up the MK storyline at the end of the first MK tournament. Liu Kang had just defeated Shang Tsung to save Earthrealm, but Tsung and his minions escape to Outworld during a mysterious earthquake. With his pal Kung Lao by his side, Liu Kang makes his way to the Wu Shi Academy to find it has been invaded by Baraka and his evil minions. It seems that Tsung is not following the rules set by the elder gods and he is trying to take Earthrealm by force. It is up to Liu Kang and Kung Lao to stop the evil from taking over their homeland.

The MK series has always been about plain-old ass kicking, and Shaolin Monks is no different. Ripping enemies in half, tearing off limbs and impaling baddies on spikes are all the norm in the MK world. You will use a variety of techniques, with obvious inspiration from today’s top brawlers, to destroy opponents in the most gruesome ways imaginable. The general fighting scheme is great, with a simple yet effective layout of quick attacks, power attacks, and launch attacks. There is also a great multi-directional attack system that makes it extremely easy to take on multiple foes at once. The bloodbath doesn’t end with just kicking and punching your way to victory; there are weapons at your disposal as well. The weapons are not nearly as practical as they could be, but using them to chop off heads and limbs at will is a blast. Even more blood can be spilt with the familiar edition of fatalities. Each character has a meaty set of fatalities, multalities, and brutalities to tear rivals limb from limb. Have a friend join in on the action in “Ko-Op” mode, and you can double-team your adversaries till the cows come home. Nothing beats hitting an opponent into the air and then air throwing him across to your pal who continues to pummel away.

Interactive environments have always been popular in the MK series, and they are plentiful in Shaolin Monks. Every single room you walk into will have some type of deathtrap that you can use to your advantage whether it is a simple bonfire to burn bodies, or a more complex rotating spiked wheel of pain. Many of the interactive environments will look instantly familiar. Locales such as “The Pit” from the original MK and “The Living Forest” from MK II are here and more interactive than ever. The old uppercut off the platform in the pit works like a charm, and the living forest will actually devour anyone who wanders too close. There is also the glorious return of “test your might” from the original MK. This is used sparingly throughout, but when it does pop up it breaks up the action well. The most impressive use of this is during your battle with the evil Scorpion. These additions keep the action fun and keep it from becoming too monotonous.

The amount of moves available early on is not spectacular, but thanks to simple experience-point based combat, the move list grows exponentially. Experience is easily earned by stringing large combos together with some fatalities thrown in for good measure. By pulling off long strings of combos your fatality meter will fill with blood, so essentially you can string together an endless combo with fatalities thrown in every few minutes, providing you have enough enemies in an area. The experience you earn is used in the pause menu to buy upgrades for your special moves. Kung Lao, for example, can upgrade his hat throw to a ricochet throw, spinning throw and even a shield throw. This upgrading of moves helps keep the special move set from getting too repetitive.

While the experience based combat is great fun, there are some blemishes in the MK world. The biggest complaint is the inconsistent difficulty. On the easiest setting, the random enemies you face and even some of the boss battles are too easy, but the big bosses, like Kintaro and Goro for example, are extremely difficult. The camera causes some problems as well. There are scenes where attacks will be hitting you and you cannot quite tell where they are coming from due to a bad angle. Furthermore, some of the platforming elements are made tougher by some funky camera work. There is a way to switch between three different cameras, but some areas will not allow a switch making the default the only viable option. While this does not detract from the overall experience too much, it does cause you to take unnecessary falls and damage at times.

If the camera is not pointing exactly where it needs to, it’s probably because it is giving you a great view of a familiar locale. Backgrounds are detailed to perfection and they are definitely the highlight of the graphics. Little touches, like the shadow of Santa Clause flying by the moon and the glowing eyes in the darkness of Goro’s Lair, are important graphical elements that help keep the world looking familiar. Otherwise, the graphics are average, with a few flashes of brilliance. Player and enemy models are somewhat blocky and a little generic, but when they are in motion, they look fantastic. The special moves are especially fluid and the fatalities are awesome. Overall, the graphics will not make your jaw drop, but they are adequate.

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