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Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Review - PS2

Finally, it's here - the latest installment from the infamous Mortal Kombat series. After the somewhat disappointments that were Mortal Kombat 3 & 4, you would think that Midway needed to go back to the drawing board and try to invent something new for the near-dead MK franchise. Luckily enough, they did. And even better still, it worked. What we now have is perhaps one of the greatest Mortal Kombat games ever created. Combining exorbitant amounts of gore (as usual), an all-new fighting system, and most of the classic characters (with some new), the Mortal Kombat franchise is back - and it's here to stay. Suffice to say, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (MK: DA) is indeed all that, and then some.

Gameplay

After a few years of peace in Earthrealm, a new threat has arrived - in an attempt to seize control of all the realms, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi have combined their evil forces, in preparation to revive the lost army of the mythological Dragon King. After the vicious slaughter of Liu Kang, the now Deadly Alliance is nearly unstoppable. The only thing standing in it's way - Earthrealm's most courageous heroes, in which you must guide to victory.

With that said, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance definitely holds up in the gameplay department, hosting a number of different modes, including your standard arcade, versus, and practice modes. However, here comes the twist - MK: DA features an entirely new 'Konquest' game mode.

Going through Konquest basically involves you choosing a character (there are 23 all-up), and taking him or her through a ton of grueling stages and objectives. These objectives include pulling off 6-move combos, or defeating a certain opponent. In turn, this will eventually teach you to master every player, rule at every combo, and own everyone. At this point, you will be near invincible (or so we hope).

Whilst it sounds good on paper, I have to be honest here - Konquest mode, to me, was extremely boring. After a certain amount of time you feel like laying the controller on the ground and going to sleep on the spot, despite the rewards that you get for each goal completed (Koins, but more of that later). The fact that it is recommended that you complete the Konquest through with every character is quite frustrating because although you don't really want to, you feel the need to suck every little bit of energy out of this little gem.

As expected, versus mode is quite a delight to play. Two-players can go head to head against each other, in an all out battle to see who is the best in the business. Things can get interesting if both players are experienced, or of a similar skill level. Unlike past MK games, random button pressing won't do you much justice if versing someone with experience and skill. This is what sets Mortal ... (continued next page)