Return To Home Page		October 12, 2005

Graphics do look quite nice.

There have been many good things to come out of the current genertaion one of which is the reinvention of Midway's Mortal Kombat franchise. Both Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and Mortal Kombat: Defiance were fantastic titles with millions of fans the world over. This game will be a test for the franchise. It isn't a traditional one-on-one beat 'em up in which the series has built its fan base upon, but rather a action adventure title, not dissimilar to Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero and Mortal Kombat Special Forces on PSOne, but thankfully infinately better then both of those titles combined. So here we go Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, just a revenue raiser or a good game? Read on...

In the final battle of the first Mortal Kombat tournament Liu Kang defeated Shang Tsung and save earthrealm from domination. In the confusion of a mysterious earthquate, Shang Tsung and his fellow conspirators escaped through a portal to outworld. Kung Lao, who had been posting as a masked guard, helped his fellow Shaolin monk Liu Kang escape the crumbling island and his allies narrowly escaped with their lives. When they returned home, the Su Shi Academy was invaded by Baraka and his tarkatan horde in an attempt to defy the rules of Mortal Kombat and take earthrealm by force. Although the Shaolin monks fended off the invasion, Raiden sensed a deeper conspiracy and urged the Shaolin Monks to defeat Shang Tsung in outworld...

Sub Zero makes a return.

When you start the game you have the choice of the two Shaolin monks: Liu Kang and Kung Lao. The game is essentially a third person beat 'em up. Even if you've never played a Mortal Kombat game in your life Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks includes some training areas at the beginning to get you used to the controls and your characters abilities - including the fatalities. The big difference with this game, besides being one-on-one is that you will now become surrounded by enemies, meaning you can now attack in all directions, often stringing combos together with enemies in all directions. Weapons now play a big part in the game from simple skulls or rocks on the ground to more brutal weapons such as swords and the like. Mortal Kombat fans will recognise many of the games locations, including some from the earliest games in the franchise, and will also encounter traps with spikes and acid pits at different locations in the game world. As expected these environment hazards can all be used to your advantage, or disadvantage.

In terms of Fatalities - always the most contraversial aspect of the series over the years - this game holds nothing back. Not only does each character have an impressive 10 different fatalities for you to master, but each one also has three levels of fatality which determines the number of enemies. The Multality level allows you to kill multiple enemies while the Brutality sees you going bezerk and slaughtering as many enemies as you can withing a period of time.

Nice effects.

There's plenty more in this game to keep you happy. It's now possible to play in a "Ko-Op" mode where two of you manage to play the game side-by-side. This is trememndous fun, however one issue we have with this is that it's impossible for a second player to just "drop in" for a few minutes of fun, or even a level. One area where Midway make the Mortal Kombat titles shine is the unlockable content and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is no different. It's possible to unlock new items to use in the game, artwork and movies to admire and even some additional characters.

Graphics in Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks are quite impressive. The character models, due to the fact that the game now has to push several characters around the screen at once are lower in detail then previous Mortal Kombat titles but aren't too bad either. The visual effects such as fires and explosions are tremendous while the frame rate holds up fairly well. The backgrounds are also deserving a mention with many familiar locations as well as some wonderful smaller details.

Prepare to fight...

If you've ever played a Mortal Kombat title in the past then you'll know exactly what to expect from this game in terms of audio. With Dolby Pro Logic II support the game is an aural treat with plenty of brutal crunches and effects. The background music has that menacing sound to it while the speech is also as good as we've ever heard in the franchise.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks was a game we were wary about, especially given the developers (Paradox Developments) track record. Fortunately it's clear that Midway have given this game enough time to develop and include enough spit and polish that it is actually very enjoyable. Now if you don't mind I need to perform some more Brutalities..

Review By: Dave Warner

Order your copy now from Gameswarehouse (PAL version).

GRAPHICS	Fairly nice, plenty of well known locations, good animations.	84%
SOUND	It's Mortal Kombat. Fast, Brutal, Loud, Exciting and Dolby PLII.	88%
GAMEPLAY	Certainly turned out a lot better then I was expecting. Fun.	80%
VALUE	Once again plenty to unlock and plenty to discover. Good value.	72%
OVERALL	Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is actually a very good action game. The story is pretty good and there's plenty here for both fans and non fans alike. Certainly gets my recommendation.	80%