I was a huge skeptic of this game at first, MK VS DC, it was like combining toothpaste with orange juice...."Ugh"!
But Midway pulled it off. I spent probably 3 hours with the game last night (alas no online yet) and was very pleased.
First off the PS3's controller rocked the house as far as response with the D-pad.
Second; The game itself is FUN, not only do you have the standard arcade "Tower of Power" to climb, this MK throws in a neat story mode with beautiful cut scenes and a unique way to play all the characters.
While playing the game, I never even noticed the fact it was "T" rated, blood still flies, body's and costumes get damaged (you can actually knock off Scorpion's mask), and the fighting is just plain brutal.
There's 3 new gimmicks within the matches Close Kombat, Free Fall Kombat, and Test Your Might, which add some flair to the matches.
Free Fall is cool as heck.
Fatalities are here, and even toned down, they look great. I reduced Wonder Woman to skeletal remains with a "Lava Bath" the burned Captain Marvel to a crisp with "Hellfire" both courtesy of Scorpion.
Even blade happy Barraka has cool Fatalities, my favorite is the "Impale", where he knocks an opponent on his back, jumps on top of him, punches him in the chest, then fires his blades into the victim.
Looks awesome, not gory, but looks awesome.
There is going to be a learning curve to take advantage of the combos, and the game can kick your butt even on easy.
All in all this looks and feels like an MK game without a doubt, and definite improvement over all the MK games since MKIII.
I would like to see MK return to it's "M" rated roots, but I'll sacrifice a little gore over game play any day. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
Clear off your calendar if you pick this one up. This game is incredibly fun and addictive. The graphics here are amazing, and other than some strange costume changes for The Flash and Green Lantern, they're faithful to the comics. The Mortal Kombat side of things is pretty much standard as far as character build goes. There are a few minor tweaks, but you can easily see which character is which. DC has Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Flash, Captain Marvel, Joker, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, and Deathstroke. MK has Lui Kang, Scorpion, Sub Zero, Shang Zui, Kano, Jax, Sonja Blade, and Kitana. I missed seeing Johnny Cage in here, and I think Catwoman could have been scrapped for another hero like Green Arrow or Hawkman, but for the most part you can't complain about their choices.
Each character has their own unique moves. It's easy to see where spending some time playing the same character will make you a formidable opponent if you take the fight online. Most of the characters have long-range attacks, and the finishing moves are spectacular!
Playing in story mode is a one-player affair. First you choose which side you're playing on (MK or DC). The DC side finds Superman stopping Darkseid and accidentally opening a portal that begins to bring the two realities together with crushing results. In Story Mode, you play as each character over time, learning individual moves and getting just good enough with each before moving on to the next. Some of them have a bit of a learning curve, but for the most part the major attacks are the same button-mashing combination (but with different results for each). By far my favorite characters are The Flash and Captain Marvel. Flash has a move called "Around the World" that will leave your enemies spinning and unable to attack for a few precious seconds. Captain Marvel can call down the Shazam lightning on his opponents (among many other cool moves).
By far this is the best DC game that's come out in years. Though the gameplay is basically the same thing between cutscenes (fight somebody), it's still a lot of fun.
Well, I am a self-described "casual fanboy." While I love fighting games (especially MK, KOF and SF), I am not a hardcore gamer by any definition. In addition, while I enjoy the "DC Universe" I am not into comics per se. I share this to put my review in context. In any case, I was looking forward to this game but after the last three MK games I had my reservations. Let's face it MK did not transition well from 2D to 3D. Deception was only fun, Deadly Alliance was tolerable and Armageddon was lackluster at best (except for Kreate-A-Kharacter). Add to all this heavy handed censorship courtesy of the ERSB, needless to say I was not holding my breath.
Now I can breathe because this game is actually fun and worth the hefty price tag. The graphics are stunning (well, the character models are stunning and the backgrounds are only "very good"). I especially like the battle-scarring effects. The actual game play engine is much improved over the last 3 or 4 MK entries and (at least on the PS3 version) the move-sets are very responsive. While there appears to be some special move replication between characters (i.e., DC characters sharing moves with MK characters), overall the characters are quite unique. Further, the characters stay largely true to their back-stories and act in a way that we would expect. The story mode is two-fold and quite entertaining (if not a bit on the campy side). Finally, yes the Fatalities and Heroic Brutalities have been significantly toned down. But there are several unique finishers and there is still blood to be found (just no spines and entrails).
However, there are a few drawbacks. There are no distinct mini-games (yes, there have been a few integrated into the fighting system). Also, there are no alternate costumes or any other unlockables really. There are only a few unlockable kharacters. Finally, the pro-moves (extended combos) can be difficult to get down pat.
In closing, I give this game a 5 for fun and a 4 for overall quality. Have fun! - Fighting Game - Video Games - Mortal Kombat - Dc Comics'
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