Now that E3 2002 has come and gone, there is finally some information on the next installment in the Mortal Kombat series. Midway is not going back to old fighting mechanics; instead they are totally revamping the fighting aspect of the game. MK: DA is slated for a fall 2002 release in the US across all consoles. All of the videos and screenshots from E3 were from either the PS2 or Xbox versions of the game. The Gamecube version was not shown because the code needed some optimization before public display, and so it wasn't shown. However, the Gamecube, Xbox, and PS2 versions will most likely look almost identical, and the only major difference will be the control schemes. This game is looking amazing, and it features some new and innovative features. Some of which were not in the E3 demo version. The story of the game is that Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi make an alliance…a DEADLY ALLIANCE! And try to defeat Raiden and the rest of the mortals. “With their combined power, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi represent Earth's greatest threat.”

Well, from what I can tell, the graphics are going to be quite amazing. Each character is made up of a lot of polygons. How many exactly? Well, how about I just say plenty. The game looks great. The animations look very smooth, and the blood is still around. It is basically the same, except it looks better, and supposedly some of the blood will stay on the ground between each round. Although that really doesn't matter, that is just one of the things that make this game a little bit better. In addition to the blood factor the will also be sweat flowing from your body, and your clothes will get ripped. These things were not implemented in the E3 version, so I'm not sure exactly how nice it looks. All the characters are draped with fine looking apparel and it flows with the character as (s)he moves. Basically, all that is really need to be said here is that the graphics are gorgeous.

Sound isn't exactly what Mortal Kombat games excel at, and I'm sure that the soundtrack for this game is going to make you get all excited. But then again, not very many fighting games soundtracks deserve any kind of award. You also got your fighting noises (grunts, swishing of the blades, walking and running noises, etc). That's about all I can say now, since musical scores and sound effects don't seem to be the most talked about feature of this game.

As in all good fighting games, Gameplay is where they thrive, and this is where MK: DA seems to have it down pat. First off, and most importantly is that the fighting system is totally revamped. Each character has 3 different fighting stances that can be switched freely throughout the match. 2 of these stances are martial arts type fighting stances, and the final fighting stance is where you pull out your character's weapon of choice and start doing some damage. It looks to me that all the martial arts styles seem authentic enough, and they all seem to have enough moves to shake a stick at. Each character will have several special moves to pull off during the fights. This, of course is all speculation, but with 3 fighting styles, I believe most games will be fine with the amount of moves. Still with the MK series are the fatalities, but I have yet to see any. Apparently they are re-making all the characters fatalities, so now you can see some nicely disgusting hack and slash finishers. Not yet implemented is the ring out options, such as hitting you opponent into a vat of acid, or into spikes. In the E3 demo, there was just an invisible barrier that you would hit into. But be sure, those will be in the game. Around 13 characters will be playable, but there will most likely have some extra secret ones.

Again, only the Xbox and PS2 versions were shown, and so I really don't know the controls, but I am free to do some more speculations, so I think it will work something like this. A, B, X, and Y will be the “attack 1”, “attack 2”, “attack 3”, and “attack 4” buttons. Z could serve as the “change style” button, and R would be “block.” Finally, L would be the “attack 5” button, and the joystick would obviously be to move. Of course, this is how I'd do it, but that's just me. Since the game takes place in 3D environments, up and down on the joystick would be up and down in the level, NOT jump and duck. Ducking would be forward and diagonal right or left, and jumping would be the same, just with up on the joystick instead of down. In this way, there is no way to jump straight up, but it seems like it will work fine without it. The fighting is very fast paced, and you might find the matches go by quickly. The modes in the game right now are: Arcade, Verses, Konquest, Player Profile, Options, Kontent, and Extras. Konquest is where you gain money and make your way to the end. No idea what happens, but that is what you do. Kontent is basically little the making of stuff, such as videos and concept art. Extras will probably hold all the characters ending for future viewing.

Outlook:

Watch out people, the most brutal fighting game of ALL TIME is coming, and no one will be prepared for it! Well, maybe everyone will be ready, but at any rate, it sure is going to be blooding and sweaty. It will be the best of the Moral Kombat series, and possibly the best fighting ever! Err…probably now, but I assure you, it will be a good game. For those Mortal Kombat fans, here is a great new addition to the MK legacy. For the rest of us…keep an eye out, this game might just blow your socks off. So hold on to your hats, Moral Kombat is coming back…WITH A VENGENCE, and an Alliance.