Reviews// Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (PS2)

Stages are much more interactive since Deception, with the ability to smack your foes into lava, huge bells and into pits through a rotten wooden floor. Gameplay is a lot smoother and fluid thanks to the characters only having one fighting style each. It retains some of the simplicity that made Mortal Kombat so alluring in the first place. The difficulty curve can spike a little in erratic places, but it’s easy to simply try harder, perhaps as a different fighter or with better guarding or Breaker tactics.

One of the major modes of Mortal Kombat in its recent incarnations is the Konquest mode mentioned earlier. In Mortal Kombat: Deception, Shujinko ran around an open world solving simple puzzles to complete tasks set by NPCs. It was a little bit tedious if you didn’t know what you were doing, and a little bit tedious even if you did.

Armageddon touches up the mode by grabbing inspiration from spinoff title Shaolin Monks. You play as Taven, a warrior who has been awakened just in time for this whole Armageddon thing to truly kick off.

The poor chap realises that the world was not as he left it. The open world has been replaced by linear level maps, which hold simple puzzles, massive brawls with multiple enemies or the ability of ‘superpowers’ to progress.

As well as third-person scraps with armies of combatants you’ll also find familiar faces who will want a proper match with you, akin to the fighting in the Arcade mode. The linear adventure path seems restricting at first but oddly enough enhances the mode, as its straightforward approach focuses your attention on throwing fireballs at flying ninjas. Priceless.

When you’re finished with the main game modes, there is the chance to indulge in a little humourous big-headed, small-bodied action in the form of Motor Kombat. These mini game modes have become a staple in recent titles in the series, this one sees you choosing one of a select few characters (including Scorpion, Sub Zero and Baraka) and racing them in miniature carts.

It’s no Mario Kart beater by any means, but it’s enjoyable when you have some mates over as the courses all have their own environmental hazards and power-ups you can take advantage of.

Using coins you have collected throughout the various modes, you can buy extra content in the Krypt, unlock even more characters by collecting items in the Konquest mode.

There’s even an online multiplayer feature for those days when your mate just isn’t good enough to compete with you anymore. Or, in my case, if you just want to showcase Spectrum to the world. Armageddon has the bonus features to make this game a lasting experience for the hardened fighting gamer.

SPOnG Score: B

The ultimate Mortal Kombat as we know it. Midway has taken the bits that worked over the last couple of games in the series, tweaked other aspects such as Konquest mode. It has stacks of replayability to boot. This isn’t exactly the greatest 3D fighting game created, but the extensive features and impressively tweaked gameplay makes it certainly comes damn close.