Mortal Kombat: Armageddon

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is the latest title in the Mortal Kombat fighting game series. The PlayStation 2 version was released in stores on October 11, 2006 while the Xbox version was released on the 16th, with a Wii version released on May 29, 2007 in North America. There are no plans to release an Xbox version in PAL territories.This game is the last Mortal Kombat for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and the first on the Wii.

Storyline
Throughout the Mortal Kombat universe, the warriors were growing too strong and numerous for the realms to handle. The warriors' powers threaten to utterly destroy the fabric of the MK universe. These warriors clashed in a single battle royale that would threaten to rip apart reality and bring about the apocalypse. Without warning, a pyramid rises from the ground, and the tip bursts into flames, attracting the warriors' curiosity to see what it was. The kombatants fought one another to get to the top, while Blaze revealed himself to them. The firespawn was created by the Elder Gods to destroy as many fighters as possible in order to save the realms from Armageddon. This would be the warriors' last battle, their last chance to prove that they are worthy of surviving, while many others will perish. This will be the final battle for Mortal Kombat, the battle that will determine the fate of the realms...

Character roster and information
The PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of Armageddon contain 62 fighters (other than those that can be created by the player in Kreate a Fighter mode), while the Wii version contains one exclusive fighter, Khameleon, making a total of 63 fighters, the most of any Mortal Kombat game to date: * Wii only

Originally, Armageddon was billed as featuring every single fighter from the six main installments of the franchise thus far. Later, developers went on to add characters that were exclusive to the renditions of such titles (for example, Chameleon from Mortal Kombat Trilogy) to the final roster. Still, however, Armageddon does not include every single fighter that has appeared in the franchise. Some characters that have appeared in the adventure titles - Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks - are not in Armageddon. Also absent was Khameleon, a secret character who appeared in the Nintendo 64 version of Mortal Kombat Trilogy; however, due to fan complaints, it was later confirmed that she would be a playable character in the Wii version of the game.

Only two characters, Daegon and Taven, are new to the series, while Sareena makes her debut on non-portable consoles and Meat makes his debut as a legitimate character (he previously appeared as a minor character in Mortal Kombat 4).

It should also be noted that not all the characters have alternate costumes. Some of the boss characters, such as Onaga, Moloch, and Blaze do not have alternate costumes, while some of the special characters, such as Chameleon, Meat and Daegon, are limited to one costume as well. It also remains same in the Wii version.

Krypt
A returning element from the preceding titles, the Krypt appeared once again in Armageddon with a completely new look that's more like a catacomb than the traditional graveyard or tomb. This time around, all of the Koffins are clearly marked with what they contain, and are broken up into groups for Artwork, Gameplay, and Media, so the player knows precisely what they're going to unlock before they unlock it. Also unlike past Krypts, a player can unlock the items in Armageddon through different means, either by paying the requisite amount of koins like before, or by unlocking them via the game's Konquest mode. Gathering up all 60 Relics in Konquest mode will unlock nearly everything in the Krypt straight away, allowing the player to save their koins for unlocking items for the Kreate a Fighter mode (which also requires koins to unlock). One Koffin in the Krypt, a question mark box, allows codes to be inputted to unlock items at no cost.

The Krypt in Armageddon includes four unlockable characters, almost two dozen arenas, alternate costumes for most of the characters, blooper and concept videos, and more, though it is worthy of note that none of the items available in the Krypt this time around are "joke" items (such as Cooking with Scorpion in Deadly Alliance), and are all meant to be directly related or used in the game.

Konquest
The Konquest mode in Armageddon is a combination of the same mode seen in Deception with elements borrowed from the spin-off adventure title Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. The storyline centers on Taven and Daegon, two brothers who were put in suspended animation because their mother known as Delia, (a sorceress) and their father, Argus, (the Edenian protector god) foresaw a cataclysmic event brought about by the Mortal Kombat fighters. Their awakening leads into the Konquest mode, which in turn leads into the game's standard play.

Taven is the main hero that the player controls in Konquest, whilst Daegon is the primary antagonist, plotting with villains such as Shinnok and the Red Dragon Clan to destroy his brother. Certain weapons are available at times in Konquest mode, which appear to handle very much like those found in Shaolin Monks. Collecting various artifacts, one for each Kombatant (except Taven and Chameleon), throughout this mode. Konquest unlocks characters and rewards in the rest of the game, while successfully completing the Konquest entirely will unlock Taven for arcade play.

Kreate a Fighter
In addition to the choice of over sixty characters, Armageddon gives players the ability to design and use new fighters in the game.

From the number of options, there are potentially thousands of different combinations available. During production, the game offered at least fourteen different character classes, which include humans, Tarkatans, Mercenaries, Black Dragon Members, Ninjas, Retro Ninjas, Geisha Assassins, etc. However, after the game's release, only one preset was available to the two genders, Sorcerer to Male, and Tarkatan to Female. Although the clothing of each class is still available, it must be individually unlocked, and cannot be preset. All these presets can be unlocked by unlocking each piece of clothing that makes up that class. The preset will then appear under the preset menu.

Players can give their character a unique fighting style, by changing their stance and assigning different attacks to the buttons on their controller. There is a range of swords and axes and special moves to choose from. Most moves and costume items need to be purchased with koins earned in the game's other modes, though some moves and items are available for free from the beginning.

The fighters can also be given their own storyline. If a player uses their creation to finish a single player game, they will see the ending that the player designed for them, although the ending will cut off after roughly twelve lines or if the last line consists of one word. They can also be used in multiplayer games and online, using the PlayStation 2's online capability or Xbox Live. The ending that the game shows is the same text that the player inputs as the fighters biography.

Kreate a Fatality
Also new to the series is the ability to create a Fatality. These custom fatalities are a constant series of commands that players input until the Fatality ends. This method of performing Fatalities replaces the character-specific Fatalities of previous Mortal Kombat games, where gamers would simply enter one input and view the Fatality cinematically. As the player adds each input, less time is allowed for further inputs and some moves cannot be repeated. There are twelve levels that can be achieved with Kreate a Fatality. It should be noted that custom-created fighters lack the ability to transition the opponent into another position during these Fatalities. The greater the number of inputs for the fatality, the more amount of money is gained.

Motor Kombat
Mortal Kombat: Armageddon ' s mini-game is named "Motor Kombat". True to the name, Ed Boon compares it to Mario Kart in the September 2006 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. Each of the characters has a customized go-kart, as well as their own special moves. The Motor Kombat characters keeps their cartoonish super deformed" style that was introduced in Deception's "Puzzle Kombat" mode. It also includes style-based fatalities for characters, and deathtraps.

Motor Kombat features online play, as well as off-line support for up to four players (two players in PS2 version) with a split-screen display. In the game, players can knock their opponents into various deathtraps on the courses.

The character roster for Motor Kombat is Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Bo' Rai Cho, Jax, Baraka, Raiden, Kitana, Mileena, Cyrax, and Johnny Cage. The 5 tracks available for Motor Kombat are Bo' Rai Cho's Brewery, Botan Jungle, Lin Kuei Raceway, Lost Pyramid and Outworld Refinery.

Other info

 * The "Versus Screen" feature from previous titles in the Mortal Kombat series (MK through MKG) returns in Armageddon with animated backgrounds.
 * Each character possesses two fighting styles (instead of three), one hand-to-hand and one weapon. It has been said that some kombatants will focus more on weaponry styles, while some will focus more on hand to hand combat and others will mix and match weapons and martial styles. Some of the larger bosses, like Onaga, will only have one fighting style available (which does not show up) to them to reflect their massive size. Other characters, such as Smoke, does not have a weapon style, but a second unarmed style.
 * Several classic fighting arenas such as "The Bell Tower", "Goro's Lair" and "The Subway" return in Armageddon in 3-D, with new arenas such as "Lumber Mill", "Meteor Storm" and "Outworld Spire" as well. There are a total of 34 fighting arenas in Armageddon
 * New special moves assigned to many characters in Armageddon, for example, Kitana now has a teleport move, Kano has a new taunt mode, Hsu Hao can use the laser turret on his chest and so on.
 * Techniques such as Breakers and Parries can be done in the air.
 * There are alternate ways to unlock all the features.
 * There are 4 different limited editions featuring the following content:
 * A 60-minute bonus DVD with a History of Fatalities movie and new videos for more than 50 characters, an animation cell of the cover art autographed by creator Ed Boon and an arcade-perfect version of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3. The limited editions are only available on the PS2.
 * Several limited edition versions of the game have different metallic covers exclusive to certain stores:
 * Wal-Mart: Kano/Sonya
 * Best Buy: Shao Kahn/Sindel
 * EB Games/GameStop: Johnny Cage/Goro
 * Game Crazy: Dragon Emblem
 * The Wii version of Armageddon has a new motion-based control system, along with playability on the Classic Controller and a GameCube controller. It also brings a new Endurance Mode, a Wii Remote Training Mode, new menu screens and Khameleon as a playable character; however, this version does not have online features.

Reception
So far the response has been mostly average to positive in the US with an average score of 76% at Game Rankings.


 * Electronic Gaming Monthly- 5.67 out of 10 (PS2/Xbox)
 * IGN - 8.5/10 (PS2/Xbox); 7.8/10 (Wii)
 * GameSpot - 7.0/10 (PS2/Xbox); 7.5/10 (Wii)
 * Game Informer - 8.25/10 (PS2/Xbox); 7.5/10 (Wii)
 * GamePro - 4.5/5 (PS2); 3.75/5 (Xbox); 3.0/5 (Wii)
 * Official Xbox Magazine - 9 out of 10
 * Official PlayStation Magazine (US) - 3 out of 10
 * X-Play - 2/5 (later changed to 3/5 when the site added "Wii" on the platform list for the Armageddon review page)
 * PSM - 8/10
 * Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) - 7 out of 10
 * Official Nintendo Magazine - 85%
 * Nintendo Power - 8.0/10

Criticism
The game was praised for including a complete character roster (although initially without Khameleon, she appears in the Wii version), improved Konquest, and increased playability due to feedback from Deception. Some reviewers criticised the length of the Konquest mode, the revamped Fatality system, the recycling of Deadly Alliance, Deception and Shaolin Monks character models, and the resources in the Kreate a Fighter mode.

The storyline of Armageddon was criticised in for various reasons. Some reviewers claimed that the character endings didn't follow the characters established continuity, didn't make sense and were poorly written, and also criticised the lack of character biographies and the lack of explanation for each characters status.

The Krypt in Armageddon features an unused concept video for Ermac's bio, which caused rumors to circulate that bios had been created for the game but weren't included due to time constraints. However, Midway, through fansite Mortal Kombat Online, confirmed that no bios had been created. A month later, in a chat event held by Mortal Kombat Online, Ed Boon confirmed that bios would be made available on the Armageddon website.

Awards

 * 2006 Spike TV Video Game Awards: Best Fighting Game.
 * 2006 IGN Awards: Best PS2 Fighting Game.
 * 2006 Official Xbox Magazine "Xbox Game of the Year"
 * Gaming Target - 52 Games We'll Still Be Playing From 2006 selection.

Trivia

 * In October 2006, the attorney Jack Thompson sent a letter to Midway Games, demanding they cease and desist selling Armageddon, claiming that the game was illegally profiting on his likeness, because gamers could use the Kreate a Fighter option to make a character who looked like him.