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Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is an Action/Adventure
title driven by single and multi-player action. Similar in
style to Mortal Kombat: Deception, background interactions
(i.e., acid pits, living trees, spiked ceilings, etc.), multiple
new fatalities, and action-based puzzles also play an important
role in the player's quest for an "outstanding" victory. For
the first time, Mortal Kombat fanatics can explore
all the mythos and rumours of the Mortal Kombat universe
from a new perspective...
I'm
probably not the best person in the world to review this game.
I've never understood why Mortal Kombat has lasted
as long as it has as a franchise. I've never been impressed
with the rather dull plot lines, and I've always found them
to be a little too complex for a serious beat em up, while
a little too dull for an adventure game.
I
know that there are millions of fans out there who will love
this, regardless of whether it is any good or not. It's a
Mortal Kombat game and they'll love it. I approached
Shaolin Monks as though I were coming to the franchise
with fresh eyes. Would it hold my interest if I pretended
that the other games in the series had never existed? The
answer to that question is, sadly, no.
The
story line (which is too long and dull in places) makes little
to no sense at all if you are not aware of how the characters
have advanced over the franchise. Any new comer will be scratching
their head as to what on earth is going on.
My
main concern is that the game moves from one extreme to the
other. You start off getting used to the controls with some
relatively simple baddies to kill. This then gives way to
an interesting series of segments where you enter a city and
solve some problems. Then you encounter your first major boss
(and her two friends). These are relentless in their attacks
and it took me ages to progress from this point. Then I was
stuck in a sort of limbo where I spent ages wandering around
trying to work out where I was supposed to go - jumping backwards
and forwards into levels I'd already been in an attempt to
work out where I should be going. This was not fun at all.
Another
problem I had was with the save function. Sadly if you are
killed in the midst of fighting a boss you generally have
to redo large chunks of the level that you have already completed.
Faced with a boss that is just too difficult to complete,
you'll be reaching for that off button in frustration, only
to find that when you come to reload the game you may have
even further to go in order to continue where you left off.
Nice
graphics, it's just a shame about the overly long cut sequences,
frustratingly difficult gameplay and amount of general running
around you have to do. That said, fans of the series will
no doubt lap this up. If you enjoyed Mortal
Kombat: Deception, then you'll love this.
Nick
Smithson
Buy
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£24.99
(Amazon.co.uk)
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£24.99
(Blahdvd.com) |
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£26.98
(Foxy.co.uk) |
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£24.99
(Gameseek.co.uk) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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