Of idle animations & exaggerations: MK VS DCU

by Terrence Stasse { Jul 12th 2008 at 2:00PM }

We haven't been too kind to Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe in the past, but we did our best to reserve final judgment, hoping that the gameplay would redeem the premise, the art design and the series background. Well, the gameplay is here and it doesn't do the job we were quite hoping for. It's true that there are some interesting ideas, but there seems to be a certain level of ... disconnection that we can't put our finger on. Maybe it's the animation, the hit detection and a particular by-the-numbers flavor that the game seems to posses. Could just be us though.

Tags: midway, mkvsdc, mortal-kombat, mortal-kombat-vs-dc-universe

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dark Caboose @ Jul 12th 2008 2:04PM

"It's true that there are some interesting idea," do you mean "...ideas,"

Terrence Stasse @ Jul 12th 2008 2:20PM

Indeed I do :O

Thanks, fixed.

Dark Caboose @ Jul 12th 2008 2:25PM

Np i have been doing this a lot recently. The funny part about it is that i have terrible grammar and spelling. i am just trying to my part.

Mrblonde @ Jul 12th 2008 3:01PM

You forgot to add "do" to "trying to my part"

Dark Caboose @ Jul 12th 2008 3:29PM

lol yeah see what i mean?

Adrian @ Jul 12th 2008 2:35PM

yeah it does seem kind of like...meh. Anytime i hear those words though...."Finish Him!"....."AGH!!!!" scorpion owns so much.

Viva La Champ @ Jul 12th 2008 2:47PM

Well it might be missing the gore.
Oh and your playing Mortal combat characters with superheros =/. I mean shouldn't superman be able to fly up, and grab a enemy, then just slam him down going like 30000 mph? :P and the flash is sorta slow too:P
idk though. I love mortal combat, but never cared for DC so I know who i'll be playing with ;)
"Fatality!!"

Magic Whiskey @ Jul 12th 2008 3:11PM

Looks effin' terrible if you ask me.

ryan @ Jul 12th 2008 3:38PM

it's not only that it's missing the gore. the animation of Mortal Kombat games have always been stiff and boring. compared to asian fighting games, Mortal Kombat is a complete failure in gameplay, graphics and animation.

Batman is this game's only redeeming quality. the rest is Krap.

Magic Whiskey @ Jul 12th 2008 5:11PM

First off...Superman could turn 98% of any potential contender to paste with a flick of his wrist. He should never be in any fighting game that doesn't feature Darkseid or Doomsday. He doesn't 'spar' either. Superman isn't a fighter, period.

Even Batman looks terrible. Call me 'Mr. Real-time Game Physics' but his cape has that cardboard feel to it like so many games. That alone makes me feel like nobody behind the scenes cares at all. Makes me immediately feel like this is destined for the $7.99 bin within 5 months.

I'm not saying that the physics is the reason that'll happen..I'm saying the lack of physics is a telltale sign to this gamer that they just don't care.

I can't wait for actual fabric in video gaming. It's been a long, long wait. Maybe it'll come in the next generation, maybe not.

ryan @ Jul 12th 2008 6:43PM

superman's cape is no better. the quest for realtime cloth dynamics continues...

Neil @ Jul 12th 2008 6:07PM

The game looks pretty weak. This definitely doesn't look like it will challenged any of the top 360 or PS3 games as far as graphics go.

ccc @ Jul 12th 2008 6:14PM

Wow, I hope for some unknown godly reason ED Boon reads this.

This game is gonna tank so hard.
If this was a 10 dollar XBLA game I may, MAY think it was worth it but man this game is easly going to be on everyones shit list of worst games of 08.
Great work Boon, and please STOP using Carlos Pesina for the motion capturing it's really worn out it's welcome among gamers.
As far as Midway goes, it may be time to rethink things through before you grant these guys any kind of budget for another project and consider offering a bid of employment to that freak sun glass wearing guy that got fired from Tecmo because he would actually do your company some good.

So far in this generation of consoles Midway, you have been a let down.
And fix the god damn Smash TV game master achievement while your at it!

Stranger @ Jul 13th 2008 2:19PM

I would think Ed Boon's real involvement in this game was limited to cashing a check. Not that it would save this heaping pile of garbage anyway...

ChangeOfFate @ Jul 12th 2008 7:39PM

Wouldn't our hand break if we punched Superman anywhere on his body? I mean I'm no realist but sheesh... let's at least stick to some kind of parameters here.

sleepneed @ Jul 12th 2008 8:29PM

No the "magical energies" of the MK Universe cause him to be susceptible to damage or some other lame reason like that. Anyways this game is looking worse as time goes by. I miss the buckets of blood...

ChangeOfFate @ Jul 12th 2008 11:39PM

OH OH I know!

It's because they are fighting in Outworld in Superman doesn't have the power of the Sun?

(lol)

Brock @ Jul 13th 2008 1:05AM

I think it looks kool as shit

ryan @ Jul 13th 2008 1:44AM

you have severely limited tastes my friend.

Darkwun @ Jul 13th 2008 6:44AM

i'm not saying i agree with the concept, as i'm a M vs C 2 kinda guy but the purist comic geeks need to stop bitching about having DC superheroes fighting on par with MK fighters if a few yrs ago someone told me i'd be addicted to a game where Roll from Megaman could slap Sentinal from X-Men about i would've flipped the middle finger and been skeptical as well....

Let the gameplay be the basis for ur complaints....

ryan @ Jul 13th 2008 12:21PM

see, that's only because MvC was based on the Capcom fighting games, y'know the ones that are fun with great character design, gameplay and animation. that's why it worked so well.

this one is based off of the Mortal Kombat games, with lounge in cheek finishing moves, mediocre character design, stiff gameplay and sub par animations.

and THAT, my friend, is why purist comic book geeks should be upset. that their beloved fake superheroes are being packaged into a mediocre fighter universe.

ryan @ Jul 13th 2008 12:30PM

*tongue in cheek finishing moves. not an entire lounge.
-_-

Stranger @ Jul 13th 2008 2:16PM

That looks Midway built a time machine and went back to 1995 so as to kidnap Rare's Killer Instinct team and bring them wholly intact to the present.

Then they tried to force more than a decade's worth of game design evolution down their throats, wrap their head around new technology, and then have them build a Mortal Kombat game with Batman in it while being held captive at gunpoint.

Epic fail.

Dralthi @ Jul 14th 2008 1:23PM

Wow...this is pretty disappointing to watch. I get the feeling that Midway took a step backwards with the MK franchise while watching this.

Watching Superman taking hits to the face by some random Mortal Kombat dude justs seems pretty lame to me. I don't care what excuse they make in the story of this game that renders Superman susceptible to physical harm. It just feels all wrong.

I wasn't a huge fan of the animations either. When the characters are standing still they look like they are wobbling all over the place like they're drunk or something.

I loved MK: Deadly Alliance last generation but this just isn't doing it for me. It doesn't look like they've progressed the franchise at all. It just looks and feels stagnant.