I’ve had a very love-hate relationship with Mortal Kombat games over the years.  Each of the first three games ate a large number of my quarters in the arcades of my misspent youth, but I  hated the last few games that have come out. With the addition of multiple fighting styles, and combos I can’t remember, let alone execute, the series just sort of lost my attention somewhere along the line. That’s why I’m happy to report that MK vs DCU has brought much of what I loved about the older games back to the series in a new way.

MK vs DCU has several single player modes including story, arcade, practice, and kombo. The story mode feels like something straight out of a comic book. It’s told from two sides: that of the DC universe, and that of Earth Realm, and each campaign puts you in the shoes of various characters from either of the two universes.  It goes something like this: in a simultaneous blunder, Superman blasts Darkseid with heat vision as he’s stepping through a portal, and Raiden blasts Shao Khan with a lightening bolt as he’s stepping though a portal—mayhem ensues. The two universes begin to merge, and everyone gets infected with some sort of magical rage that offsets…. well everything. This plot device is also the reason Superman can be injured by, let’s say, Jax. See, Superman is vulnerable to magic, and the merging universes produce magic fluctuations…. it seems less silly when the game explains it, I promise. The arcade mode is exactly what you’re expecting. You pick a character, and work your way up the ladder until you get to the big boss. The big boss then creams you, and you try again and again until you either get frustrated and give up, or beat him. The AI gets cheaper and cheaper the further you progress through either the story mode, or the arcade mode. Your AI controlled opponent will perform combos, and demonstrate timing that are most likely beyond human capabilities. It can get frustrating sometimes, but never to the point where I personally felt like giving up on the game. Practice mode gives you the chance to kick around an opponent that won’t attack you back, so you can “practice” the various special moves available to you in the game. Kombo mode challenges you to perform various combos. It’s a great training tool to teach you how to play the game effectively.

When it comes to combos and executing moves, this game plays like a dream. Even without an arcade stick, or a decent d-pad (I played it on the 360) I was able to execute moves and combos with a high success rate. That’s not to say that the combos are all simple, but rather that the game acknowledges it when you’re executing a combo, and doesn’t expect your fingers to move faster than a speeding bullet. Thankfully, Midway decided to ditch the multiple fighting styles, and you no longer have to master the 50 hit combo to have any hope of success at this game. They have also made a few welcome additions. You can now engage your enemy in some comic book style mid air combat. Depending on who’s on the bottom when you land, you will either deal, or receive up to 30% damage from one of these mid air grapples. One mid air grapple can easily change the balance of power in any given match. Also, it’s now much easier to break a combo. If you’re getting pummeled by your opponent, it’s fairly easy to not only break their combo, but then go on the offensive yourself.

Let’s face it: while matches against the AI are fun, nothing beats kicking the crap out of a real live human opponent. The online multiplayer is extremely competent. I played a fair number of matches, and saw no evidence of lag. I had no trouble getting into a match, and no trouble with the connection once the match had started.

If you’re the type that enjoys modding your Hori controller with special order joysticks and buttons, you may want to rent this game before putting your hard earned money down to buy it. MK vs DCU isn’t as complex as some of the previous games in the series, and that may be a turn off to some people. Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of it. A solid fighting mechanic, and solid online play make this an enjoyable fighting game.

-Mike Kurz

Tags: Cross Platform, finish him, Microsoft, MK vs DCU, PS3, review, Sony, Xbox 360

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