Preview of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks for Playstation 2 (PS2) and XBox

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is still a month away, but we have the demo in our hands and thought we’d share it. We were always taught that it was better to share than to play unreleased games and keep it to ourselves.

First, let’s have a little history lesson. Mortal Kombat was a fighting game that was a good alternative to Street Fighter. What made it stand out was its combo system, its different graphics, and oh yeah, the gore. MK made a couple of forays into the 3D battlefield with varying degrees of success. But they also made a couple of lackluster action titles, namely Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces. Well, enough of the history lesson, you want to know if Shaolin Monks is any good. Well, in a word, yes.

It took Midway a couple of tries, but they dominated the 3D fighting genre with Mortal Kombat: Deception. And well, I guess it took a couple of tries to get the action genre right, but now they’ve done it. Shaolin Monks has all the gore and speed you’d expect from an MK game. But now it’s in the form of an action game.

The version we played started right after Shang Tsung’s defeat. Raiden tells Kung Lao and Lui Kang that even though they defeated the evil sorcerer, now they need to escape his island before he sinks or falls apart or something. Well, you basically fight your way out of Goro’s lair. You have your quick hit, your heavy hit, a throw, and your jump to start with. You can also play alone or cooperatively.

The levels were divided into small areas with a couple of beasts attacking you at once. The good news is that you can quickly attack in all directions, so it’s not a big deal if you’re surrounded. After a while, you get your character’s signature moves that you perform by holding down the R button and pressing an attack button. So you have your kills. To use your kills, you need to fill the kill meter by performing combos. Then, once it’s full, press the appropriate button and enter the fatal sequence to end your enemy’s useless life.

The graphics are very good. The textures are realistic and the world has a vivid feel. My main complaint about the game is that there is a loading time between each individual area. But it’s the tradeoff to keep the graphics with Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is doing very well and is already quite fun. Hopefully the final version will have enough gameplay and extras to keep you going, and remember, watch out for the flaming monks.