Mortal Kombat Armageddon Review

Mortal Kombat. The name is synonomous with blood, gore, violence, brutality, and absolute awesomeness. I don't think any other fighting series has demonstrated as much success as Midway's much evolved and modified lovechild. With at least a dozen various entries spanning many systems and gaming styles, Mortal Kombat has achieved immortality with the fans of good old-fashioned brutal bloodshed.

The latest game, rumored to be the final installment, has shown in full Midway's love of innovating upon this already revolutionary franchise, and the steady revamping and modification of an old favorite to bring new flavor and fun to an old standby.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon excels in what it is: rough n' tough beat-em-up action with pervasive gore and brutality. It delivers the basic combat system you've come to expect from the series, and also introduces a number of exclusive features that solidify its place in the MK Hall of Fame.

Combat is very similar to its precursor, Mortal Kombat Deception, with a few slight shifts. Instead of the characters each having three separate fighting styles to swap amongst, they've been cut down to two apiece, and some of them seem rather similar. In general, each character has a traditional fighting style accompanied by a second fighting style in which they utilize their signature weapon. Even most of the bosses have multiple styles, but there are a few exceptions including Onaga, Blaze, Moloch, and oddly enough Smoke, who possesses two different nonweapon fighting styles.

Another amazing combat feature is the addition of aerial combat. While it doesn't compare to other games which have put a lot of focus on it, such as the third person action/adventure games like Devil May Cry and God of War, it still adds a nice element to the gameplay and allows for extension of basic land combos to land some pretty impressive attacks.