Mortal Kombat (not a review, really)

After watching my husband play the newest Mortal Kombat for a couple hours last night, I was less and less interested in devoting any time or electronic space toward the game, but I thought it might be good practice to not simply use this blog to gush about games I like, and consider games that are abhorrent to the nature of the medium.

I mean, Mortal Kombat - let's start with the K thing.  You have Kombatants that use Kombos and collect Koins to spend in the Krypt in order to buy new Kombat Kodes.  Seriously.  I like that the game is taking an idea and running with it, but it's such a painful molestation of the English language, I'm surprised the whole game isn't banned on poor taste alone (speaking of which, you know you can't ban violent games, but that doesn't mean that games that are violent are any good, nicely summed up here by GamerDad).

So, while frustratingly watching the love of my life attempt to pull off what the game implied were "simple" combos (sorry, Kombos), I was treated to a little taste of what the game had to offer: by inputing several combinations of buttons and tilting the left analog stick, your on-screen avatar performs simple martial feats (a punch here, a kick there), or hereto unknown mystical abilities like shooting lightning out of your fingers.

There are characters (or, maybe they are Kracters...?) such as Johnny Cage, who have - I guess what I can't find a better word for: personalties, which are intended to enhance the button-mashing gameplay somehow, but I'm having trouble caring at all; I am not entirely sure that in the Venn Diagram of gaming that includes "people who like games about beating each other up" and "people who like games with well crafted stories" has a great deal of overlap.

I'm not a huge fan of fighting games to begin with.  Except for the Super Smash Bros. series, they are all rather contrite, and what's more: they are designed to play with other people.  Other people, you say?  Playing video games with them... simultaneously?  No, thank you.

The game boasts some new things (because I suppose just punching each other all the time is boring), one of which is "x-ray moves" which show the bones of your opponent being shattered.  The problem herein is that after you shatter your opponent's kneecaps, he or she gets up and does cartwheels all over the place.  Not a lot of continuity.  There are tag-team battles and so forth, but it's a snooze-fest really.

All in all, I'm not sure it was worth the full-price tag we paid for it, but if it's your thing, I guess it does look nice...