Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe Review

The Good

• DC characters are a good fit with the MK gang
• Satisfying fighting system
• Enjoyably goofy storylines
• Great visual presentation
• Smooth online play.

The Bad

• Some powerful moves are easy to exploit
• Few options to aid new players
• Toned-down gore.

In a way, it feels as if many fighting game characters have stepped right out of the pages of a comic book. They wear bizarre costumes, spend a lot of time punching and kicking other people, and possess inexplicable powers. Pitting fighting game characters against comic book heroes and villains has been done before, and in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the meshing of Raiden's crew and Superman's posse makes for some pretty exciting action--especially online. But even as the game moves the series back toward the fundamental strengths of Mortal Kombat in some ways, it departs from the series' essence in others. As a result, longtime fans may be left with mixed feelings, and newcomers drawn to the series for the first time by the inclusion of DC characters may find it hard to get a handle on things.

Fans of the DC characters will be pleased with how well they've made the transition to a fighting game.

The story that explains just how these two distinct sets of outlandishly attired, superpowered beings clash is such pure, unabashed comic book silliness that you'll have a hard time not being won over. Simultaneous mishaps involving Darkseid in the DC universe and Shao Kahn in the MK universe result in these two evil beings merging into the exponentially evil Dark Kahn. Dark Kahn's power causes the two universes to begin fusing, and the heroes and villains on each side of the universal divide mistakenly blame the weirdos from the other side for invading their land. This merging of universes also causes severe imbalances in the powers of some characters, and serves as a convenient excuse for how the Joker can go toe-to-toe with Superman and have a fighting chance. As you play through the game's two story mode offerings, the flimsy excuses that cause the unlikely matchups almost become something of a running joke, and help make these modes fun for the few hours that they last.

Unless you've somehow managed to avoid playing a fighting game for your entire life, you'll immediately grasp the basic concept of MK vs. DC: punch, kick, throw, and otherwise bludgeon your opponent into submission before they do the same to you. While some Mortal Kombat games have offered two or three fighting styles per character, MK vs. DC does away with that, creating a back-to-basics feel that switches the emphasis back to the special moves that really differentiate the characters. And while the action takes place in 3D and you can move left and right in the environment as well as back and forth, sidestepping is slow and only occasionally useful. The majority of the action takes place on a 2D plane, which also contributes to the game feeling very much like a solid return to the roots of the Mortal Kombat series. The action is fast-paced, controls tightly, and is just a lot of fun.

With a total of 22 playable characters, the roster may be a bit short compared to what fans of the series have come to expect, but it makes up for that by making each character play very differently from the others. The 11 Mortal Kombat warriors on hand are all top-shelf, and while one or two of the DC characters may seem like odd choices the majority of them mesh surprisingly well with the MK crowd. While the powers of some DC characters have been toned down a bit as a result of that darn universe-merging fluctuation of energies, the characters themselves have been created here with a great deal of loyalty to the source material. Their personalities are intact, and the arsenals of special attacks at their disposal are impressive.

While the core gameplay is largely a return to the feel of the early Mortal Kombat games, there are some elements here that are pretty minor when taken individually, but add up to make MK vs. DC distinctly different from its predecessors. There are a few minigames that pop up when certain circumstances occur, and they all blend in to the action seamlessly. For example, if you're close to your opponent, you can attempt to grab him or her and initiate Klose Kombat. If you're successful, the camera will pull in, and for a short time, you can perform a variety of painful-looking moves by pressing one of the four face buttons. There's a great risk-versus-reward dynamic at play: your button presses are displayed onscreen, and if your opponents match them, they'll counter your attack with powerful blows of their own and escape from Klose Kombat in the process. It's a cool system that gives the attacker a decent advantage but still offers the defender a pretty good chance of turning the tables.

A very similar minigame is initiated any time one player knocks another to a lower level of the arena. As in Klose Kombat, the attacker can pummel the defender by pushing face buttons, and the defender can turn the tables by matching the attacker's inputs. In Free Fall Kombat, the attacker is able, after a damage meter has been filled to a certain point with standard attacks, to execute a special move that sends the opponent flying into the ground below in a particularly painful, damaging way. Like Klose Kombat, there's a good risk-versus-reward principle at work here, and the fact that these fisticuffs are taking place while the characters dramatically plummet through the air gives the action a larger-than-life, comic book feel.

Falling through the air is no excuse to stop punching each other.

Last and least among the minigames is Test Your Might, which occurs in certain areas when one combatant lands a powerful attack on the other and sends the opponent flying back against a wall. The initiator then charges at the defender and propels the latter through the walls of the office building or dungeon. Both parties then pound on the buttons as furiously as they can. If the attacker out-pounds the defender, more damage will be done, while the defender pounds buttons in the hopes of reducing the amount of damage he or she suffers. The simplicity of this minigame makes it less compelling than the other two, and only three of the game's 14 arenas have the horizontal arrangement for it, so it occurs far less frequently.

One final, important addition to the action here is the rage meter, which fills up as you take damage or are blocked by your opponent. Your build-up of rage can be used for one of two things. If the meter is halfway full or more, you can spend one full segment of it on a combo breaker, immediately putting a stop to the flurry of attacks your opponent is unleashing. If both sections are full, you can opt to spend the whole thing to enter rage mode, which allows you to pummel your opponent uninterrupted by his or her attacks and fight your way through his or her blocks, though you'll still take damage from any blows he or she lands. Either of these can turn the tables in a fight if used well, and since using rage for one purpose sacrifices your ability to use it for the other, this seemingly simple feature calls for some significant and often split-second decision-making.

Mirror's Edge Review

The Good

• Flawless runs provide a total rush
• Clean and striking visual design
• Fantastic sound effects and music.

The Bad

• Frustrating amount of trial and error
• Cramped jumping puzzles trip up the momentum
• Combat and gunplay are weak.

Like its heroine, Faith, Mirror's Edge tries to hurdle some significant obstacles, but unlike Faith, it can't always make the leap. No doubt, this fascinating action platformer possesses its share of innovations, from a first-person perspective to a clean and crisp visual style, yet it looks to the past more than you may initially notice. This is a modern-day iteration of an old-fashioned platformer, in which you're meant to play and replay sequences of jumps, grabs, and slides until you get them perfect, or at least perfect enough to continue. But unlike its ancestors, Mirror's Edge is more about speed and momentum, and when you can connect your moves in a flawless stream of silky movement, it's eminently thrilling and satisfying. Unfortunately, Mirror's Edge has a tendency to trip over its own feet, keeping you slipping and sliding blissfully along, only to have a tedious jumping puzzle or hazy objective put the brakes on. Leaderboard chasers looking to set a speedrun record will find Mirror's Edge to be pure gold. Others will give up, alienated by the inherent trial and error of the game's basic design. At the very least, there's nothing quite like it, and it deserves a cautious look by anyone who appreciates games that hew their own path.

Faith and her fellow runners discuss the finer points of antidisestablishmentarianism.

Faith is a runner, in more ways than one. In the oppressed, fictitious society of Mirror's Edge, runners are an underground network of couriers, carrying sensitive information and documents from sender to receiver. The content of these messages is never clear, nor does it matter much; rather, the story's conflict revolves around Faith's sister, a cop who is framed for the murder of a mayoral candidate promising to bring change to the totalitarian government and bring hope to the runners living on the fringe. Soon, Faith is running for a different reason: to uncover the conspiracy at the heart of the murder and clear her sister's name. The story is straightforward, but it's interesting enough to keep you involved, and though it ends with a sequel-hinting cliffhanger, it wraps things up enough to feel fulfilling nonetheless. More intriguingly, the story plays out between missions in stylish animated cutscenes, as well as scenes within the game engine itself, which also look attractive but feature a completely different art style. Both types look good, but the disparity is a little odd.

And so you run--across rooftops, through train stations, and along walls. As you run, you pick up speed and are able to string a number of moves together in rapid succession. You can slide under pipes, bound over railings, and leap across impossible-looking chasms, among other techniques. The most obvious twist in Mirror's Edge, of course, is that you do all of this from a first-person view, rather than with the typical third-person camera we've come to expect. It's an interesting spin, if not wholly new (Montezuma's Return for the PC was blazing this trail in 1998), and it has a way of immersing you as you speed toward your destination. Actions like balancing on a narrow beam, sliding under a ledge at top speed, and tumbling when you land a long jump are fun to execute and look neat, but it may also make you wonder how much fun it would be to see what Faith looks like when she pulls off these neat stunts, which isn't possible in this game.

Nevertheless, Mirror's Edge excels when you hit that snappy stride, and once you've found the best route through a particularly tricky scenario, it's exhilarating to rush through it without a care to weigh you down. But this doesn't happen the first time, or even the fifth time, you do it. You will need to experiment and hone your skills, because a simple mistake can send you plunging down onto the street below, or will at very least interrupt your stride. You're expected to play each level multiple times to learn the routes that best propel you along, which is great the 10th time around but is often an infuriating series of false starts, mistimed jumps, and full stops the first few attempts. If you need a hand, you can hold a button to activate runner vision, which turns the camera toward your destination, but it's an imprecise solution that sometimes points you toward a short-term objective and other times points you toward your long-term goal.

The early going will deliver more spills than thrills.

Another inconsistently helpful tool comes directly from the game's impressive art design. Mirror's Edge is a game of visual contrasts, in which stark white environments contrast with vivid colors. It looks beautiful and clean, and it's a great way of demonstrating both the bleakness of an authoritarian society and the unique manner in which a runner would see the world--as an array of landing points and jumping opportunities. Important ramps, doorways, ladders, and other points of interest are painted in a vibrant red, which is an important visual cue in some of the broader levels. However, this element too is delivered inconsistently; in some cases, the red hue may not fade in until you are close to the pole or vaulting point in question, and in other cases, Mirror's Edge expects you to figure things out without this visual assistance.

For a game that relies on so much forward momentum, Mirror's Edge has a way of bringing the pace to a halt. Sometimes this is because of the nature of trial-and-error gameplay: fall, die, reload checkpoint. At other times, it's because you're faced with an intricate jumping puzzle that eschews the sense of speed entirely, such as one that has you descending into the depths of the water supply system and then up again. These aren't bad, but they're not particularly engaging either; you're more likely to feel relieved when you reach your destination, rather than fulfilled. Or you'll be zooming along, only to find yourself in an elevator, reading the news crawl on the wall's electronic panel while the level apparently loads in the background. In all of these cases, you're torn from the experience and reminded that this is, after all, just a game.

Armed enemies further complicate matters. It's best to run right past them when possible, but their bullets have a way of bringing you to your knees as you rush around looking for the best escape route. Some foe-heavy scenarios are particularly annoying, such as a sniper-loaded sequence in the final level. You can confront the threat head-on in some cases, but it requires careful planning and excellent timing. You can perform some close-combat moves like jumpkicks and punches, but these are best when used as hit-and-run tactics; trying to engage in melees with more than one or two enemies at a time is a quick path to the most recent checkpoint. Conversely, you can disarm an enemy with a quick-time event, pressing the disarm button when your foe's weapon flashes red. If you want to hold on to it, you can fire off a few shots until the clip runs out. Faith is ultravulnerable to gunfire, however, and the gunplay is loose and unfulfilling. If you have trouble keeping things in check (it takes some split-second timing to land a pitch-perfect disarm), you can enter a limited-use slow-motion mode, which comes in handy and makes some of these action-focused moves look cool but ultimately doesn't add much to the gameplay.

If you can overlook the array of quirks long enough to find your stride, you'll want to check out the beat-your-record races and level speedruns. Both modes feature online leaderboards, and both cater to the players most likely to get the most out of Mirror's Edge. In a sense, the single-player story is simply a practice run for being a virtual show-off, yet the players repeating these levels, because they'll learn them to perfection, are also the ones likely to see Mirror's Edge at its most thrilling. But even casual players will take to the unusual controls, though the trigger-centric jumping and crouching may take some getting used to. For what it's worth, the PlayStation 3's Sixaxis and Dual Shock 3 controllers offer a slightly more comfortable experience in this regard; the clicky shoulder buttons on the Xbox 360 pad are fine but are a little less enjoyable to use.

The world of tomorrow--today!

While the visuals deserve kudos for their unusually crisp style, the audio deserves its own high praise. Sound effects like Faith's breathy heaves and plodding footsteps are authentic touches that heighten the sense of speed and tension. The voice acting is equally terrific, but it's the pulsing, driving soundtrack that impresses most. Its rhythmic flow augments Faith's most fluid runs, while subtle notes fill in the silence during downtimes. The superb musical journey culminates in a fantastic vocal track that plays during the game's final credits.

Mirror's Edge is many things: invigorating, infuriating, fulfilling, and confusing. It isn't for everybody, and it stumbles often for a game that holds velocity in such high esteem. But even with all its foibles and frustrations, it makes some impressive leaps; it just doesn't nail the landing.

Tekken 6 First Impression

Namco showed us a brief peek of its upcoming slugfest, and it left us hungry for more.

At the recent Atari Live showcase in central London, Namco Bandai was on hand to show off the latest in the Tekken series. Sadly, we're yet to get hands-on with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 version of the game, but project lead Katsuhiro Harada-san was happy to demonstrate some of its features for us.

There are 40 characters in total, from old favourites to newcomers.

Tekken 6 has 40 characters in total, the greatest number in the series to date. Harada-san pointed out a few of the key characters to us such as Lars, a Swedish fighter sporting a rock star look, and Alisa Bosconovitch, a robot who can throw her head at opponents with explosive results, and can fire her limbs off. Meanwhile, Bob is an obese, barrel-chested American fighter who deliberately gained weight to improve his performance. Combined with his unusually fast speed, this should make him a formidable opponent. Leo is a German kung fu-style fighter with effeminate looks and a questionable gender. Zafina is the first Middle Eastern character to feature in the game; others to be included for the first time in a console version of the game are Dragunov and Lili, from the PSP's Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. In total there are eight new characters since Tekken 5.

Fans of the series won't be surprised that Tekken 6 is looking gorgeous, with highly detailed character models and levels. All of the fighters we saw had impressive animation routines, and we can't wait to get our hands on the game. According to Harada-san, Tekken 6 will run at 60 frames per second with updated graphics including new "close processing" effects and full-body motion blur, giving the action a very fluid, smooth look. The costumes and characters are separate objects, giving clothes a natural, flowing look. Arenas have also been given an overhaul and should be a lot more dynamic this time around and feature persistent damage. You'll be able to slam an enemy through the ground, for example, and depending on the stage you can break through certain floors or walls into a new area. In a village stage we saw, the ground was full of mud and dirt, but certain areas in the middle had bricks that were destructible. Meanwhile, another stage had a glass floor, making the destructible areas obvious.

While Tekken has featured aerial combos previously, a new feature that Harada-san called a "bound combo system" allows you to string aerial and ground-based attacks together. You'll be able to launch opponents into the air, followed by slamming them into the ground or a wall, which will bounce them back up into the air to continue your combo. While you can string combos together, you won't be able to do it indefinitely: Harada-san also pointed out that the health meter will glow red when it drops below a certain point. Attacks will become more powerful when you are low on health, so you'll need to plan your attacks carefully, keeping in mind the system will kick in once your opponent's health drops to a certain level.

You'll also be able to pull off some cool taunts. If your character has a gun, for instance, you can pull it out and use it as a taunt. Some characters can pick up chickens walking around the stage and make them attack, or you can cast a spell, turning your opponent's head into a stuffed panda in the process. Some taunts will cause your opponent to lose health, and we're told they will all be quite difficult to pull off, so you'll need to make sure you're out of harm's way when attempting one.

Harada-san was also keen to mention Tekken 6 will have real-time online versus play, and that while they've yet to reveal it, the team is also planning to include another online mode. Ghost data will also be downloadable, which runs the particular characteristic to how a given player fights. You'll also be able to learn techniques through replays of fights, and you can join up with your friends to form an online team.

Tekken's graphics run at a silky-smooth 60fps.

Tekken 6 will be heading to the Xbox 360 and PS3 in the second half of 2009. For more on the game, stay tuned to GameSpot as development continues.

Left 4 Dead Review

The Good

• Dynamic enemy placement make each play-through different
• Tight controls and well-tuned guns
• Stiff challenge makes survival difficult and thrilling
• Versus mode expertly turns the tables
• Killing survivors is as fun as killing zombies (if not more so).

The Bad

• Campaign is less fun when played alone
• Only four campaign maps.

The zombie apocalypse. Be honest: You've thought about it. When most humans have been turned into shambling, flesh-hungry monsters, how will you fare? Whether you fancy yourself an intrepid survivor or an infected savage, Left 4 Dead is the game for you. Battling your way through the grim, desolate world is always tense and challenging, thanks to the unpredictable, relentless enemies. It's equally thrilling to play as one of the zombies (aka the infected), coordinating deadly ambushes as you try to kill the survivors. Nevertheless, Left 4 Dead's well-crafted gameplay simply must be experienced in multiplayer. Human teammates (or enemies) make each play-through dynamic, mitigating the game's two hang-ups: limited map selection and uninspired friendly AI. Despite these hitches, Left 4 Dead is a remarkably fun, excitingly tense game that will make you want to revisit the apocalypse again and again.

For the last time, zombie doctor, you can NOT take my temperature!

There are four campaigns in Left 4 Dead, each spanning five levels. The first four levels end in safe houses (places to heal and rearm free of the zombie menace), and the final level ends in a desperate stand as you wait for your rescue vehicle to arrive. You'll travel through urban, suburban, and rural areas, each one grim, desolate, and littered with evidence of the apocalyptic event. You never learn exactly what happened, but the rich environments and thoughtful graffiti set the stage expertly. One campaign on normal difficulty (the second of four tiers) takes about an hour to complete, so you'll soon become familiar with each set of maps. Although the limited selection and grim, overcast color palette can sometimes feel a bit repetitious, the dynamic enemies, varying weapon and ammo spawns, and ever-changing human factor combine to make each play-through feel surprisingly unique.

Left 4 Dead stars four charismatic survivors whose appearances and personalities add an immersive element to the game. They each banter in appropriate, often amusing ways when healthy, and they become more subdued and anxious when injured. The character models are top-notch, and there's nothing quite like looking at the macho biker when he is injured and seeing fear creep across his face as he begins to doubt that he'll survive. Seeing the relief on his face when you heal him is almost as satisfying as the relief you'll feel when your AI allies heal you. Their team spirit doesn't stop there: they'll shout out when the find ammo or health, and, crucially, will pick you up when you've been incapacitated by an enemy.

For all of their good qualities, you'll definitely appreciate your fellow survivors more when there's human controlling them. AI teammates are definitely competent when it comes to killing the infected, rescuing you from the enemy's clutches, and reviving you when you're down. However, they aren't particularly keen on using explosives or defending strategically, so while you choose to camp out on an elevated platform to better defend against the horde, they generally won't be inclined to join you. Though you can certainly end up with equally uncooperative human teammates, you can at least communicate your strategy to them or, in a pinch, call an on-the-fly vote to boot them from the game.

They've got Francis!!

When you play with one or more competent teammates, Left 4 Dead is an absolute blast. Even if you've played every level many times, you'll still find the infected are distributed in different, unpredictable patterns. They may be milling around in a parking lot, half-oblivious to your passing, or they may come screaming at you from around a corner or over a building. They look nasty, run fast, scream hideously, claw viciously, and, best of all, they die in a wide variety of superbly animated ways (often with explosive decapitations or flying limbs). You might get jumped in a hallway, stairwell, both, or neither. Each area of the level becomes a potential battleground, so you have to be constantly vigilant, ready to make a defensive stand or rescue a teammate at a moment's notice.

The difficulty changes as you play. The game throws tougher, more numerous foes at dominant survivors and offers periods of respite or more frequent resupply to beleaguered teams. You carry one primary weapon, like a shotgun or assault rifle, as well as one (or two) pistols with unlimited ammunition. You can also pick up pipe bombs and molotov cocktails, which are each fantastically deadly in their own unique ways. These powerful explosives, along with primary weapon ammo and health boosts, are vital to your survival. However, supplies are often hidden in rooms that are slightly off the beaten path, and slowing down to explore more areas will put you at higher risk for a zombie attack. This risk-reward element adds another strategic consideration, which further ramps up the tension. There are so many ways that your journey could go awry, from human error to strategic miscalculation to flat-out zombie inundation, that you'll have to be constantly on your toes to adapt if you hope to survive. It is this tension that keeps each campaign uniquely challenging and makes survival so fantastically rewarding.

Of course, your goal isn't always survival. When you play Versus mode, it is often the exact opposite. Two teams of up to four players each compete for points in this mode. Survivors earn points by progressing through the campaigns, though only two of the four are playable in this mode. The infected earn points by damaging and killing survivors, and the teams switch sides at the end of each level. Furthermore, the infected players spawn as zombies with special powers. Boomers vomit on survivors, marking them as targets for the ravenous horde of normal zombies; smokers lasso survivors with a long, froglike tongue; hunters pounce and viciously tear survivors apart; and the rare tank just smashes everyone with his massive bulk. It's frightening enough to encounter these uniquely deadly enemies in the campaign mode, dealing with their disgusting sounds and vicious attacks that seem to come at the worst times. It's a whole different level of horror when you know it's your friend who has pinned you down and is clawing out your guts.

Aaaaaand... pounce!

For survivors, Versus mode is a faster-paced game because the longer you take, the more opportunities the infected have to ambush you. For the infected, it's a whole different Left 4 Dead experience. Instead of fighting your way through an endless, nebulous enemy force as you drive toward your objective, you have to plan and execute targeted strikes on a small, mobile group. The areas you once plotted to defend now become grounds for ambush. There are even certain walls that the infected can climb or break through, creating entirely new routes for moving through each level. Zombie players have to be careful because they are much weaker than survivors and can easily fall victim to bullets from any of the game's well-tuned weapons. However, they will continue to spawn until the survivors die or reach safety, so they have multiple opportunities to spring attacks throughout the level. It's very satisfying to vomit on your survivor friends, summoning the horde to devour them. It's a whole different level of awesomeness to drag them out of the resulting chaos and slowly choke them to death as they desperately call for help.

Between the tense campaign and the frenetic Versus mode, Left 4 Dead offers two distinct flavors of multiplayer action that are equally delicious when enjoyed with friends. The single-player experience (and the marginally better but somewhat sluggish split-screen mode) isn't as tasty, simply because the friendly AI can't compare to a human teammate. Between play sessions, you may find yourself craving more maps, but once you're in the game, you'll be so consumed by your quest to survive that you'll likely be grateful for your knowledge of the terrain. It's a tricky proposition for a game to serve up such seemingly meager variety, but Left 4 Dead does so with panache, and gamers will likely be enjoying this recipe for a long time.