Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Tags: good versus evil, violence, cruelty

Plot synopsis:
Shaolin Monks spans the events of Mortal Kombat II, starting with the aftermath of the first Mortal Kombat. The battle rages furiously on Shang Tsung's island fortress in the Lost Sea, as the sorcerer watches the fighters his soldiers to protect Earthrealm. The Earthrealm's Shaolin monk Liu Kang defeats Shang Tsung, and the warrior Goro comes to his defense. With Goro distracting everyone else, Shang Tsung creates a portal to Outworld and retreats. Thunder god Raiden appears afterwards and warns the remaining fighters to get off the island palace because it is collapsing into the sea. Everyone, except Liu Kang and Kung Lao, evacuates and escape back to the Wu Shi Academy. Liu Kang and Kung Lao, however, have to fight their way to another portal to get to Wu Shi Academy. Upon arrival, Raiden awards his warriors for saving Earthrealm. However, Baraka and the Tarkatan attack the Wu Shi Academy. Although the Tarkatans are defeated, Baraka captures Sonya Blade. Raiden confirms that Shang Tsung is trying to lure Liu Kang and his allies to Outworld where he can order his henchmen to attack them and bide his time for power. If successful, Shang Tsung will conquer Earth without winning a Mortal Kombat tournament, which is cheating.
Liu Kang and Kung Lao journey through the nightmarish realm of Outworld to stop the sorcerer's plot. They are guided by Raiden and assisted by Johnny Cage. Throughout their journeys, they meet several allies and learn of another person who wants Earth; the Emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. During their journey, all of Liu Kang's and Kung Lao's allies are captured. Once reaching Shao Kahn, Shang Tsung is revealed to have been impersonating Raiden on occasion in the pair's journey so that each of soldier's defeats will enhance his powers enough to steal Shao Kahn's rule of Outworld. The two Shaolin Monks defeat Shang Tsung, and Kintaro and are challenged by Shao Kahn. With the real Raiden's help, Liu Kang and Kung Lao finish the Emperor and both are given the title of champions. With their friends and Outworld safe, Raiden's group returns to Earthrealm to celebrate their victory. But unbeknownst to the others, Quan Chi picks up his Amulet and manically laughs concluding the story.

Review: The evolution of Kombat. "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks" is the next stage of evolution for the revolutionary "Mortal Kombat" fighting game franchise. As envisioned by ko-kreators/programmers Ed Boon and John Tobias during the early 1990s, "Mortal Kombat" took the world of martial arts video-gaming by storm. As a fan of "Mortal Kombat" since 1993, "Shaolin Monks" has a fascinating premise behind it not evident before in any "Kombat" game, but unfortunately it's also marred by some harsh excesses in the gameplay and other problems.I feel a brief recap should suffice: the first "Mortal Kombat" was released in 1992, and it took gaming a step further than most would have ever dared to take it. Praised for its hardcore martial arts action and gratuitous bloodshed, it also received the biting end of much controversy, due to the latter. But that didn't stop people from going crazy on their friends in simulated kombative environments."Mortal Kombat II" and "Mortal Kombat 3" continued the koncept established by the first game, while adding new characters and sets. 1997's "Mortal Kombat 4" introduced two new elements to make the fighting experience even more revolutionary - the addition of weapons, and all-out arena fighting; kombatants were no longer confined to 2D kombat where two fighters fought on a narrow walkway on the screen.But that game endured a poor reception from fans and critics who felt this once-great franchise was wearing out its welcome. So, Boon and Tobias and their kreators went to work to give their most prized pet project a long overdue image overhaul. Their first, 2002's "Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance," had crisp graphics, introduced new and old characters, and carried over the koncept laid out in "4." Kombatants were now masters of three fighting styles (two fighting styles and one weapon style) and kombat was at its peak in the beautifully designed arenas and brutal bouts of action.Last year's nostalgic "Mortal Kombat: Deception" took another step by basically continuing the same koncepts but introduced the "Konquest mode" and the "Puzzle" and "Chess" modes, which made for addictive gameplay outside arcade kombat while still remaining true to the title. During this time, two feature length films were also produced. Now, we're at this year's "Shaolin Monks." Whew.Set shortly after the events of the first game, demon sorcerer Shang Tsung and his minions have retreated to Outworld and Mortal Kombat champion Liu Kang and fellow Shaolin monk Kung Lao are enlisted by the thunder god Rayden to track him down and defeat him. Thus, the two warriors embark on a journey that will carry them from realm to realm, from their home base of Wushi Academy to the hellish Outworld. Along the way, they'll encounter their fair share of supernatural nasties, many of whom will be hastily and brutally dispatched by the two with an array of impressive moves.I must say I am quite impressed with this entry. The adventure has been taken out of the arenas this time and has been replaced with straight-up brawling in a free-for-all RPG-style adventure. One kombatant can take up to as many as six adversaries in a single confrontation. You can play as either Liu Kang or Kung Lao (or both if you opt for the ko-op feature) or you can duke it out with a friend (no CPU this time, sorry) in versus mode.The levels are complex and the animation looks great, and the actual battles are as brutal and wild as they have ever been; the interactive environments also add to the fun. The player must also learn various platform abilities (like wall run, swinging, double jumps, FIST OF RUIN!) to access impossible or hard-to-reach areas, and you must also be on the lookout for various secrets hidden in the game. In addition to that, the traditional special moves and fatalities of Liu Kang and Kung Lao are there too. Speaking of fatalities, we've also been introduced to multalities (being able to kill multiple enemies at once) and brutalities, which only heightens the battle-related carnage.Unfortunately, however, in these moments of joy, it's also marred by a few problems that tend to get in the way of the gameplay. One thing, and this was the biggest for me, is the lousy camera system. Views can be changed but not by much. If you're trying to get an idea of the layout of an area, you can only change the camera's position so far, which is usually not enough in most cases. This makes seeing around corners or what's ahead of you nearly impossible so you can't prepare yourself.Next, are the boss battles. Very often, kombat is confined to a very small area and if you're facing Reptile or Baraka, you can only go but so far, especially when the action shifts from toe-to-toe action to the use of projectiles; it can be very frustrating (even with the new lock-on feature) because very seldom you are able to get a clean shot.Lastly, why only Liu Kang and Kung Lao? Sure, if you're able to successfully beat the game with either character you can unlock two other fighters (Sub-Zero and Scorpion), but what about everybody else? Scorpion is my personal favorite, but why couldn't HE be one of the fighters to pick out first? All the other characters, familiars like Johnny Cage, Kitana, and Baraka have to be unlocked during the process of actually playing the game, which can be maddening if you only want to beat the crap out of a friend.But when all is said and done, "Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks" ranks as the most revolutionary entry this franchise has seen yet, aside from issues I've listed here. It's a must for die-hards though others may be turned away. Maybe next time, though, Ed Boon, John Tobias, and their team will really hit the money-maker and unleash the title to end them all...7/10. The Mortal Kombat phenomenon wages on. STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits From what little plot I could make out to this latest addition to the MK series, here goes. Shang Tsung is p!ssed at losing the last battle, so he traps Liu Kang (who I thought was killed in Deadly Alliance???) and Rayden under a rapidly destructing rock and, with Rayden's guidance, Kang is left to battle a bunch of huge goblin like creatures to make his way to the final.Fans of the arcade style of MK will be sourly disappointed with this latest entry. Here you have only two characters to choose from, as opposed to the veritable array of characters in the last two entries. And it's not to do with one-on-one sparring, instead it's one character receiving instructions from Rayden to take out the seemingly endless army of monsters. It's fairly good fun, but it's fairly monotonous and gets rather boring after a while. An inspired change from the norm, but not nearly as much fun. **. A retrospective review. I bought this in the midst of the xbox's heyday, and for whatever reason,let it sit and collect dust until this past week for whatever reason. +positives - The gameplay is actually pretty fluid and fun. There are complex moves, however I never had to really go beyond my range of fireballs, uppercuts, and quick jabs to win the day. Simplicity is key for a co-op figter like this, and there's enough added depth to carry you through the game. The areas of the game are well designed for the most part, you will get a nostalgia shot to the face from visting areas like the living forest and the acid baths from MK II.Co-op is always a nice touch; this is one of the best uses of it in the last gen.you get a nice bonus at the end which may make you want to replay this ditty. most of the fatalities are well done, a favorite of mine is what happens to a certain four-armed feline fellow towards the game's climax. -negatives - Backtracking is in full force in this romp, fortunately the areas are small enough to were it wasn't as painful as it could have been, but backtracking is backtracking, and should not be allowed. The enemies respawn in every area after you leave; I didn't feel too heroic having to run back through them to get to the next moment in the story.The voice acting is pretty awful for the most part; it gives the movies more than a run for their money. Things will be repeated, the obvious will be stated. The graphics are nothing to write home about once the animation gets into play. People will fall into acid pits then just comically blip into the end result. You can say its an old game, but this would look bad back then as well.All in all, this game is a fun detour into the tacky mortal kombat universe and a must for fans of the series. People may say its short, however I felt it ended right before it could overstay its welcome. They need to make more co-op games(brawlers) like this even in this day and age; perhaps a next gen sequel is in order.. This is Mortal Kombat 2. It does what the Movie failed to do!. Contrary to popular belief, this game is not set between the events of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 2. This game is Mortal Kombat 2. Apparently, the people who have given it reviews haven't play the game all the way through, or aren't familiar with the Mortal Kombat Universe. The game picks up immediately after Shang Tsung is defeated at the hands of Earthrealms Champion Liu Kang. Shang Tsung has decided to destroy the island, thus leaving Earths forces to die. From there you play as either Liu Kang or Kung Lao. After escaping the island, you return to the WuShi Academy for rest, only to be attacked by Baraka and his Tartan Warriors. From there, you leave Earthrealm and take the fight to Outworld. Playing through the locales of Mortal Kombat 2, you'll fight enemies such as Baraka, Mileena, Jade, Reptile, Goro, and a few others.What I found particularly interesting was the fact that even though I'm at the end of the game (No I haven't beaten it yet..I've still got the fight between Shang Tsung, Kintaro, and Shao Kahn left) I've only completed 75 percent of the game. And whats even more disturbing, I've done the Smoke missions, fought Kano and Mileena, and fought the legendary Ermac. There is plenty to do in this game. I first thought it would be a game I'd beat in a day, and I'm glad to say i'm well over 7 hours clocked.Graphcs wise, I can't say they are the best. I did find some of the voice acting and the lip syncing out of place. The expressions on the characters faces during cut scenes could have used some work as well. They seem lifeless husks of characters. But not enough to detract from the overall game play.Speaking of.... The combo system is a bit repetitive after a while. Some characters you play as (You can play either Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Scorpion, or Sub Zero) are a bit stronger in that department than others. Its all dependent on your playing style really. Personally, though I've always been a fan of Kung Lao, I found myself preferring Liu Kang (his flying kick move is probably the most useful move in the game). The same holds true for Sub Zero (one of my favorites since the games inception) and Scorpion. And just so you know you don't have to memorize some up down forward X combo in order to pull off special moves. Each is assigned a different button, however, don't expect to do infinite fireballs. You've a power meter that has to be replenished.This game does suffer from what I consider to be a major flaw in gaming today. That is pacing. The first few levels are large and seem to drag on while towards the end of the game, the last few seem to be thrown together and shortened severely, either due to the amount of information on the disk, or because the level creators ran out of ideas, or simply because the game designers felt the game was running on too long. The levels aren't evenly spread out which is kind of sad in my opinion.The soundtrack to the game is also pleasant, setting the mood for each level. Although, I feel the Xbox version of the game should have had the option for custom soundtracks. Liu Kangs turkey call does get annoying after a while to, but that is easily fixed in the options menu by lowering voice fx.So over all, if you're looking for a great action/platforming/brawler this game is it. It will remind old school gamers of Streets of Rage or Mortal Kombat 2, or both.