RETRO REBOOT | Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (Xbox/PlayStation 2)

By the mid-2000's, Mortal Kombat wasn't the juggernaut it once was, but there were stronger efforts to re-establish itself as a household name with the success of MK Deadly Alliance and Deception. This was also the new era, following the split between creators Ed Boon and John Tobias. The latter was mostly the brainchild behind the franchise's first attempt at a straight action games in Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Special Forces. Yeah, I believe those count as a reason to tell someone to get out. With more sophisticated hardware to experiment with, Midway Studios would try again in 2005 with Shaolin Monks for the Xbox and Playstation 2.

I personally was done with Mortal Kombat as a fighting game after the MK3 games, which I kinda hated, and felt they should have branched into the brawler genre. Fatalities lost their luster after switching to 3D models, and the lore, while still expanding itself in fascinating ways, was starting to get a little off the rails (nothing compared to the terrible decisions made in the recent games, however). Shaolin Monks was interesting to me, because it was the first time elements from the plot of MKII were further fleshed out. Mortal Kombat II, lore wise, is still my favorite game in the series, and various interpretations in the franchise always either recreated the first tournament, or would just jump to the Outworld invasion plot from 3. On that promise, Shaolin Monks, had a lot of promise to go for. It's not a completely hideous game, but beyond some cool mechanics, it can get a little frustrating.

The game centralizes its plot around Liu Kang and Kung Lao, with the ability to follow paths with Kitana, Sub-Zero, Jax, Johnny Cage, and the good-for-nothing dipstick of lesser gods, Raiden. Other allies appear as non-playable, like Sonya and Kabal, but having a smaller cast of playables mean a more focused narrative. It's a free-roaming 3D action game that involves a lot traversing around a map and battling enemies, with the ability to gain experience points, which can unlock other signature attacks, combos, and Finishing Moves. It was pretty cool to see mechanics like Brutalities integrated into the combat.

Shaolin Monks' multi-directional combat system is serviceable, especially in an age where enemy lock-on was not commonplace. The ability to chain attacks together from enemy to enemy allowed for some freedom to experiment. Perhaps not as polished as Devil May Cry, but just enough to keep things from getting too monotonous...at least until the difficulty kicks it up a notch. Playing co-op has some perks, as it expands the action, and can lead to some creative ways to beat some boss fights.

One area where I don't think Shaolin Monks shines is the graphics. While the Xbox version provides sharper visuals or the much grainier PS2, the game is not all that dynamic in the graphics department. It's not very clean, seems overscanned, leading to a weird stretched aspect ratio, and there's a constant strobe effect that was rather commonplace for earlier in this generation, but seeing it as late as 2005 is a little embarrassing. Feels like a thin layer of Vaseline was smudged all over the TV screen.

Then there's the load times. God in heaven, there's a lot of meandering around this game demands, and every location is accompanied by a good 15 to 20 seconds of load screens.

Some of the renditions of Mortal Kombat II stages look nice, but with the way the camera is fixed, it inadvertently makes the maps look smaller than they are. This leads to the action feeling impersonal and detached, especially in co-op, when things can get really busy. For instance, in the Living Forest portion of the game, you can knock enemies into the maw of a tree, and they'll chop down on their new-found meal. But it's almost a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, as there's no focus or fanfare on it. I get it, this likely due to not interrupting gameplay, but the action comes to a halt for EVERY finishing move you perform.

I also didn't like this era of MK character designs. Aside from the bulky models (a look I was never fond of), some of the redesigns are either unchanged at all, or kinda overdone. Liu Kang is sporting his MK3 mullet, but is virtually unchanged. But the ninjas all have re-stylized gear that mostly resembles the Deception period of Mortal Kombat. Maybe the pettiest of complaints, but I never felt the same about the series once they moved away from the digitized actors and stunt people.

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks is hampered by some underbaked visuals, ear-splittingly bad voice acting (and not the fun Resident Evil style of VA), mountains of load times, and some suspect direction choices. But it is a good co-op game that began the expansion of some key MK story points. I don't replay it as often as I thought I would, yet I still feel there could have been a future in this style of play for the franchise. Granted, the success of MK9 a couple years later returned it to a fighting game mainstay to a degree, so I guess any shot of the brand trying this style again is highly doubtful. But if you got a copy, and a buddy, you may not have a hard time having some fleeting fun with the combos and team moves.