Mortal Kombat 4 (c) Midway
80%


By: Phire

Thousands of years ago in a battle with the fallen Elder God known as Shinnok, I was responsible for the death of an entire civilization. To rid all realms of Shinnok's menace I waged a war that plunged the Earth into centuries of darkness and banished Shinnok into a place called the Netherealm.

Now after Shao Kahn's defeat at the hands of Earth's warriors, Shinnok has managed to escape his confines in the Netherealm. The war is now being fought once again. Only this time it can be won by mortals.

The graphics in Mortal Kombat 4 are awesome with excellent 3D models and beautiful 3D environments. Even though the game is 90% 3D, you still don't get full 3D rotation like in Tekken 2 or Virtua Fighter, but there is still enough rotation to give you that arcade feel. The special effects, like the fire, are awesome too. Every part of the game is great except for the blood. I thought Midway would make the necessary adjustments to make the blood a little more realistic then in the previous Mortal Kombat games. Unfortunately they hadn't changed the blood from the last MK. MK usually has large amounts of gushing blood in large droplets. They did the same in MK 4 and they made them 3D. The blood doesn't look so good, some of it is 2D (which is acceptable because House of the Dead blood wasn't so bad), and some of it is 3D.

The sound in this game is great, you get the good old voice of Shao Kahn at the menu and sometimes at other places in the game. It's not at 44khz, but it's still very good. Not much change in the sound from the last Mortal Kombat game, but I can definitely say that the special effects are really good.

The concept of the game hasn't changed much. What makes this game so different from Tekken and Virtua Fighter is that MK 4 is VERY fast paced. The combos are smooth yet fast which is great. This is definitely a great change from the previous Mortal Kombat games because it's now 3D and the special effect graphics, using the 3Dfx cards, are really great. The control has changed also. It's easier to control your fighters, and the learning curve is much quicker.

Overall I'd say this is a terrific game, definitely worth getting if you're into the Mortal Kombat series. The combination of 3DFX graphics, new moves and better control make this Mortal Kombat game the best yet in the series.

Graphics: 17 / 20
Sound: 12 / 15
Gameplay: 19 / 25
Fun Factor: 17 / 20
Multiplayer Play: 3 / 5
Packaging: 5 / 5
Overall Impression: 7 / 10

Overall Rating: 80 / 100


Rating
80%