Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (Xbox 360)

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That's Lui Kang fighting Green Lantern

Criminally, there's no fatality or heroic brutality list anywhere in the game or manual, there's no explanation of the Pro Move system, which allows you to score extra hits with special moves if you're quick enough to input extra commands, and there's no mention of the fact that you're able to chain basic moves into special moves if you're quick enough to input the command into the five or so frame window. Some of the combos listed in the Kombo Challenge mode will require that you do these advanced moves, but there's no explanation of how it works, which is a definite problem. This might have been acceptable in the early 90s, when the arcade scene was rocking and word of mouth allowed people to share discovered moves and combos, but in this day and age it's archaic. Having to keep glancing at your PC monitor to learn anything beyond the basics is, for living room gamers, one hell of a pain in the arse.

Barring these problems, the new mini-game elements Midway has introduced into the series work well. Klose Kombat, where the camera zooms in and you engage in some bone-crunching fisticuffs, is a rudimentary guessing game involving predicting what buttons your opponent is going to press. Freefall Kombat triggers when you land a particularly powerful blow near the edge of an arena, sending your opponent spiralling towards an above or below platform. In mid-air this guessing-game of fisticuffs returns, except this time there's a risk reward system involved in that if you counter your opponent you're able to switch sides and land the final damaging blow instead. And lastly, you're able to grab your opponent and send them horizontally smashing through walls in a Test your Might mini-game. Here the amount of damage you do is dependent on your ability to mash every button as quickly as you can, and, conversely, the amount of damage done can be reduced by doing the same thing. These three new gameplay elements don't crop up often enough to get annoying, and indeed they're pretty useful since they have the potential to reduce your opponent's life bar by up to 30 per cent.

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MKVSDCU's story is, like with most fighting games, largely pointless, but at least there's been some effort made here beyond the normal intro ending cut scene/FMV. The story mode asks you to firstly choose a side - MK or DC. Then, over the course of eight chapters, you're charged with winning a number of one on one battles with all the characters on that particular side. Each fight is broken up by a number of cut scenes with full voice over. The story itself is so ridiculous you can't help but laugh, and it's hilarious to watch Midway's explanation of how the coming together of the two universes not only happens in the first place, but is resolved. The cheesy dialogue is so bad it's good, Kombat Rage, which has caused everyone to beat the crap out of each other (and their eyes to glow yellow), is so bad it's good and Catwoman's bouncing breasts and seductive purring is so bad it's good.

The Unreal Engine 3-powered graphics, however, are unquestionably excellent. The characters themselves are wonderfully detailed, and while the hit boxes are all over the place, the animations are superb. Joker suffers from the fact that he's not modelled on the still fresh in the memory Heath Ledger, but he's still the best video game recreation of Batman's arch enemy ever. The fighters on both sides feel like they carry real weight, and take up a lot of the screen. You'll notice some lovely little touches, too. Clothing will tear, skin will cut and bruise and blood will weep from open wounds. The 'getting up' animations, triggered after a lost round, and the 'winning animations', triggered after winning a round, are great, although some of them are recycled across various characters. Raiden's stance shifting after he's won a round is a highlight, as is Superman's getting up ground pummel animation after he loses a round. The arenas, too, are brilliant, and often distract the eye from the task at hand. And the graphics are complimented by excellent audio. The sound of crunching bone and pounding flesh is wonderfully effective, and adds to the feeling that superheroes are going at it in epic battles. When Captain Marvel screams "Shazam!" and electrocutes his opponent with a bolt of lightning sent down from the Gods, you almost feel it yourself.

And that's Sonya Blade taking a kidney shot from Superman

Some of the game's flaws don't become apparent until you go online and you find yourself on the wrong end of a beating from a real life opponent. Chief of these is character balance. Batman, Flash and the Green Lantern are popular choices and can feel extremely cheap to lose to. Green Lantern especially - he's able to trap you from a distance with his ring power and take off large chunks of your health bar as a result. Flash, as you'd expect, feels cheap on account of his speed. But we'd rather have to work at developing anti-cheap strategies than have to battle crippling lag, which the game is somehow completely free of. Say what you will about MKVSDCU's inferior fighting engine compared with its more refined rivals - this game has the best net code seen in an online fighting game.

Criticising MKVSDCU for not being as in depth and rewarding a fighter as, say, Street Fighter IV, seems a little unfair, since they're so different they're almost not in the same genre. We had a blast playing the game here in the office, with almost everyone gathering to watch. But it is an inferior fighting game, no matter how oddly compelling it is to see two sets of fictional characters clash in such improbable circumstances. Think of it like this, if Street Fighter IV is The Apprentice, then Mortal Kombat VS DC Universe is I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

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