14 DAY TRIAL // As the gaming world first speculated about a new Mortal Kombat game only to marvel at the announcement of the new title, more people are getting curious about how the idea of superheroes versus martial arts experts came along. One man who can answer a lot of questions about Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is the co-creator of the game series, Ed Boon. He talked to Gametap about a lot of the aspects of the game. Here's a rundown for you.
He justified the decision of taking the DC Universe and letting it loose inside the Mortal Kombat franchise be saying that "This being a new generation of consoles requires a whole new presentation for Mortal Kombat. So we thought we should do something dramatic. If you're counting, this is Mortal Kombat 8. Had we done something with a little tweak to the story and minor adjustments to the mechanics, I think people would get it and just move on really quickly". He believes that the shock factor from seeing Superman fight Sub Zero is enough to draw in a whole new generation of players that might have overlooked the game if it had offered the same known formula with only a handful of in-universe new characters. I, myself, wonder if we will be able to take DC heroes and play them off against each other.
On the subject of fatalities Ed Boon was very clear. It's true that DC insists that the game becomes less violent so a lot more players can get access to it, but the fatalities are such an integral part of the Mortal Kombat universe that they could not be removed without making fans shoot down the game. He says "There was never any statement on our part that fatalities will be gone or that finishing moves will be gone. [...] My response is that, no, we're modifying fatalities. But I have every intention to keep finishers".
The interview makes it clear that the DC Universe is the one invaded by the Mortal Kombat characters and not the other way around. The means to this end seems to be magic and the same magic will make it so that some of the more powerful characters created by DC (yes, Superman, I am looking at you) are somewhat weakened in the game and so the Mortal Kombat fighters can take them down after a fight. As Boon explained, "For instance, Superman has two weaknesses, Kryptonite and magic. The Mortal Kombat universe is surrounded by magic - I mean, we have sorcerers, people from the Nether realms; we have chi and magic attacks".
I'm still a bit unsure as to the whole crossover concept of the game, but hey, it's Mortal Kombat and Superman and Batman and other DC heroes. It can't turn out bad, can it?