Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance


Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance is a 2002 fighting game developed and published by Midway for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. It was the first all-new Mortal Kombat fighting game produced exclusively for home consoles, with no preceding arcade release. It is the fifth main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a sequel to 1997's Mortal Kombat 4. Its story focuses on the eponymous alliance between sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung and their schemes to revive an ancient army to conquer Outworld and Earthrealm. The game is the only main installment not to feature series protagonist Liu Kang as a playable character. It is also the first game in the canon series to not have the involvement of co-creator John Tobias, who had left Midway in 1999 to pursue other interests.
In addition to the original GBA port of Deadly Alliance, a second version for the same console, entitled Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition, was released on August 25, 2003. Tournament Edition featured characters omitted from the first port, along with characters not present in the other versions such as Sektor, Noob Saibot, and Sareena. Deadly Alliance received positive reviews from critics. Deadly Alliance was followed by a sequel in 2004, titled Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Gameplay

Like all the Mortal Kombat games, Deadly Alliance focuses heavily on its fighting modes. The gameplay is completely different from that of previous entries in the franchise. Each character now possesses three individual fighting styles, generally two hand-to-hand styles and one weapon style which players can switch between with the push of a button. In previous games, aside from "dial-a-combos", all the characters fought virtually identically, with only special moves to differentiate them. The number of special moves per character has also been reduced, varying only from two to four for most, thus forcing the player to use the improved fighting system. The characters can no longer run, and there is no run meter. However, while still limited to only moving into the background and foreground, movement in the third dimension is much easier and can be used continuously. To prevent fighters from leaving the arena, invisible boundaries appear when a fighter is knocked against the edge.
Character models became more realistic. Flesh will move or jiggle on a character as he or she moves around. Environmental interaction is present, but infrequent. Several levels include obstacles—such as pillars or statues—that can be shattered to damage an opponent standing near one. There is just one Fatality per character, while the previous games included many ways to finish the opponent. Like Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 1, the game does not include Stage Fatalities. However, the Acid Bath level still possesses special acid-vomiting statues called Acid Buddhas that do damage directly to fighters that stray too close to them.
Deadly Alliance introduces the Konquest mode, which expands on the storyline and acts as a tutorial for each character. The Konquest mode consists of a series of missions that are completed by each of the characters. In between each sequence, a video of a monk moving between various locations on the path of Konquest is shown, but this has no actual bearing on the gameplay itself other than to simulate the sense of a journey. After completing eight initial " tasks" with Sub-Zero, the player is instructed to complete a specific set of tasks with each character, which vary from performing difficult combos to defeating opponents. Each series comes with text instructions, including a basic storyline that delves further into each character's background and motives. Blaze and Mokap can only be unlocked by completing all stages of. Upon completing each mission, the player is rewarded with many "" that act as the in-game currency to open in the and unlock secrets in the game.
The is a feature in which the player can buy extras with earned in regular play and mode. The consists of 676 "" arranged in a square format with each designated alphabetically by a two-letter designation. The are filled with many secrets and unlockables. Each has a different designated price, listed in a number and type of that it would cost to open the. The includes unlockable characters, arenas, and alternative costumes. Also included among the are various videos, images, concept sketches, and the entire Mortal Kombat Collector's Edition comic book. Some contained that could be used towards other, others contained hints as to where other items were located, and others were even empty.
Test Your Might, the original minigame of the Mortal Kombat series, returns for the first time since the original game; a variation, Test Your Sight, is also included. In Test Your Sight, the character stands in front of a set of cups, and the game shows the player which cup contains the Mortal Kombat logo icon. The cups then move randomly; by the end, one must select the cup containing the icon. As the player progresses through the minigame, the number of cups increases, as does the speed at which the cups move. At higher levels, the camera would even move to make it more difficult for the player to keep track of the movement of the icon. Succeeding at both Test Your Might and Test Your Sight rewards the player with.
The GBA-only Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition adds three modes: Survival, Tag Team and Practice, and weapon Fatalities. Although both of the GBA versions feature 2D sprites, Tournament Edition was the first portable Mortal Kombat game to feature 3D style gameplay.

Plot

At the end of Mortal Kombat 4, Quan Chi revealed himself to be the murderer of Scorpion's family and clan, before attempting to send him back to the Netherrealm. Scorpion, fueled with homicidal rage, grabbed Quan Chi at the last minute, taking the sorcerer with him. In the opening intro to Deadly Alliance, it is revealed that Quan Chi was able to escape the Netherrealm, using the amulet he had stolen from Shinnok. He appears in a tomb containing several mummified remains and an ancient runestone, which reveals that the remains are the "undefeatable" army of the long-forgotten ruler of Outworld, known simply as the "Dragon King". Learning that it can be revived, Quan Chi allies with Shang Tsung, offering him an endless supply of souls in return for his transplanting the souls of defeated warriors into the army. The two work together to defeat and kill Shao Kahn and Liu Kang, the two greatest threats to their plans. Unable to interfere as an Elder God, Raiden surrenders his status after realizing that, should the alliance be victorious, Earthrealm is doomed.
In Deadly Alliance, the player receives information concerning the characters' backstories and their relationships with one another, mainly during Konquest mode, but also by way of biographies that can be obtained in the Krypt. The game occurs in a science fantasy setting, with most events occurring in the fictional realms of the Mortal Kombat series. The story begins in the Netherealm, and later switches to Outworld, Edenia, and eventually Earthrealm. To fully understand the plot of Deadly Alliance, the player must complete the Konquest mode and the Arcade mode. Completing the Arcade mode unlocks endings for each character, but only a few endings or parts of them are considered part of the continuity of the Mortal Kombat storyline. Some endings even contradict one another. What happened to the characters was only revealed in the sequel Mortal Kombat: Deception, making Deadly Alliance the first game in the series to have an in-continuity ending that involves the heroes losing and the villains emerging victorious.

Characters

The game features 21 playable characters, 2 additional secret characters, and 1 unplayable.
New characters:
  • Blaze – Massive fire elemental who has the task of guarding the egg of the Dragon King.
  • Bo' Rai Cho – Jovial Outworld native and former trainer of Liu Kang.
  • Drahmin – A Netherrealm Oni seeking revenge against Quan Chi for abandoning him in the realm after helping the sorcerer escape.
  • Frost – Sub-Zero's first Lin Kuei trainee who lacks humility.
  • Hsu Hao – Red Dragon operative sent to infiltrate and destroy the OIA.
  • Kenshi – A blind swordsman who was employed briefly by the OIA before the portal was destroyed, blinding him and stranding him in Outworld.
  • Li Mei – Outworld native whose people are enslaved by the Deadly Alliance. She enters a tournament sponsored by the sorcerers, hoping to win their freedom.
  • Mavado – Red Dragon mastermind who ordered Hsu Hao to infiltrate the OIA. Kills Kabal, stealing his hook swords.
  • Mokap – Joke character said to have done motion capture work for Johnny Cage's films. Included in the game as an homage to Midway graphic artist Carlos Pesina, who portrayed several characters in the digitized Mortal Kombat games and performed motion capture work for Deadly Alliance.
  • Moloch – Drahmin's fellow and the game's sub-boss.
  • Nitara – A manipulative vampiress seeking to separate her home realm from Outworld.
Returning characters:
  • Cyrax – A former Lin Kuei cyborg rescued by Jax and Sonya and recruited for the OIA, he is stranded in Outworld and manipulated by Nitara.
  • Jax – Established the Outerworld Investigation Agency with Sonya, who was betrayed by an OIA operative who destroyed the agency's portal.
  • Johnny Cage – Hollywood actor whose career is now marked with mockery and who hopes to restore his image.
  • Kano – Black Dragon leader and longtime enemy of Sonya and Jax.
  • Kitana – Edenian princess who allied with Goro to wage war against Shao Kahn, and eventually the Deadly Alliance.
  • Kung Lao – Shaolin monk who seeks vengeance for his friend Liu Kang's death.
  • Quan Chi – Nefarious self-serving sorcerer who struck the deal with Shang Tsung.
  • Raiden – The thunder god who resumes his lesser-god status to help against the Deadly Alliance.
  • Reptile – The remaining member of the Zaterrian race, and an expert infiltrator.
  • Scorpion – Quan Chi's tormentor who has left the Netherrealm to pursue the sorcerer.
  • Shang Tsung – The sorcerer who seeks immortality.
  • Sonya Blade – Partner to Jax, who feels responsible for the disappearance of the two agents of the OIA lost in Outworld when the portal was destroyed.
  • Sub-Zero – Cryokinetic warrior who reestablishes the Lin Kuei as a force for good and solicits new members.
Deadly Alliance is notable for being the only game in the main series that does not feature Liu Kang as a playable character, as he and Shao Kahn only appear in the introduction video. Also mentioned in Konquest are the deaths of Goro, Kabal, Motaro, and Sheeva, but they would later appear in sequels. The Dragon King mentioned in the game would later appear as Onaga in the sequel Mortal Kombat: Deception.
Due to hardware limitations, the Game Boy Advance port of Deadly Alliance features 12 of the 21 playable characters: Frost, Jax, Kano, Kung Lao, Kenshi, Kitana, Li Mei, Quan Chi, Scorpion, Shang Tsung, Sonya Blade, and Sub-Zero. A second port, subtitled Tournament Edition, retains only Quan Chi, Scorpion, and Shang Tsung, while adding Bo' Rai Cho, Cyrax, Drahmin, Hsu Hao, Johnny Cage, Mavado, Nitara, Raiden, and Reptile. Tournament Edition also adds three extra characters that were not present in the other versions: Sektor, Noob Saibot, and Sareena from the action-adventure spin-off Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. Both versions exclude Blaze, Mokap, and Moloch. Tournament Edition is the only Mortal Kombat fighting game that does not feature Sub-Zero in any form. However, Noob Saibot would be revealed as the original Sub-Zero in Mortal Kombat: Deception.