First details, screens and movies.
by Douglass C. Perry
February 24, 2006 - Given the popularity of the long-running Mortal Kombat series, nobody would dare think that Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Midway's upcoming fighter for Xbox and PS2, would be the final game in the franchise. And yet...Armageddon does have that certain ring to it. The way co-creator Ed Boon talks about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, with words like "final chapter" and "final battle between good and evil," one really does begin to wonder.
That's why we spoke with the always-friendly Boon this week about the follow-up to 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception. Boon, who co-created the arcade fighter in the early 1990s with Jon Tobias, has continued on with the series, successfully taking the 2D sprite-based series to polygonal 3D, and recently creating the popular offshoot, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.
IGN: Following Mortal Kombat: Deception, many critics and fans felt that there was nothing more that could be done with the series. If you're a fan who's tired of Mortal Kombat yet wants something new and fresh from the series, how would you try to persuade them that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is worth their while?
Ed Boon: One thing about the MK series is that we are not afraid to make big changes and additions to our games. I really believe it is one of the reasons we still consistently out-sell our fighting game competitors. ANY series that keeps releasing the same game over and over will eventually sell fewer and fewer units.
Fight another player or delve into the new Konquest mode.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Deception was filled with mini-games, chess, puzzle combat, and tons of unlockables. How did fans react to these additions, and will they make a return in Mortal Kombat Armageddon?
Ed: The response to all the "diversions" (as I like to call them) was very positive. In addition to the interactive backgrounds, death traps and the new breaker move, it really helped further distinguish us from other fighting series that were simply adding a couple of characters and incrementing the number in their title. Mortal Kombat has always had secret features and unlockables and Armageddon will not remove those features….and YES, there will be another new diversion in Armageddon as well.
IGN: What do you mean by "Armageddon?" Is this really final battle between good and evil? Does this mean this is the last Mortal Kombat as we know it? Will you explain?
Ed: Armageddon does imply "The End" in a few ways. It is the end of MK on this generation of consoles. It also is the final battle between all the good and evil characters in the MK universe. We really want to close this chapter of Mortal Kombat.
Every hero and villian from the 60-plus character library of Kortal Kombat is playable in MK Armageddon.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Armageddon has the biggest roster of the series ever, which means we have, what, 30-plus characters? In what context do all these characters coming together make sense from a story standpoint?
Ed: The roster is a lot bigger than 30 characters. It's actually a lot closer to 60 characters. Since the story really ties up all the loose ends from Mortal Kombat 1 all the way to Deception, we want to include everyone. Plus, since this final chapter is all about the final epic battle we need to explain what happens to EVERYONE, which means leaving no stone unturned.
IGN: Also, from a technical standpoint, are there any complications or difficulties you had to overcome to get all of these characters to fight one another? Do different character sizes or fighting styles make a difference from a design or programming standpoint?
Ed: Absolutely. We are going to be including all the boss characters from MK's past. Goro, Shao Kahn, even Motaro!! Some of these characters are HUGE and have never been playable characters before. So we will need to make sure they are not too powerful or un-fun to play. We are doing extensive testing on them against every single other character in the game to make sure they are fair and fun to play.
IGN: What create-a-player modes have you seen in previous games that you've liked? And which one did you base Mortal Kombat Armageddon on, if any? How exactly does it work? Can you explain how the feature is robust and deep?
Ed: There have been a number of create-a-character modes in various wrestling, boxing and golf games. They all have the standard "dress-your-fighter" functionality with a number of different costume items to select. We really didn't base MK on of any particular one but we did a good amount of research and wanted to make sure we did more than they did. For example, we thought it was important to let players define their attacks as well as the look of their fighters. Armageddon lets you define your fighting styles, right down to the attack associated with each button. Another thing we knew was important was to let players take their created fighter and go online against other created fighters. This is one of the most exciting features of our create-a-fighter mode.
Bring the heat with new punishing moves.
IGN: Fatalities have always been a significant part of the Mortal Kombat phenomenon. What kinds of new fatalities will we see in Mortal Kombat Armageddon, and can you explain how players can create their own new fatalities?
Ed: Our goal with the fatality system is to make it as interactive as possible. In all the previous MK games fatalities were triggered and then both players would just sit back and "watch the fireworks". With each new MK game we added more elaborate fatality sequences, but they've always been non-interactive. With our new Fatality system players will be stringing together "mini-fatalities" (in whatever order they want) to form their own "custom fatality". Each character will have a larger number of "mini-fatality" moves that will each require a button sequence to trigger. Players can decide which fatalities they want to string together to form their own custom fatality. The challenge will be that every "mini-fatality" will require a faster button sequence than the previous. So really good players will be able to string together longer fatalities and customize them as long as they are fast enough to enter the button sequence for each step.
Kreate your own karacter and then develop your own fatality to Konfuse them.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Deception, technically, was a sound game. The framerate was solid, the controls were good (although MK has always been rather mechanical), and it from a visual standpoint, it was attractive. Given that these systems are four and five years old now, how are you able to improve the engines from a visual standpoint to make the games look better? What tricks do your programmers have left?
Ed: Every game we make always runs into the inevitable point where we have to stop adding features because of time limitations. MK Deception was no exception, upon further inspection (sorry, I couldn't resist). Our programming team has always added new graphical enhancements to our display engine with each new title including Armageddon. Our new backgrounds are more multi-leveled, more interactive and have more sophisticated lighting techniques than Deception did. Though more importantly, the game-play in Armageddon is better as well. With our new parry feature and air-kombat, the fights are much more varied and unpredictable. We can't wait for you to play it.
IGN: It sounds like the MK team is really going to up the ante with this newly improved online mode. What did you see in Deception that could be fixed, improved, or revamped to give players a better experience?
Ed: We have high hopes for MK Armageddon's online capabilities but we can't come out with details just yet. We'll have more on that aspect of the game soon.
by Douglass C. Perry
February 24, 2006 - Given the popularity of the long-running Mortal Kombat series, nobody would dare think that Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Midway's upcoming fighter for Xbox and PS2, would be the final game in the franchise. And yet...Armageddon does have that certain ring to it. The way co-creator Ed Boon talks about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, with words like "final chapter" and "final battle between good and evil," one really does begin to wonder.
That's why we spoke with the always-friendly Boon this week about the follow-up to 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception. Boon, who co-created the arcade fighter in the early 1990s with Jon Tobias, has continued on with the series, successfully taking the 2D sprite-based series to polygonal 3D, and recently creating the popular offshoot, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.
IGN: Following Mortal Kombat: Deception, many critics and fans felt that there was nothing more that could be done with the series. If you're a fan who's tired of Mortal Kombat yet wants something new and fresh from the series, how would you try to persuade them that Mortal Kombat Armageddon is worth their while?
Ed Boon: One thing about the MK series is that we are not afraid to make big changes and additions to our games. I really believe it is one of the reasons we still consistently out-sell our fighting game competitors. ANY series that keeps releasing the same game over and over will eventually sell fewer and fewer units.
Fight another player or delve into the new Konquest mode.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Deception was filled with mini-games, chess, puzzle combat, and tons of unlockables. How did fans react to these additions, and will they make a return in Mortal Kombat Armageddon?
Ed: The response to all the "diversions" (as I like to call them) was very positive. In addition to the interactive backgrounds, death traps and the new breaker move, it really helped further distinguish us from other fighting series that were simply adding a couple of characters and incrementing the number in their title. Mortal Kombat has always had secret features and unlockables and Armageddon will not remove those features….and YES, there will be another new diversion in Armageddon as well.
IGN: What do you mean by "Armageddon?" Is this really final battle between good and evil? Does this mean this is the last Mortal Kombat as we know it? Will you explain?
Ed: Armageddon does imply "The End" in a few ways. It is the end of MK on this generation of consoles. It also is the final battle between all the good and evil characters in the MK universe. We really want to close this chapter of Mortal Kombat.
Every hero and villian from the 60-plus character library of Kortal Kombat is playable in MK Armageddon.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Armageddon has the biggest roster of the series ever, which means we have, what, 30-plus characters? In what context do all these characters coming together make sense from a story standpoint?
Ed: The roster is a lot bigger than 30 characters. It's actually a lot closer to 60 characters. Since the story really ties up all the loose ends from Mortal Kombat 1 all the way to Deception, we want to include everyone. Plus, since this final chapter is all about the final epic battle we need to explain what happens to EVERYONE, which means leaving no stone unturned.
IGN: Also, from a technical standpoint, are there any complications or difficulties you had to overcome to get all of these characters to fight one another? Do different character sizes or fighting styles make a difference from a design or programming standpoint?
Ed: Absolutely. We are going to be including all the boss characters from MK's past. Goro, Shao Kahn, even Motaro!! Some of these characters are HUGE and have never been playable characters before. So we will need to make sure they are not too powerful or un-fun to play. We are doing extensive testing on them against every single other character in the game to make sure they are fair and fun to play.
IGN: What create-a-player modes have you seen in previous games that you've liked? And which one did you base Mortal Kombat Armageddon on, if any? How exactly does it work? Can you explain how the feature is robust and deep?
Ed: There have been a number of create-a-character modes in various wrestling, boxing and golf games. They all have the standard "dress-your-fighter" functionality with a number of different costume items to select. We really didn't base MK on of any particular one but we did a good amount of research and wanted to make sure we did more than they did. For example, we thought it was important to let players define their attacks as well as the look of their fighters. Armageddon lets you define your fighting styles, right down to the attack associated with each button. Another thing we knew was important was to let players take their created fighter and go online against other created fighters. This is one of the most exciting features of our create-a-fighter mode.
Bring the heat with new punishing moves.
IGN: Fatalities have always been a significant part of the Mortal Kombat phenomenon. What kinds of new fatalities will we see in Mortal Kombat Armageddon, and can you explain how players can create their own new fatalities?
Ed: Our goal with the fatality system is to make it as interactive as possible. In all the previous MK games fatalities were triggered and then both players would just sit back and "watch the fireworks". With each new MK game we added more elaborate fatality sequences, but they've always been non-interactive. With our new Fatality system players will be stringing together "mini-fatalities" (in whatever order they want) to form their own "custom fatality". Each character will have a larger number of "mini-fatality" moves that will each require a button sequence to trigger. Players can decide which fatalities they want to string together to form their own custom fatality. The challenge will be that every "mini-fatality" will require a faster button sequence than the previous. So really good players will be able to string together longer fatalities and customize them as long as they are fast enough to enter the button sequence for each step.
Kreate your own karacter and then develop your own fatality to Konfuse them.
IGN: Mortal Kombat Deception, technically, was a sound game. The framerate was solid, the controls were good (although MK has always been rather mechanical), and it from a visual standpoint, it was attractive. Given that these systems are four and five years old now, how are you able to improve the engines from a visual standpoint to make the games look better? What tricks do your programmers have left?
Ed: Every game we make always runs into the inevitable point where we have to stop adding features because of time limitations. MK Deception was no exception, upon further inspection (sorry, I couldn't resist). Our programming team has always added new graphical enhancements to our display engine with each new title including Armageddon. Our new backgrounds are more multi-leveled, more interactive and have more sophisticated lighting techniques than Deception did. Though more importantly, the game-play in Armageddon is better as well. With our new parry feature and air-kombat, the fights are much more varied and unpredictable. We can't wait for you to play it.
IGN: It sounds like the MK team is really going to up the ante with this newly improved online mode. What did you see in Deception that could be fixed, improved, or revamped to give players a better experience?
Ed: We have high hopes for MK Armageddon's online capabilities but we can't come out with details just yet. We'll have more on that aspect of the game soon.
