Over at Worlds Collide,
Midway Games has kept busy providing the latest info about their
upcoming crossover fighter Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. In this
week’s episode of the MKast, a podcast run by MKDCU producers Hans and
Hector, talked with John Edwards (not that one), Senior Designer, and
John Tobias, the series’ co-creator. They gave some new info, and gave
a peak behind the curtain of the game’s development.
At the Leipzig Games Convention, a full speed build was on hand, and
Midway showed off some of the special moves the Joker will be using in
his quest for the biggest laugh. On the podcast, Edwards brought up
Katana, who has long been his favorite character. In fact, using her in
Mortal Kombat 2
tournaments is what got him into the games industry. A lot of her
classic combos will be present in MKDCU, along with a couple of
Mileena’s moves from the older games. Edwards promised that every
character will have unique special moves, even including different
grabs and throws, combos, and fighting styles. Several characters do
have teleports, for example, but some are defensive and some are
offensive, and each has different times when they can be used. Katana’s
for example can lead directly into a combo, while Sub-Zero’s is used as
an escape when he’s cornered.
Hector let slip that there will be multiple fatalities for each
character, specifically referencing The Joker, as they moved the
conversation to these finishing moves. Ed Boon, the series head, often
initially designs the fatalities though anyone on the
design/development team can come up with one as a possibility. Boon
will then draw up a stick figure version of the fatality before
bringing the idea over to the motion capture facility across the street
from their design studio. They bring the “mocap” footage in, and splice
in the other animations (parts that can’t be physically motion
captured).
Edwards said that aside from physics, the gameplay isn’t directly
affected by “next-gen” system specs. However, having all the extra
storage space for enhanced graphics, sound, and all those individual
moves and animations has been liberating for the design team. However,
they still run out of space when they’re constantly cramming new
animations in.
Rage Mode! It’s been teased elsewhere, but here’s what Rage Mode is at
this point in time. Currently, it lasts about 6 seconds, though that
may be changed before the game comes out. Rage ties into the story,
though they’re not saying how yet. The Rage meter builds up through
everything you do, attacking, defending, special moves, etc. It’s
designed to stop people from crouching and running away (Rage may be
able to break through blocks). When Rage is active, it works as armor
reducing your opponent’s attacks, but as of right now your attacks
don’t do extra damage. It will not be “game-breaking,” as Edwards said,
eschewing the rest of gameplay too much.
After the talk of Rage, John Tobias joined Hans and Hector. Tobias is
illustrating the upcoming comic book that ties in to the game. He’ll be
penciling it, and doing the full color art for the cover. They actually
did a comic book for the very first game, though it had extremely
limited production. He talked a bit about his influences and memories
in the comic book world, and how he originally aspired to do comic art
before getting into games.
When he first heard of the idea he “reacted the way everybody did. My
face looked like I bit into a hot pepper.” Now that he’s seen more of
it, and seen the story, he thinks it’s cool. The “core of the
characters” have some similarities, especially with the more martial
arts themed characters like Batman. The comic is only 12 pages, but
will help establish the story and how they join together. Tobias is
also currently working on a non-MK related comic limited series that’ll
be shiping next year.
Goro is Tobias’s favorite character all-time from the Mortal Kombat
world. The original idea was for him to feel like a gigantic wall that
you just couldn’t knock down. He was actual a stop-motion figure that
they animated frame-by-frame. Tobias also really liked Liu Kang, who
was created to be the classic hero in the MK realm. Whether Liu Kang
has a central role in the new game remains to be seen.
Some other tidbits:
There will be ranked matches, and an online leader board.
There will be biographies included for all the characters to catch players up on both sets.
As is all the rage lately, MKDCU will have a collector’s
edition alongside the standard $60 game-only version. It will
definitely include some comic book sketches by John Tobias, along with
other unannounced goodies.
Oan Senate is one of the background levels, as well as the Gotham City
Rooftops (See art above) and Street levels. A level is set on the
Justice League’s Space Station, and has a huge presence on the story
mode. Many more still to come.
Check out Worlds Collide to listen to the MKast and get all this and more info
