MKX - "Tanya Impressions" (PS4)

Tanya, what a mixed bag of tricks. This Edenian troublemaker, whom we saw in the main story returns in all her glory as a playable DLC character within the MKX's many modes. While she may be an Edenian by creation Tanya bears a sort of Egyptian Cleopatra appearance that could easily be mistaken for a modern-day Katy Perry from the music video "Dark Horse". The only difference being the make-up, the outfit, and the slightly exaggerated Egyptian hairstyle. Through character interactions it is made apparent that the guys at Netherrealm wanted to show Tanya in a different way than what she was depicted as being in the story mode. What we get in the stead of the story mode Tanya is a Tanya with comedic one liners that are mutually shared, and acknowledged by the characters she fights against. Guys from the Kombat Kast hit on her, gals from the same roster sass back at her, and even Reptile adds a bit of humor in his comment towards her. Regardless of whether, or not she lived up to her story self Tanya comes to life in-game as a polished, and rather awesome looking version of the trailer model we were teased with.

Mortal Kombat X - "3 Weeks In"

Believe it, or not, but MKX has been improving since my last post. I've been paying very close attention to how the game functions in both the offline, and online scenarios, and I'm pretty darn happy about it. I'm glad to report that 99% of menu functionality is fixed, and that the online multiplayer continues to get smoother, and more enjoyable as time passes. If you've paid attention to my previous articles you'll know that I spoke of the faction war page menus being plagued by constant server errors that would keep you from accessing the current faction challenges, and faction standings. This has stopped for the most part, but did happen once again recently as Netherrealm was updating the game's provided content for the Invasion event. I suppose that is to be expected though since the game is being updated internally via hotfixes, and whatnot. Along with that upside I have spent more time playing online, and have found more smooth lag-free matches than the laggy ones that were more commonplace at the game's launch. It is obvious, as I said before that Ed Boon, and his team of developers are hard at work to make the game as Awesome as possible for those who trusted in them enough to pay extra for the DLC along with the game's $60 price tag.

MKX Kontinues To Be Krap

It has been about two weeks since the launch of MKX, and for me the BS just keeps piling up. I'd say at this point we are about knee deep in the "Krap". I've invested hours, and days worth of gameplay time into the game hoping to hell that it would improve, but even with the behind-the-scenes patches being issued it remains the same broken mess that it was since day one. Of course I have discovered new problems, some of which are quite "Koncerning". Among them is the fact that mobile device gamers using the MKX game app can fight online against players on the consoles. I don't know what the hell Netherrealm was thinking making it cross play like that, because obviously playing on a tablet, or mobile device, and playing with a controller on a console are two very different experiences. I'm willing to bet (not really) that the mobile app users can pull things off more easily than someone using an actual controller ...

Mortal Kombat X - "A Week In"

Before I get started on my review work I thought I'd catch you guys, and gals up on my bug findings within MKX. Some I've mentioned before, and others are new to the growing list of problems plaguing MKX. When it comes to the offline offerings in MKX there's a lot that's not right. A heck of a lot. The faction war page, for example will more often than not give you a server error message when trying to access it. On top of that sometimes the faction challenges will not appear in the listing making it anyone's guess as to what it is you are supposed to be pulling off in order to get the WP (War Points) for your faction. Other issues tied to the offline portion of MKX include lag, the inability to perform X-Rays at times, and even performed X-Rays that end up triggering the opponents X-Rays upon you. Another thing that is tied to both the offline, and online scenarios is the faction war percentages. There is definitely something shady going on behind the scenes as the percentages are dropping for no apparent reason, and are being distributed more evenly in what looks like an attempt by the developer to make things seem fair. It is anything, but fair though.

Let's Talk - "Mortal Kombat X"

I had a lot of hopes riding on the release of 'Mortal Kombat X'. I hoped that it's new character variation system would be a blessing to the fighting game genre, and I hoped that it would revive my faith in the gaming genre that I grew up loving. Unfortunately as I poured hours of time into back to back playthroughs experiencing all that the game had to offer it became evident that MKX was to be another casualty in the growing trend of development half-assery. Everything from the story, to the actual kombat in the offline, and online scenarios suffered a fate worse than death. It was obvious that despite the effort put forth to push the graphics, and to make the variation system work that the game was lacking in so many ways. The roster, for one was so unbalanced with characters doing different amounts of damage per attacks, and throws that it made for a less than fair fight. That coupled with the button input delays in both the offline, and online environments only acted to add salt to the growing wound.

Mortal Kombat X - "Koncerns"

Me, and Mortal Kombat go way back, and I do mean WAY back. As an underage child I initially played the first game of Mortal Kombat in it's arcade cabinet form at Lakeshore Mall with friends when I could. This period of time in which I could do this was definitely the height of my fighting game career as it was the only time arcades really existed in the local area, and was the only time I got to experience fighting games in their natural form. It wasn't until much later that the home console version was released, and that I was able to sneak a copy of the Sega Genesis version home to play when my parents were unaware. From those two early pre-teen experiences my interest in the series peaked, and as I grew older (a good bit older) I made it a point to purchase every MK game that was launched thereafter, because of said experiences. Of course it goes without saying that some MK games were better than others as you more than likely know.

What you have to understand in regards to my later, more in-depth encounters with the Mortal Kombat series is that I grew up in a very strict christian home, and violent games of any sort were not permitted. In fact it wasn't until my 13th birthday that I was allowed to get my first fighter, "Street Fighter II: Championship Ed.", and that was only because I convinced my Mum that it had no blood or gore. I loved the ever loving hell out of that game, but that is a different story for a different time. As far as my history with MK goes it came to fruition more so in my late teen years when my parents let loose of their religious grip. It was a huge step in me being able to experience the video game industry's more mature offerings. You could say that Mortal Kombat paved the way for my video game freedom, and even opened up many more mature entertainment related adventures for myself ... Horror movies, and porn included!

Comic Book Pick-ups Late January 2015

I love comic books, I really do ... Recently during a return visit to the local "Area 52" comic & gaming shop I entered in the midst of a Star Wars RPG tabletop tournament. It was a sight to behold. I felt as if I were in the middle of some sort of comic-con gaming event with a bunch of RPG enthusisasts (was gonna say geeks, but refrained from doing so) standing around observing things. I stopped to take in the sight of people gathering, and enjoying their hobby before doing some shopping. It was a festive sight indeed. The atmosphere was intense with anticipation, and the rolling of multi-sided die. There was even a girl who looked like she was snapping photos of everyone with her smartphone. I think she even snuck one of me (OMG!!!). Anyways I was a man on a mission with limited time to linger, so I went about my shopping biz as usual.