Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe Review

Since I’m back to posting videos on YouTube again, I thought it would be fun to write reviews for the games I’m playing on the channel. This is actually something I’ve been wanting to do for awhile now. Alas, my creative streak has evaporated over the past decade (as you can see by the lack of posts on ScoobyFan.net). But the recent TypeCast I did with my buddy Scooby-Doom! sparked a interest in writing reviews again. So here we are. This is going to be more of a ramble than an actual review. I just wanted to get this out there before I chicken out again. I have some other ideas for articles / reviews in the coming months, so stay tuned for that.

So I am a huge DC fan. I’m more of a casual Mortal Kombat fan. I’ve played all the modern MK games, but I’m not super into the lore or anything. Plus I suck at fighting games in general. That’s not an exaggeration either. I’m the type of guy who can’t be bothered to learn the combos and just mashes the buttons. Which is why MK VS DC should be perfect for me since the combo system seems to have been dumbed down. However, I think it’s more of a hinderance to this game. Once you learn the handful of special moves for each character, it gets dull after awhile. And maybe it’s because I’ve played the more modern MK games recently, but I found the Kombat a little clunky at times.

There’s also the fact that this game is heavily neutered. This was before DC’s edgy phase in the mid-2000s, so they had to adhere to a certain set of rules to get that T rating. The most obvious example of this is the Heroic Brutalities. On one hand, it makes sense. We don’t need Superman snapping any necks. But even the fatalities on the MK side are toned down. I feel like if this had come out a decade later, we could have gotten more brutal finishers. Something more along of the line of Injustice. but for its time, this crossover doesn’t really work.

The Story: Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe features two story modes: one for the MK characters and one for the DC heroes. After a long battle with Superman, Darkseid attempts to escape via boom tube. Superman disrupts the portal with his heat vision causing the two worlds to collide and Darkseid & Shao Khan to merge into a godlike being called Dark Khan. I found the story to be pretty weak overall. The whole rage entry conceit was just an excuse to have our heroes fight. There’s also the fact that Superman yet again gets duped by magic. Look, we can complain all day about DC trying to make Superman edgy. But Injustice Superman is by far a much more interesting character than “Superman gets taken over by rage.”

I also wasn’t a fan of the voice acting. Characters like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were fine, but most of the voice acting is very generic. Especially Batman. I think this might be my least favorite Batman performance. It’s just not that interesting.

Overall Thoughts: I’ve spent this entire review bashing this game, but at the end of the day it’s not THAT bad. It’s just average. A nice novelty for fans of both franchises. I didn’t hate my time with this game. But between the other MK games I‘ve played and Injustice it’s probably my least favorite.

So there you have it. Not a polished review, but hopefully I can get back in the game. Be sure to check out my full No Commentary Walkthrough here. Also go check out my buddy @TheScoobyDoom and his pod The Nerd Blitz w/ Doom & Fitz. They just celebrated their 10th anniversary.And go check out our Typecast, where we discuss all things Scooby!