It’s true! here’s the digest version: Two new maps, both available on April 17th through the Halo 2 downloader in the game itself, and it’s just $4 for the pair.The maps ar Tombstone and Desolation - remakes of Hang ‘Em High and Derelict, respectively.

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Because this series was a very important part of my own childhood, I’m gonna give a little background on my obsession with the series first.

It’s pretty safe to say that this would’ve been my dream game had it been released in the mid 90’s. Back then, like almost every other 10 year old I knew, I was a huge MK fanboy. I was introduced to it when my mom rented the first one for me when I was six, at the dawn of my gaming obsession. The game was not only violent, but had a certain enigmatic quality to it (Goro literally gave me nightmares). MK II was even better, and was the game that really got me hooked on the series. I have fond memories of going to the arcade on weekends to see if the new MK was there, and skimming through countless magazines to find even the tiniest scrap of info on the next MK game. We even used to roleplay classic MK fights during recess with the MK movie theme as background music. I always picked Reptile.

Naturally, me and many of my friends eagerly anticipated MK III. Unfortunately, they changed a lot of things about the series when I first saw the game in the arcades, so much that I didn’t even recognize it as a Mortal Kombat game at first glance. It almost reminded me of X-men. Despite this change, I still loved it to bits, just not as much as the previous games.

After that, a few "sequels" were made (Ultimate MK 3, MK Trilogy) and some spinoffs (MK Mythologies) as well. Being the diehard fan I was at the time, I even got some enjoyment out of Mythologies. It didn’t take me till years later to realize that it was a (to borrow from the MK lingo for a bit) Komplete Piece of Krap. And just a quick note, do NOT watch the second MK film, as it’s a real eye bleeder.

When MK 4 arrived in the arcades, I wasted no time scraping up some quarters to play it. However, I left the arcade in bitter disappointment, as it was not the game I hoped it would be. Even though MK was now in 3D, not much had changed from past installments. This would be the game that broke my obsession with the series. But shortly afterwards, I finally got to try my hand at other 3D fighters like Tekken, which was just an all around better game than Mortal Kombat.

When Deadly Alliance came out, I was mildly interested, but ended up passing over it. That is, until I read some reviews that it "gave new life to the MK franchise". After buying a used copy a year later, I was blown away by how great it was. Deception hit a little later and was just as good if not better. 

With my interest in the series renewed, I picked up MK Armageddon used at EBGames about a month ago. And now that I’ve spent a good deal of time with it, I’ll share my thoughts on the game below.

Gameplay

I’ll be honest here, I was initially disappointed that Midway changed so much from the past two installments for Armageddon. For instance, in the past two games there were 3 fighting styles for each character, but now there are only two. And also, the fighters no longer have their own unique fatality’s. Where’s Kano’s heart rip fatality? And what about Kung Lao’s hat slice? Or Raiden’s shock till ya explode finisher?

I guess this is what they had to do to make room for all the characters they put in it, but whatever. Speaking of characters, they’re ALL in the game. Nightwolf, Sheeva, Kai, Reptile, Kintaro, you name em, and they’re in it. Even Liu Kang is back, even though hes in zombie form now.

In addition to this, they have added some pretty cool new features, like air combos for example. Think of the air fighting in Dragon Ball Z and youll get the idea. Theres also some new stuff like Motor Kombat and MK Online, which I havent been able to test out for myself due to a lack of a proper set-up.

The Konquest, on the other hand, is very linear and about as irritating as the non-Sonic stages in the 3D Sonic games. And Im gonna have to take more points off for the exclusion of Puzzle Kombat, which I thought was barrels of fun.

And before I forget, the stages are mostly 3D remakes of pre-Deadly Alliance arenas, such as the subway (MK 3), the lair (MK 1), graveyard (MK 3), and the soul chamber (also MK 3).

6.5 out of 10

Sound

The music in the game ranges from moody Eastern style tracks to haunting lair music (for lack of a better description). And in classic MK fashion, there’s plenty of blood curdling screams when you knock you’re opponent into a pool of acid or a pit of spikes.

Sorry, no Toasty’s though.

3 out of 5

Overall

It’s a disappointing, but still fun spiritual follow up to MK Trilogy from way back in the 32 bit era. If you can, buy it used, because it is not worth paying full price for it.

I hear the next game won’t even include any of the characters from the original series, so I’m gonna keep a lookout for news on it. And if you ever were a diehard MK fan like I once was, you should too.

Total: 9.5 out of 15

Take 2 Interactive held its Annual General Meeting this evening and shareholders voted unanimously to remove the current board and replace them with their own representatives. The publisher, responsible for Grand Theft Auto, Manhunt and Max Payne, has seen poor fortune since the release of GTA: San Andreas.

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Albert Penello, director of global platform marketing for Xbox, has revealed in a little snippet of a quote to Reuters that Uno is the first game to be downloaded one million times from Xbox Live Arcade. I feel dirty.

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Specifically, the filing makes mention of a new Playstation 3 model with an 80GB hard disk. This seems to line up with rumors we’ve heard of Ken Kutaragi pushing the idea of a PS3 with a much larger hard drive.

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An update to Crackdown has just been released over Xbox Live. According to Major Nelson, it ‘addresses several minor technical issues to ensure a smoother online gameplay experience’ and ‘increases the number of ambient gang vehicles that populate Pacific City.’

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Eidos has confirmed that it won’t be releasing most of its major PS3 titles until next year, stating that the console’s installed base will not be high enough before then. Cavanagh said that the board of directors also believes the Xbox 360 and Wii will be successful, with Eidos’s first titles for Nintendo’s machine due out this spring.

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The sequel to the Xbox 360’s most graphically impressive racer gets over 200 tracks in 10 locations, an impressive interactive weather system, and Bizarre even claims to be introducing a ‘Halo 2′-like matchmaking system.

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The 5000 signatures were reached (and surpassed greatly) and we are officially getting a Limited Edition!

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Turbine is inviting over 1,000,000 players to play LOTRO (Lord of The Rings Online) for free until April 24th. This is the Open Beta, but gives players a sense of what the final game will be. Open Beta for Pre-Order users starts tonight! Check out the link on how to be invited.

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It looks beautiful. Go on then check it out for yourselves.

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Yosuke Hayashi, director of Ninja Gaiden Sigma which is due out on PS3 later this year, has said that developers claiming that PS3 is hard to develop for is just an

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78,000 PS3 were sold in its first two days, 24% better than what the PS2 did. Wii and Xbox 360 are stuck respectively at 75,000 and 49,000 consoles sold in two days. Sony expect to reach the 100,000 milestone this weekend.

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The release date was set almost a year ago but finally the public will get their first look at Rockstar’s massive fourth Grand Theft Auto instalment tonight.

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Who’s making our kids fat? Ronald McDonald? America’s corn lobby? According to a new Subway ad, it’s Pac-Man. Digg this story so we can send Subway the message that we gamers aren’t going to take it.

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