Mortal Kombat. Two words that will be burned into the brain of any computer owner and arcade-goer of the early nineties. This series shocked the world with its brutality and its new breed of frenetic action in its first two incarnations. Only in Mortal Kombat would you beat an opponent senseless then rip their head and spine out, set them on fire, melt them with acid or tear their arms off. Alternatively you could give them a bunch of flowers. The dark twisted humour, the excessive violence, and the outlandish storyline made this game astoundingly popular, such that it spawned two films, a TV series and a long running comic. At the time of the first Mortal Kombat, the characters were drawn from photographs of actors, they all had the same basic moves and three characters were essentially identical just different colours. It was still a superb game, but thankfully things have moved on since then.

The game revolves around a tournament that takes place once every fifty years. In this tournament, warriors from all the worlds come to face the best fighters from a place called Outworld, where a mighty immortal called Shao Kahn rules and seeks to conquer the universe but is held at bay by restrictions forced upon him by the Gods. He is not allowed to enter a domain until the warriors of that world have lost ten times in a row against him at Mortal Kombat. Of course, this doesn't stop him trying and after his last defeat he invaded Earth anyway (in Mortal Kombat 2) but was beaten. This set in progress a chain of events that spiralled out of control and more warriors were drawn into the fray from many worlds. In Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, sixty (yes sixty) warriors have come to fight, threatening to destroy the very fabric of the universe with their powers. To bring matters under control, a trap has been set, a great prize guarded by a fiery demon. Whomsoever wins the prize will be given immense power and so will be able to restore balance to the worlds.

The game had several modes. Primarily is the Arcade mode, which consists of you fighting a sequence of progressively harder battles until you reach the final opponent the fire demon blaze. You can do this as any of the sixty characters, each of whom has a different ending. There are 2 player versus battles, so you can beat you friends into bloody pulp and an enjoyable mini-game called Motor Kombat, where you battle off the back of a moving vehicle. Finally is the third person adventure mode, Konquest. This is reminiscent of the old scrolling beat-em ups like double dragon, where you have limited moves and move about the terrain fighting hordes of weak enemies and occasional tough bosses, at times with weapons collected from fallen enemies. The action here is broken up with some boss fights that are played using the arcade game mechanism and a smattering of traps and simple puzzles. It's basic stuff but wrapped up in a nice package, and it is this mode that gives the game a storyline and provides a good atmosphere, drawing you into the experience. Without this, the game would just be a sequence of short fights and would have a horrendously short lifespan. You can also earn points from the battles you win to buy clothing, bodyparts and moves with which to create your own personalised character. Now that's something special for a beat 'em up.

The Mortal Kombat franchise has been around for some time and had begun to feel tired to me. I have barely bothered with these games since the first three, as I felt that the others failed to bring something new to the genre. However, MK Armageddon on the Wii does bring something new - and that is the Wiimote. In the past, MK has been noted for the speed and intensity of the fights. Blocking was easy and unlike other games did not make your character withdraw. Combos were simple to pull off and players still took damage when blocking, so staying back never worked. Because of this, you ended up with a battle based on timing, speed and determination. Special moves add a touch of the grandiose, but are all blockable or avoidable so as not to dominate the matches. MK Armageddon adds weapons, which give a second fighting style to every character that is balanced such as not to favour them over unarmed combat (longer reach, slightly higher damage but more basic combos and decreased speed).

In MK Armageddon there are several fighting styles. Each character has a list of moves that do not change between characters with that style, but each character has different speed and strength, thus subtly affecting how you fight with them, plus they all have their own special moves. The Wiimote is set up to make choosing the moves easy. Attacks are carried out via the four direction buttons and A throws your opponent, while B allows you to pull off special moves without difficulty. When holding down the B button, moves are performed via a gesture with the Wiimote. For example a semi-circle upwards or down triggers a move, moving towards and then away from the enemy triggers one and so on. These take some time to master (and I found them harder when sitting down) but once you have practiced them you can drop in and out of the game playing any character at will. Sure, you do need time to get every nuance of each fighting style, but you have the vast variety of sixty characters and it is easy for friends to just pick up a Wiimote and play.

Each battle is filled with blood. Each level has death traps - for example, you can kick an opponent into a catapult then fire them through the air into a nearby wall, all with ear achingly delicious screaming and splattering noises! And more blood. But it's after winning a fight that the true brutality begins. Using the gestures mentioned above, you can perform fatalities on your stunned opponent. Unlike previous MK games, this is not limited to a set of character-specific moves, but rather generic moves that can be built up in a sequence. There is a counter and this resets after every gesture, becoming shorter each time. Build them up and you get more brutal sequences and greater rewards. However, get too ambitious and you will get a shorter time bar and risk missing a move and ending the sequence with your opponent still alive. Possibly missing a few limbs, but alive nonetheless.

These parts earn the game it's 18 rating, but are very much a part of the feel of the game, rather than a gratuitous effort to hype up the game for teenagers. Sometimes however the game down is let down graphically, with the level of blood and the way it drips looking a little unnatural after certain moves. Otherwise the graphics are fine, but unexceptional. Some of the characters are a little out of proportion and the four-armed monsters can look a little odd, and perhaps could have been better animated. But in general the artwork is good and the costumes have the usual Mortal Kombat style. The voiceover is superb too, with Shao Kahn narrating the battles, and lovely squelching sounds as the blood drips.

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is a game that is readily accessible to all levels of gamer and is great as a title for fun against casual opponents. It is the most complete title of the Mortal Kombat series, with every character (including one who is Wii-exclusive) and worth buying if you are a fan just for this. The sheer variety will keep you playing for some time and the game uses the Wiimote well, and will likely inspire future titles with its methods. While not groundbreaking and lacking the range of moves in some fighters, Armageddon is a decent beat 'em up that deserves a second look, especially given the lack of such titles on the Wii so far.

Reviewed by Gavin Udall for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).