Like many here, when I first heard the rumours way back, I was hoping it was a joke. Then when they recently began to resurface, this time with unnerving credence, I was almost praying it couldn't be true. After all the talk about a return to the dark theme of Mortal Kombat, that slightly macabre aura that you get when you play MK1 and 2 - what drew so many people in originally - and all the talk about having almost none of the MK characters we've come to know returning, it really seemed a good opportunity for a genesis for the series.
Instead, we get this. Whoever decided that this 'theme' could be a good idea? Whoever proposed it should've been fired then and there, and that should have been the end of it.
To me, the whole concept of fighting Batman and Superman sullies the name of Mortal Kombat and devalues the franchise, it takes away from its uniqueness that has (amazingly) stood for 16 years.
As mentioned by someone above, they personally hated the 3D MK's, but kept up with the storyline because it still intrigued them. And to me, that's the essence of the problem. Mortal Kombat has always been compelling, it is more than the fighting (it has had to be, since the fighting is relatively poor in all games bar UMK3) and now they're tainting the last preserve of what was good about the series.
If you take a look at the promo pic of Sub Zero and Batman and slice it in half, the Sub Zero side, to me, IS Mortal Kombat; the ominous clouds, the vicious look on his face, the pagoda in the background...
MK always held that ancient vibe, thus crossing over with superheros takes away from that which people still remember from MKII, and have been clamouring for ever since.
Now, I know this is all ancillary stuff, and that of course, gameplay matters most, but I wanted to focus on this because for one, I believe MK has always been more than its fighting engine, and two, MK4-Armageddon are proof enough already that they can't make a decent 3D fighting game.
Of course, this has been building for years, largely because of us accepting substandard quality from them since MKDA. MKD and MKA were pretty terrible - particularly the latter - yet so many still went out and bought them. The only way to get a positive response is to stop giving them the incentive to put out rubbish. MK nearly died after MK4, and they were forced to go back to the drawing board, which generated the promising Deadly Alliance. They had to, they had no other choice. If they see the negative backlash, and then feel it in poor sales, they will finally listen!
And finally, why do companies never consult with their target audience about stupid ideas like these? I'm almost certain, judging by the responses across the net, that the majority of fans would have decried the idea, and then they could've abandoned it and that person could've been fired.
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Side note: Funny how the only support I've seen so far has been from people at MKO. No surprises there.
