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'We're going to do this, whether you're on board or not' - Ed Boon's team wasn't initially behind his idea to overhaul Mortal Kombat story modes - (Ev

HeavyNorse

#BlackLivesMatter
Fighting games haven't traditionally been hailed for having the strongest story modes among gaming genres, but Ed Boon and his development team at Midway Games changed the landscape in some significant ways with the release of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe back in 2008.

This game saw an immense upgrade from a reliance on a handful of text-ridden stills or a few 30-second clips to using a full cinematic experience complete with motion-captured actors, but this was no easy feat to pull off and Boon's team wasn't exactly sold on the idea to begin with.

IGN has posted an interview with the MK co-creator in which he articulates some of the early struggles and challenges of starting this massive change that would eventually raise the bar for the entire fighting game genre.
"It involved a ton of work, a ton of new tech that wasn't in place yet, in terms of streaming video while loading the next fight in, and a whole memory arrangement that we didn't have," explained Boon.
"And so it met with a decent amount of resistance, and not from the standpoint of, 'oh, we don't want to work,' but it was more like, 'is this going to be cool? Really? How? This is a single-player game, people are just going to play it once and then be done with it.'"

In their initial run at the new concept, Boon's team brought to him more of a glorified comic as opposed to a cinematic experience that would make fans feel like they were essentially inside of a Mortal Kombat movie.
In spite of the fact that his team clearly didn't have too much faith in or clear vision of what he was aiming for, Boon did not relent. This wound up being an instance wherein the boss needed to throw their weight around a bit to get others to see and believe in the big picture, a move that would prove very fruitful in the long run.

"I remember experiencing some frustration with it because I was like, 'how are you guys not excited about this?'" continued Boon. "And eventually, I just kind of forced it through. So [it was] one of the few times that I feel like, I pitched an idea, people weren't excited about it, and I was like, no, you guys aren't going to kill this. This is going through, we're going to do this, whether you're on board or not."

We've seen gotten Mortal Kombat 2011, Injustice: Gods Among Us, Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat 11, and the newly released Aftermath update to MK11 which tacks on an additional few hours of story campaign.
Other fighting game developers have clearly followed suit as NetherRealm Studios (Boon's current endeavor which followed the bankruptcy of Midway back in 2009) has become the matter of fact standard for fighting game story modes, but none have really come close to becoming competition for NRS in this department.

Ed Boon has shown innovation many times over the years through Mortal Kombat titles as most have brought with them some kind of new angle or experience for players who aren't simply interested at being the best competitors.
This has proven especially important in modern times as the genre has been prodded to do a better job at appealing to both casual and competitive audiences simultaneously.


https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2020/jun/04/were-going-do-whether-youre-board-or-not-ed-boons-team-wasnt-initially-behind-his-idea-overhaul-mortal-kombat-story-modes/
 

Swindle

Philanthropist & Asshole
I can’t with event hubs.
Is it too much to ask for you to transcribe the entirety of the links contents to post it here? I realize this would take some time and effort, so I would be willing to compensate you handsomely.
Lentil soup.
 

Roy Arkon

I will leave my seal on you!
Ed Boon has consulted with the Elder Gods, and both them and he brought their vision to life, and NRS have never looked back.
 

Pizza

Thrill Kill
Pretty cool, and I think he was right to trust his vision. That being said, I'd prefer a Konquest mode in the next game instead of another cinematic chapter-based story mode.
They should drop the Character = Chapter system because it's TRASH. Aftermath was a step in the right direction by giving villains some chapters too. And adding some fights with other characters here and there.
 

xenogorgeous

.... they mostly come at night. Mostly.
They should drop the Character = Chapter system because it's TRASH. Aftermath was a step in the right direction by giving villains some chapters too. And adding some fights with other characters here and there.
yep, I hope they keep this format for the next MK game, where the bad dudes, having them too own playable chapters, and so, the same relevance and matter as the good guys, in the story mode. :rolleyes:

This was a fresh and cool experience in Aftermath, and it's approved to come back in MK12. ;)
 
They should drop the Character = Chapter system because it's TRASH. Aftermath was a step in the right direction by giving villains some chapters too. And adding some fights with other characters here and there.
Agreed. The "this character has 4 fights then does nothing else" chapter system really limits the amount of said character's involvement in other parts of the story.
 

ItsYaBoi

Noob
What cracks me up about this whole story is that they say he started it with MKvsDC in 2008 and had to "push it through"

ANNNNNNNND

then they were bankrupt in 2009. Imagine all the hate and shit like "see, told you it was a bad idea" lmao
I know you're being tongue in cheek, but to be fair Midway had a myriad of problems, MK vs DC was the least of their concerns :D

Also, many blessings to Papa Boon for being the big boss and getting a fun cinematic story mode implemented into fighting games.
 
People are saying fuck eventhubs but half the time they release new information/announcements about NRS games before this site. Event hubs is much more superior than TYM.
 

Art Lean

Noob
As a single-player Mortal Kombat fan since day one, I truly love what they've done with the games to make the story mode into an interactive movie.

One thing I would like however is an expansion of how the end of Aftermath went with the choice of Shang or Liu; why not have a few different earlier branching paths depending on your character choices for fights that can take you to multiple different endings, rather than just a choice of one ending or the other on the final fight. It was a good step in the right direction, but think it'd be great to really expand that to have varied paths throughout the storyline.
 
i miss deception's story mode. hope for a chance for them to make another story mode with today's technology where you can actually explore the world of mortal kombat
 
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I still take konquest mode over story any day. Being able to explore full worlds would be 1000x better than watching a movie. You can still do cut scenes in konquest also just like they did they. I think that’s the direction they need to go.
 

Nero2196

Noob
Am I the only one who thinks the MK11's story is absolutely dreadful with jaw droppingly mediocre writing?

I haven't purchased the Aftermath expansion yet but it blows my mind how people thought Mortal Wal-Mart Endgame had decent writing.