MDK

Back in 1997, MDK seemed to me as a game from the future - fast, dynamic, balls-to-the wall action in alien world, all in 3D. 14 years later, I finally tasted the whole thing (back in the day I only owned small demo), and here's my review. MDK is excellent, unique, sometimes bizzare but very, very fun, as most of Shiny's games. Everything in the game is just screaming awesome. Very impressive engine, with it's fast and flashy 3d rendering, making big alien landscapes possible and looking great, together with hundreds of great animated baddies. Can't put enough emphasis on much how the game looks great in 100% fluid action, straight from something you'd suppose to find in PSX's library. Animation of enemies and bosses is very detailed. Shot aliens start running, they lose their limbs, fall on their backs or just run at you holding giant bombs. Ridicoulously funny bosses do all sort of things inspired by Looney Tunes cartoons. Music sometimes sounds very industrial-like, sometimes adrenaline-pounding to make shooting even better, and sometimes it goes into James Bond-style '70s soundtrack. Great job! But what's with the actual gameplay? It does not disappoint. Imagine Tomb Raider mixed with healthy dose of Quake and usual Shiny's wackiness - you've got MDK. Action is fast and fluid, there's always some aliens to blast or acrobatic jumps to make. From time to time you'll find a tricky, but not too hard puzzle to solve and push things forward. And in some levels you'll find flying platforms or snowboard - then you'll be flying through arena, shooting everything in sight, trying desperately to catch some powerups. And speaking of them, powerups are in this game absolutely crazy. Usual grenade or chaingun upgrade doesn't make much of it, but when you'll find items like The Most Interesting Bomb In The World or Tornado or Cow Air Strike (straight from Earthworm Jim), you know it's not a typical game. Overall? Great treat for every fan of fast shooting 3d action. Definitely a worhy addition to that virtual shelf. While the game isn't perfect (difficulty level may be for some people too high on later levels, and the game itself is definitely too short), it's still great and worth that cult following it. Try to end the game to see a special surprise!

This is bittersweet. MDK is one of my favourite games. There's really nothing else like it. Well worth it. The worst thing though, is that I have a Mac and I'm guessing it was a 32bit game so won't play on my computer since I updated it. Absolutely gutted. But I suppose that's my fault for being a ponce. In summary... Buy this game. And developers... Remakes are the in thing at the moment... Just saying!

Saw this advertised when it first came out, and couldn't help but become intrigued. It's something that seemed a little different, enough to where I would think about it once in a while. Playing this game for the first time in 2020 was incredible. It was way weirder than I could have imagined, which is saying a lot in comparison to my childhood imagination. It's succinct, controls pretty well, and full of personality that I don't think has aged at all. I would definitely say it was worth the twenty-three year wait to play this.

This was one of the first titles that offered true 3D environment to real world. The controls and presence of captivating character ensured the success, I commend!

The game is perfect in its design and variety of enemies, unfortunately the controls sensitivity (or rather fickleness and a lack of stable key polling method) leave much to be desired - sometimes professor behaves as if controlled by a random number generator.