Posted September 10, 2008
MDK (either it means Murder, Death, Kill; Mother's Day Kisses; or absolutely nothing) is a third-person shooter about Kurt. Apparently, by day, he's a janitor. But by night, he's a leather-suit, weirdo-helmet wearing superhero taking out alien robots from planet Polygon. He's aided by a scientist and his humanoid dog in the process.
Okay, that's not the exact story, but how it goes doesn't really matter. In a game like this, what matters is the gameplay. And for MDK, it's quite good, even if it's basic. You run from one arena to another, clearing out all the enemies you see. You have an Megaman-style arm cannon that has unlimited ammo and auto-targeting, so killing is easy. But it's also great fun! While most enemies have the basic shoot-'em-til-they're-dead strategy, bosses and mini-bosses required more thinking, but not too much, which is good. You also have a sniper feature, which is necessary to take out some enemies, and you get a variety of ammunition for this, such as homing bullets and mortars. You can get other secondary weapons and tools like grenades and decoys that resemble a punching bag with your likeness.
There are some sections that break up the shooting, like one level where you hop on a hover board like the one from Back to the Future II and some levels have an area where you take control of an alien plane and bomb the crap out of your enemies. This helps keep the game from becoming repetitive.
One thing that makes the game unique is its strange humor. MDK is from the makers of Earthworm Jim, so it's to be expected. But there aren't any outlandish, surreal images or cartoonish characters. This game takes itself more seriously, but funny moments can be seen and heard, such as the enemies cry for help (which I honestly think is pure profanity in some alien language) and the design of some levels. I won't- or can't- go into anymore details about it. You just have to check it out for yourself.
My only complaint about the game is its graphics. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good, but it's sometimes impossible to measure depth in the game. This can be a problem during some of the platforming levels or when dealing with explosives (you can't really tell if you're far away enough to avoid damage). It's not a big issue, though, and the personality and unique visual style of the game makes up for it. There are a couple areas in level two, where some mirror platforms reflect the sky, that still look freaking awesome. Also worth mentioning, is the great music. It sets the tone perfectly, and also evokes some of the game's humor.
The modern-game comparison I can make for MDK is Painkiller, even though the latter was a more horror based FPS game. They're similar in spirit: kill everything that moves while enjoying the sights. If you liked the gameplay of Painkiller you'll like MDK as well. This game doesn't have the excellent weapons (you're pretty much stuck with your armcannon and sniper mode all the way through), but the satisfaction of clearing a room full of badguys is still there. This is a classic of the run-and-gun genre: simple, yet addicting.
Okay, that's not the exact story, but how it goes doesn't really matter. In a game like this, what matters is the gameplay. And for MDK, it's quite good, even if it's basic. You run from one arena to another, clearing out all the enemies you see. You have an Megaman-style arm cannon that has unlimited ammo and auto-targeting, so killing is easy. But it's also great fun! While most enemies have the basic shoot-'em-til-they're-dead strategy, bosses and mini-bosses required more thinking, but not too much, which is good. You also have a sniper feature, which is necessary to take out some enemies, and you get a variety of ammunition for this, such as homing bullets and mortars. You can get other secondary weapons and tools like grenades and decoys that resemble a punching bag with your likeness.
There are some sections that break up the shooting, like one level where you hop on a hover board like the one from Back to the Future II and some levels have an area where you take control of an alien plane and bomb the crap out of your enemies. This helps keep the game from becoming repetitive.
One thing that makes the game unique is its strange humor. MDK is from the makers of Earthworm Jim, so it's to be expected. But there aren't any outlandish, surreal images or cartoonish characters. This game takes itself more seriously, but funny moments can be seen and heard, such as the enemies cry for help (which I honestly think is pure profanity in some alien language) and the design of some levels. I won't- or can't- go into anymore details about it. You just have to check it out for yourself.
My only complaint about the game is its graphics. Don't get me wrong, it still looks good, but it's sometimes impossible to measure depth in the game. This can be a problem during some of the platforming levels or when dealing with explosives (you can't really tell if you're far away enough to avoid damage). It's not a big issue, though, and the personality and unique visual style of the game makes up for it. There are a couple areas in level two, where some mirror platforms reflect the sky, that still look freaking awesome. Also worth mentioning, is the great music. It sets the tone perfectly, and also evokes some of the game's humor.
The modern-game comparison I can make for MDK is Painkiller, even though the latter was a more horror based FPS game. They're similar in spirit: kill everything that moves while enjoying the sights. If you liked the gameplay of Painkiller you'll like MDK as well. This game doesn't have the excellent weapons (you're pretty much stuck with your armcannon and sniper mode all the way through), but the satisfaction of clearing a room full of badguys is still there. This is a classic of the run-and-gun genre: simple, yet addicting.