When it comes to crossovers this one surely has the gaming scene in a frenzy. Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is the eighth release in a long line of Mortal Kombat games spanning one and a half decades, but out of them all, the theme for this one certainly takes the cake. Like the idea or loathe it, the chance to take comic characters from the DC Universe into battle with characters from the Mortal Kombat universe seems to offer enough novelty value in itself to give this new Midway game a good kick start upon release. Offering players the chance to play Superman in a battle against Scorpion, or Batman against Sub-Zero, MK vs DCU is as ambitious as it's theme is surprising and, as far as we're concerned at Game Troopers HQ, an exciting prospect. We might take some flak for that comment, at least going by the pre-game release judgementalism and concept hating that is sweeping the internet - especially amongst MK fans. But we'll take that in our stride and opt for a 'wait and see' approach until passing our own judgement because in all honesty, the idea behind this one seems super cool to us.

It's hard not to love Mortal Kombat, particularly if you're one of the legion of die hards who grew up pumping your hard earned money into the first coin operated MK. Likewise, nearly all kids are brought up on a staple of DC comics at some point, so it's not hard to love the characters of the DC Universe - ok, well most of them: Superman and Batman most notably. With both of these loves it just seems wrong to hate the idea of a fun gaming merger of the two - especially when early indications are that it is being done well with appropriate justice being applied to both leagues (ok, that pun was probably a bit too much). Unlike the technology of days past where a crossover could not have been done justice, gaming technology is at a point now where it can deliver breath taking and seamless 3D fighting rather than one dimensionality, and so the potential of this crossover is evident. Utilisation of the Unreal 3 engine offers great potential, even moreso as the news is the engines been tuned for added performance. One interesting aspect amongst this is that the development team are planning to inject a lot more 2D style gameplay into the 3D action as a means to put more emphasis on certain moves; although a lot of initial reaction to this was 'wtf' we'll wait to see how this pans out since the method behind the madness seems to be about delivering great gameplay . In any case, the Unreal 3 engine seems a good choice.

Initial game footage seems pretty cool too, although only limited excerpts from the game have been seen so far. Watch the trailer here(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzXhAtKNnUM). The renders that have been made available are likely chosen to wet our appetites and they've succeeded. Scenes of Superman flying through a hell-ravaged DC Metropolis look spectacular, and the coolness of the Bat Cave arena with Bat Suits on display or the building tops of Gotahm city with the Bat symbol reflecting off clouds offer very cool if not enticing fight locations.

As you would expect, Midway have kept many aspects of this game a secret. Whilst a minimalistic trailer and a handful of screenshots have contributed to the speculation and hating, it has also left the game a wide open door to surprise and prove the naysayers wrong. It's certainly already done that on a few counts. Early chatter was that the game would have no fatalities and of course this led to an MK fan backlash. Of course the chatter was wrong as we now know the game will have fatalities - just not excessive amounts of gore.

The secrecy of information by Midway has also fuelled many forum discussions about which cool matchups might happen in the game: Green Lantern vs Raiden, Catwoman vs Sonya, Lobo vs Shang Tsung (we're really hoping Lobo is in this by the way, he is our favourite DC character by far...). The guesswork (and hope for Lobo) continues, but we do know some of the estimated 20 strong character list: On the DC side we'll see Superman, Batman, the Flash, and Catwoman; on the MK side we'll see Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Sonya and Shang Tsung. It is expected a couple of characters will be revealed at E3 with a few more to be revealed at the next Comic Con. The entire list, well, we'll have to play the game.

The addition of Freefall Kombat sounds like a step in the right direction. Unlike other games where you simply fall to the next playing level, in MK vs DCU battles will also take place in the air. How many times have I heard the comment, "I wish we could fight while we fall." Well now we can. Get an idea about how this will work by watching the game trailer.

Those who are concerned about how this will damage the ongoing MK storyline, or the DC storyline, need not worry. This is an independent crossover attempt, and although the storyline itself has DC greats Justin Gray and and Jimmy Palmotti behind it, it is original to the game and will in no way be reflected in other MK or DC work. On the story side of things, the game will be released with a customised storyline from both DC and MK viewpoints, which sounds very comic like and very cool. Those who are concerned that the fatalities will have no gore, well, judging by the laughter we've had with previous fatalities you may have some grounds, but Midway have assured us that there will be blood - as much blood as they can include to snare a T rating whilst bordering M. DC fans can smirk a little though - DC have not allowed their characters to get too messed up. We're told this is because the DC people feel their universe isn't as violent as the MK universe - I don't know, haven't they read Lobo?. In any case, the same cannot be said for the MK side, so more visible damage can be inflicted by DC characters than can be inflicted by MK characters. That part is definitely a let down, particularly if Robin is included - wouldn't it be great to be able to hammer Robin into mush? (apologies to any Robin fans out there...)! But in any case, we'll remain faithful that the Midway team can stretch the DC ego's enough to allow us enough DC damage to be content.

PC Gamers can switch off now because, alas, there's no version fo the PC in the works - it's pure PS3 and Xbox 360 action. There is a rumor that a Wii version may become available in due course, but no confirmation on that, primarily because the Unreal 3 engine is not available on the Wii, so if Nintendo get their hands on this game, it will probably have to be using a new 3D engine.

The game is scheduled for release in November 2008. The first playable demo will be on show at E3 on July 14-17.

Official website: http://www.worldscollide.com/

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