Mortal Kombat: Unchained review

Funny thing is, the bonus mini-modes pretty much steal the thunder from Unchained's big fights anyway. Fans of Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo will instantly recognize the falling-block gameplay of Puzzle Kombat; now with some extra brutal fatalities. Chess Kombat takes a similar approach: drench a brainy game in blood and make it even better. It’s not strictly chess as you know it, as when you want to take a square from an opponent, you'll do so by force, in "Kombat". If you even remember the moldy-oldie strategy game Archon, wherein strategic board-game design gave way to fast action whenever two pieces challenged for the same square, Chess Kombat will make you very happy indeed.

The single-player, action/adventure-y Konquest mode, however, isn't as much fun to revisit. Controlling hero Shujinko as he roams the realms is still a twitchy affair, and its slow pace (filled with forced tutorial sequences) seems designed for people who have never played a Kombat game before.