Murder Death Kill returns…again…

Well, this is a bit of a poser isn’t it? A preview of a re-released HD version of MDK 2. That means whatever I say comes with the eternally frustrating caveat of “but it’s not out yet”, and yet it kind of is out, so both you and me already know what it’s going to be like, but then again Overhaul Games are promising quite a few changes so it’s slightly different again and aaaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

We may have to throw out the rulebook on this one.

The game is introduced using a comic-book, which is obviously the best kind of introduction

In a way that’s ok, because that’s basically what MDK is all about, handing your weighty tome of conventions and regulations to your four-armed robotic dog and letting him chew it up before blasting it to smithereens with his quadruple Uzis. So let’s introduce games journalism’s various idiosyncrasies to the maw of said cyber-mutt and boldly press on.



Since MDK2 was released a frightening eleven years ago, there are probably those among you who are wondering what on Earth (or off Earth, as the case may be) it is. Well, it’s a third person…genre-smasher, integrating elements of shooting, platforming, stealth, puzzling and an awful lot of running into its heady virtual cocktail.

The original MDK was developed by Shiny Entertainment, who were brave prospectors of originality in a world of sequels, reboots and *ahem* HD remakes. They created all manner of weird and wonderful games like Earthworm Jim, Messiah and Sacrifice.

The sequel was handed to a small, inconsequential developer you almost certainly won’t have heard of called BioWare. They hugely expanded on the ideas of the original game, placing more emphasis on the game’s weird universe and weirder humour, and providing three playable characters instead of one, each with their own unique play-style.

Over a decade on, and Overhaul Games, a division of digital distribution service Beamdog Games, have decided the time is ripe to give the weird-looking old game a bit of a facelift and send it out for modern gamers to enjoy. Perhaps this has something to do with Interplay wanting to resurrect a host of old franchises, including MDK.

Whatever the reasons for MDK2’s makeover, the fact is it’s here, showing its new face off to the world. It certainly looks better than it did. Character models especially have been vastly improved, and the environments are awash with vibrant hues. Nonetheless, the heavily corridor-based level design of the game means that there’s no hiding its age, and there were certain parts where the game momentarily reverted to its older, blockier graphics.

I’m guessing those are parts the developers are yet to fully address. Even so, the game might look better but it certainly doesn’t look brilliant, and I can’t help but wonder where the point is in updating a game’s visuals when it’s still going to look behind the times.
 

Kurt’s chaingun makes short work of anything large and green

Fortunately, there’s no time for you to gawp at the environments. Despite its adoption of many genres, MDK2 is a game primarily about momentum. As janitor cum saviour of Earth Kurt Hectic you’ll be constantly running, leaping, dodging, parachuting and paragliding. Even when using his absurdly powerful sniper rifle to fire hilariously bouncy sniper-mortars at the enemy, you’re still strafing around platforms to avoid their attacks.

Max, by contrast, moves almost entirely in one direction, forward. The tank of the trio, he has twice as many hit-points as Kurt, and the ability to wield four weapons at a time. With four Uzis equipped, he’s basically a walking minigun, pulverising anything that’s unfortunate enough to be standing in front of him. I think I had the most fun as Max. His forward assault is simply relentless, as are the enemies that pour out of the walls and ceilings to be blessed by his storm of bullets.

Even the old and eccentric scientist Doctor Fluke Hawkins waddles faster than most Olympic sprinters can run. Yet here you have to think fast as well as move fast, sweeping up objects and combining them to create all manner of absurd inventions, such as an atomic-toaster that fires radioactive bread.

All the humour and the various gameplay elements that made MDK2 fun the first time around are still present, although so are some of the issues. Even in the preview code it’s plain to see the controls have not been tweaked enough. They still feel floaty and unresponsive, which is especially painful during platforming sections.

With Kurt and Max this isn’t so bad, as Kurt has his parachute and Max has access to a jet-pack. However, Fluke Hawkins has no such gadgetry, and there is a platform section involving thin red girders that is simply agonising. Control issues are one of the things you would expect to be fixed in an HD remake like this, and these really need to be addressed by the time of the game’s release.

There are a couple of other improvements and non-improvements that are of note. First up is the sound. Jesper Kyd’s pulsing, pounding soundtrack has been reengineered and is now wonderfully crisp. Sadly, the same care doesn’t seem to have been paid to the sound effects, some of which sound rather cheap and disappointing. The pathetic “pewp” of Kurt Hectic’s sniper-rifle is particularly incongruous with the power of the weapon.

Finally, the difficulty of the game has been toned down. MDK2 was a notoriously tough game, and Overhaul Games have taken the decision to reduce the difficulty, presumably to make it more accessible to newcomers. I don’t have an issue with this. The game is still fairly challenging, and forces you to keep up the momentum - if you stop, you’re dead. Any harder, though, repeatedly dying would paradoxically kill any momentum the game was challenging you to keep up, and that would be less fun than brushing your teeth with an industrial file.
 

Max’s sneeze could floor a rhinoceros at twenty paces

I certainly enjoyed my brief time spent with MDK2 HD, though I question how much of that enjoyment had to do with the “HD” bit of that title. The updates definitely improve the game, but I’m not sure if they improve it enough to warrant a re-release, and there are areas which still need quite a bit of work.

Most anticipated feature: Probably the reduced difficulty level, as it makes the game more fluid and fun.