Midway is in trouble. The company itself is in financial limbo. They are cutting jobs to sustain themselves and recently they were delisted off the NYSE. Many see MK vs. DC Universe as Midway's last chance for survival. If this is the case, everyone should go out and buy their latest entry of the once-coveted fighting franchise, but not because it's a great game (it's not). Fans of the Mortal Kombat series should pick it up simply because it may be the last fighting title that Midway ever releases.

The story of MK vs. DCU won't be winning any awards in the near future, but considering the subject matter, the developers did a sufficient job. The realms of both the DC universe and the MK universe have begun to collide, and our heroes and villains are being subjected to a magic known as "rage". This rage makes both parties mindlessly fight and sometimes causes the combatants to turn on their allies. Unbeknownst to them is that their constant fighting is causing the games antagonist, Dark Kahn (a combination of franchise villains, Shao Kahn and Darkside), to grow stronger, helping in his quest for the destruction of both realms. If this all sounds a bit silly, it is. But if you're picking up this game expecting a top-tier story, you might as well look elsewhere.

The new free falling scenarios make for many intense matches.

Story mode consists of seven or eight levels depending upon which alliance you choose. Each level has you playing as one of the characters of your chosen alliance against several combatants. The biggest downfall of the narrative is how it progresses. The dialogue is laughable and you'll often want to fast forward through many scenes just to get to the next fight. Since this mode acts as the main feature for the game, it's frustrating seeing the lack of thought that went into it. But at its core, this is a fighting game, and thankfully, the gameplay impresses much more than the story.

MK vs. DCU brings with it some very interesting ideas that help move along each match and often add a great change of pace to each of the battles. New additions include freefalling, close combat, and a new take on the "test your might" mini-games from earlier Mortal Kombat's. Freefalling has you knocking your character through a wall and falling down several levels to an area below, all while beating each other to a pulp. As soon as your opponent begins his descent, you jump after him/her and must press any of the four face buttons to deliver a blow. If your opponent performs the same action when you do, they will counter and all damage given to your opponent will turn on you. Whoever is in control when the characters hit the ground receives the aggregate amount of damage and the fighting continues.

Close combat has you grabbing the other opponent and bringing them in close where another face button game of chance commences. If your opponent guesses your action, they will counter and break themselves free. The final mini-game, "test your might", sees you knocking your opponent through a wall and wildly pressing the face buttons to build up a damage meter, taking away health according to how fast of a button masher you are. All these ideas bring an interesting take to the fighting genre and help break apart some of the slower matches that can occur because of the less than stellar fighting engine.

The problem with MK vs. DCU lies with the MK franchise's unwillingness to change. The new mechanics mentioned above offer things that we may have not seen before within the genre, but the main fighting engine still primarily resembles that of 2002's Deadly Alliance. While that's not a horrible thing, the game certainly won't appeal to those who have become tired of the series, as they will likely find the system somewhat archaic and dated. If you've played a 3D Mortal Kombat before, you know what to expect. Each character has a set list of super moves and combos they can use. This engine allows for very little creativity in your moves, and it often becomes monotonous performing the same 3 to 5-hit combos repeatedly.

Fatalities also make an appearance, but make no mistake; MK vs. DCU has the poorest collection ever assembled in an MK game. The DC heroes such as Superman, Flash, and Batman don't even perform fatalities. They deliver "Heroic Brutalities" to their opponents and are just as lame as every other finisher in the game. If anything, the fatalities make it worth learning the more difficult combos, as they are usually more interesting to watch than their watered-down counterparts.

Rage Mode turns your player into an unstoppable juggernaut.

The online mode in MK vs. DCU worked surprisingly well and encompassed fluid online play. Matches would sometimes be plagued with minimal amounts of slowdown but nothing to warrant you putting down your controller. The pop-up statistics on other players in the lobby is a nice touch, and helps make the online mode the most enjoyable offering. Other gameplay additions include an arcade mode where you can earn the endings of individual characters (sadly, those endings are on par with the narrative in the story mode) and a combo mode that allows you to practice some of the flashier combos in the game.

The graphics are very similar to the rest of the game, in that they're quite average. The character models are done well, and each fighter has numerous animations that fit his or her own demeanor. The flash zips across the screen after battle, Sub-Zero transforms himself into an ice sculpture and the Joker laughs uncontrollably as his opponent hits the floor. The problem lies with the environments. Many of them lack such an incredible amount of detail that it feels like something that could've been achieved on a PS2. The MK arenas suffer most notably from this, as the DC backgrounds actually contained some interesting ideas. As far as sound goes, MK vs. DCU is spot on. The various scores fit their heroic counterparts well and every beatdown sounds just as visceral as the last. Everything from Green Lanterns hammer punch to Scorpion's infamous "Get over here!" chant remain intact and do wonders in helping salvage that authentic MK feel.

Ironically, the MK franchise shares a huge similarity with its parent company Midway: its refusal to change. Since the franchise hit the PS2 in 2002, the fighting engine has remained largely the same, and in the era of such legendary titles as Soul Calibur 4 and Virtua Fighter, such stubbornness is a recipe for disaster. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe isn't a bad game; it's just too hard to justify buying when much better titles already exist. The game has some refreshing ideas, and if you can look past these issues, you may find some fun in Midway's latest romp.