TRMK Forum Member has the first details on the world exclusive Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks article in the November 2004 issue of . Apparently, Shaolin Monks will be an adventure/fighter in the genre of Special Forces and Mythologies. Here is nixts synopsis of the article.

Got my copy of the new Game Informer today which features the first details on MK: Shaolin Monks. Unfortunately, it's not going to be a fighting game, rather more of an action/adventure style title. The game's story will focus mostly on the MK2 era, with characters and backgrounds from that game. It will also feature secret characters including Smoke and Ermac.

Shaolin Monks will feature cooperative play, and feature classic MK characters as bosses. Your main character will have 10 fatalities which can be used against bosses. There will also be brutalities, team fatalities, and other finishing moves. The backgrounds will be highly interactive, with updated versions of the dead pool and living forest making appearances.

As much as 30% of the game will be secrets which must be unlocked. Shaolin Monks will hits stores for PS2/Xbox in September 2005.

Read on in the comments for even more information!

Credit:

Some added details from this month's Game Informer: Development on Shaolin Monks is being handled by Pandox, known for their work on X-Men: Mutant Acadmy. When questioned about the decision to branch out into other genres with the Mortal Kombat franchise, something that failed previously with MK: Mythologies and Special Forces, Boon said Midway has "taken every precaution to ensure the success of Shaolin Monks." In particular, Boon previously had no input on Mythologies or Special Forces, but he's overseeing the development of Shaolin Monks. Raiden will serve as the game's narrator. According to Boon, the game's principle theme is the storyline between the end of Mortal Kombat 1 through Mortal Kombat 3. Shaolin Monks will boast environments based largely on Mortal Kombat 2. For example, Druids found in the portal level of MK2 will be enemies in Shaolin. Explanining this further, he said; "There we a lot of rumors during MK2 that you could that you throw someone up into the spikes. Now you can, Boom, and they'll swing a little bit. I can throw characters off into acid, and they're going to char. You know, it's fully death trapped. We tapped into any rumor that we could find for MK2." Paradox is planning to implement a multidirectional attack system that will allow players to seamlessly transition between enemies as they progress through environments. Gameplay elements aside from fighting will include platform jumping and puzzle solving. Boon also hinted at the game's vast hidden elements, saying; "Roughly 30% of the game isn't part of the main storyline. You can play through the entire game and never fight Ermac. But if you play as Sub-Zero, you have to beat Ermac. There's going to be tons of unlockable stuff just like that." Players will earn experience points by beating enemies. Those experience points can later be used to upgrade the special attacks of your characters. Great site guys, all the best.

Thank God, it's only a RPG game.

Were there any pics?

At last, they've come areound to what i've always dreamed of. Ever since MK4, i've been saying...."this is ok...but now that they've got technology, they need to be revisiting MK2 material sometime." and at last, my dreams have materialized. I hope its just like KONQUEST mode...or at least similar to it in structure, cuz that is pretty addictive. Probobaly will be, cuz they're known to reuse what works, and just add to it. MK3-MK3u-MKT...all basically the same game; diff people same with MKDA and MKD...so i guess that's what they'd do with KONQUEST. But even if they don't, and come up with something radically different than what we've seen...expect to see me first in line.

hi, i'm newbie on this forum, but have been visiting your site since the beginning. GOOD JOB !!! :D As i live in Belgium, Europe, MK:Deception hasn't been released yet... but am looking forward to it. As for this Shaolin Monks, will it be on PS2/X-Box or will they release it on a next-generation console ?? cheers

Originally Posted by : MajorWeirdo
hi, i'm newbie on this forum, but have been visiting your site since the beginning. GOOD JOB !!! :D As i live in Belgium, Europe, MK:Deception hasn't been released yet... but am looking forward to it. As for this Shaolin Monks, will it be on PS2/X-Box or will they release it on a next-generation console ?? cheers

Welcome. Thanks for your readership. Shaolin Monks will be for PS2 and Xbox.

Originally Posted by : Jeff Greeson
Welcome. Thanks for your readership. Shaolin Monks will be for PS2 and Xbox.

Thanks ! :D Well, let's hope it's better than Mythologies and Special Forces...

For those who have the mag, do the graphics of the game look good?

I got the magazine today, and the graphics look bada$$ and the whole thing looks like its gonna be a great game

Originally Posted by : undertaker3x7
I got the magazine today, and the graphics look bada$$ and the whole thing looks like its gonna be a great game

Yeah, too bad its scheduled for a September 2005 release, eh? I hope this one doesn't suck as much as Special Forces did, though. Plus, it'd be interesting to see what went on between MK1 and MK2.

Originally Posted by : Ethix
Yeah, too bad its scheduled for a September 2005 release, eh? I hope this one doesn't suck as much as Special Forces did, though. Plus, it'd be interesting to see what went on between MK1 and MK2.

mmm...so over here in Europe, it will be October/November 2005... that sucks... ah, those were the days... MK1 and MK2... *getting nostalgic*

Originally Posted by : Ethix
[quote=undertaker3x7]I got the magazine today, and the graphics look bada$$ and the whole thing looks like its gonna be a great game

Yeah, too bad its scheduled for a September 2005 release, eh? I hope this one doesn't suck as much as Special Forces did, though. Plus, it'd be interesting to see what went on between MK1 and MK2.[/quote] they said in Game Informer that Boon is looking over the whole thing so it doesnt end up being crap like Mythologies and Special Forces, and Game Informer itself said its gonna be alot better than those 2 and be a good game.

At first I thought, this is going to suck. But this thread changed my mind. Now lets hope its good. That 10 Fatalities thing is hott!