Since we last heard that Mortal Kombat Special Forces has gone under some major modifications ever since the first look we got at last year's E3, we've gotten hold of some more information regarding what has been changed since the departures of several key team members, including project leader and MK co-creator, John Tobias.

Since the series' main storyteller is gone, the ambitious storyline evisioned by the creator has proved to be an arduous task for the remaining development members. Those complexities proved to be too much without the storyteller himself, so everything has been simplified.

In the version shown at E3, the first level involved a great deal of jumping on boxes and climbing up ladders. There was even some areas where Jax had to swim from room to room. Even though these portions of the game worked fine, with exceptions to the jumping system, they have all been removed. Now all the characters can do is run, shoot, and fight, which is designed to speed up gameplay.

As far as the camera system goes, the one implemented at E3 had some flaws. Apparently, there were some sorting problems with the system and those problems seemed to be too much to fix. They decided to scrap the previous system and adopt a new system similar to the system used in Metal Gear Solid; however, word is that the game is still suffering with sorting issues. The new camera system was also supposedly to help speed up the game's frame rate; nevertheless, it hasn't seemed to have helped.

Although the outlook may seem grim for Mortal Kombat Special Forces, it is still too early to be concerned. Having to practically start over during the middle of development is a very difficult task. Because of all the changes and additions being made to the game, it will take a lot more time to bring the title up to release quality. From what we've heard significant progress is being made, which is good to know. With the closest possibility of release being this fall, the current development team still has quite a bit of time on their hands to get everything running up to the standard we expect from Midway's games.