Mortal Kombat: Special Forces

Midway Games
Industry	Video games
Founded	January 1, 1958; 68 years ago
Headquarters	United States
Products	Mortal Kombat: Special Forces

Mortal Kombat: Special Forces is an action-adventure title released in 2000 by Midway Games exclusively for the PlayStation. As a derivative of the Mortal Kombat series, it marks the second entry diverging from the traditional fighting game format and stands as the franchise's inaugural 3D spin-off. The narrative occurs prior to the events of the original Mortal Kombat, with players assuming the role of Jax, who is on a mission to capture the criminal mastermind Kano and dismantle his gang.

During development, the project encountered setbacks after co-creator John Tobias and several team members departed from Midway before completion. This exit resulted in notable reductions in content, including the removal of Sonya Blade as a playable character. Upon its launch, the title was met with widespread negative feedback, particularly targeting its uninspired level design and monotonous gameplay, ultimately earning a reputation as one of the poorest quality video games produced.

Gameplay

In Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, players experience a third-person action-adventure perspective controlling Jax, who utilizes a combination of melee combat, firearms, and explosives. The game comprises five distinct stages set across Earth and Netherrealm environments, each culminating in a challenging boss encounter. Exploration plays a key role, requiring players to locate keys, solve puzzles, unlock doors, and discover secret pathways. Although Jax lacks the ability to jump, he compensates by climbing elevated platforms and moving heavy blocks.

Players can restore health by collecting first-aid kits, while a limited energy meter fuels special moves; this energy regenerates through executing specific combo sequences. Combat mechanics include strikes with fists and feet as well as defensive blocking maneuvers. Unlike other entries in the series, this game does not feature Fatalities, but its combo system permits finishing moves once an opponent’s health is depleted. Defeating foes awards experience points that unlock additional combos. An in-game menu provides access to inventory management and mission tracking. Successfully completing the game unlocks a cheat menu that offers various bonuses for subsequent playthroughs.

Plot

Chronologically, Mortal Kombat: Special Forces serves as the earliest installment in the Mortal Kombat timeline, taking place four weeks before Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. The storyline follows Kano, who orchestrates an escape for his Black Dragon gang from a high-security prison. US Army Major Jax Briggs, driven by vengeance for his fallen Special Forces teammates, sets out to prevent them from obtaining the powerful Eye of Chitian artifact capable of opening portals to other dimensions.

Characters

In addition to Jax, Kano, and members of the Black Dragon faction such as Tremor and Jarek, this title introduces three unique characters exclusive to this installment:

Gemini: Serving as Jax’s base contact, she communicates mission updates via radio. Although she maintains a close bond with Jax, she never appears within gameplay.
No Face: A Black Dragon operative liberated by Kano who specializes in explosives. Distinguished by his pale skin and absence of facial features, he wields both dynamite and a flamethrower.
Tasia: A lethal ninja swordswoman affiliated with the Black Dragon gang and freed from incarceration by Kano. She fights using twin ninjatō swords and possesses teleportation abilities. Tasia also appears alongside Jarek in the Mortal Kombat X comic series.

Development

Special Forces marked Midway's second attempt at a Mortal Kombat title outside the traditional fighting genre, following 1997's Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero. John Tobias, co-creator of the franchise, envisioned a platformer series that would broaden the Mortal Kombat lore, including planned entries centered on characters such as Baraka and Liu Kang. However, only the 2005 release of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks materialized from these plans.

Initially slated for release on PlayStation, Nintendo 64, and Dreamcast platforms, ultimately only the PlayStation version reached the market. A significant number of Midway employees, Tobias among them, departed during development in 1999. Following Tobias’s exit, the storyline underwent substantial alterations and the project was expedited to meet deadlines.

Tobias later revealed his minimal engagement with the finished game: "I really never played it... I maybe played it for like five minutes at E3." Co-creator Ed Boon clarified that he was not involved in Special Forces development and characterized the project as "riddled with all kinds of problems."

Reception

Critical response to the game was largely negative, as reflected by its "unfavorable" ratings on review aggregator Metacritic. Blake Fischer from NextGen commented, "Don't let the cheap price fool you. This isn't even worth a trip to the store."

Within the Mortal Kombat franchise, Special Forces is frequently regarded as the weakest installment. Its disappointing commercial performance prompted Midway to suspend further series entries until Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance arrived in 2002. Co-creator Ed Boon acknowledged: "The game had a pretty bumpy development ride and the game didn't turn out very good at all." In 2011, GamesRadar+ ranked it as the second most ridiculous offshoot of Mortal Kombat, while in 2013 it was listed among the 41st worst games ever produced.

On the other hand, certain publications provided more favorable reviews. For instance, Video Games: The Ultimate Guide scored it 7/10, GameVortex awarded it 79%, and The Electric Playground gave it a 7/10 rating.

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