There are two basic ways to play Shaolin Monks: in single-player or cooperatively. This is where the gameplay initially picks up. The "kombatants" start to flee the island, but Liu Kang and Kung Lao fall into Goro's underground lair during a tremor. Things start getting hairy after Shang Tsung's escape, when the island on which the original tournament took place begins falling apart. All the main characters from the first game are present during this opening sequence (including the elusive Reptile), and things start shifting into MKII territory when Kung Lao, Liu Kang's fellow Shaolin brother, arrives on the scene. The game picks up right at the end of the original Mortal Kombat tournament, with Shang Tsung recently defeated and trying to make his escape. Shaolin Monks takes place during what some would call the ideal period of Mortal Kombat's mythology. But if you do profess to be a lover of all things classic Kombat, then Shaolin Monks is worth checking out. With that said, Shaolin Monks will be almost exclusively interesting to MK fans, because if you were to take away the license you'd be left with a fairly unassuming and short brawler with a few serious flaws. Apart from actually putting together a completely decent gameplay engine, Shaolin Monks is so ridiculously chock-full of hidden goodies and subtle wink-and-nod-style in-jokes that anybody who professes to have a degree in MK will be hard-pressed not to come away entertained. Shaolin Monks does something that no other non-fighting-based MK game has managed to pull off: It provides quality fan service to dedicated Kombat aficionados everywhere. It would be simply unfair to compare it to the likes of the rather flawed Mythologies: Sub-Zero, and it would be an out-and-out travesty to lump it in with something like the completely awful Mortal Kombat Special Forces. When you think about the efforts Midway has made to turn the Mortal Kombat franchise into something other than that of a pure fighter, try not to lump Shaolin Monks in with the publisher's previous attempts.
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