As we begin a new month, more information trickles in, regarding the status of Mortal Kombat Special Forces. First off lets establish what we already know. Please take the time to read our January 7th 2000 update if you are unfamiliar with the current situation. Up to date? Ok, lets go.

Mortal Kombat Special Forces is almost done! It seems like all plans to add complexity to this game have been scrapped and this title has been stamped EXPRESS DELIVERY. Aside from basic testing, this title is planning on going gold (off to manufacturing) in the next few weeks.

The storyline has indeed suffered under the chopping block in this game. The high aspirations placed on the title by the original design team have been thrown out. Most of the game's original artwork has been replaced and the game is considerably shorter than originally planned. Furthermore, all of the different branches planned in the game have been thrown out, resulting in Jax becoming the game's only controllable character. This means that Sonya is no longer a selectable character; moreover, plans that allowed you to control Kano in an episode have been tossed. The entire storyline has been changed and is completely linear. So the storyline and actual time period in which the new MK Special Forces takes place is unknown.

It seems pretty odd that all of the sudden Mortal Kombat Special Forces is gearing up for completion already. After all, Midway has been pretty tight-lipped about the game since last year. Perhaps the reasoning behind releasing the game so quickly is because the game is only planned for the Sony PlayStation. It makes sense for Midway to release it as quickly as they can, since software sales for the PlayStation are diminishing as many are anticipating future consoles like the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Dolphin. It appears that MKSF has become another MK title that has succumbed to the business side of things. On the other hand, perhaps the title could have been worked so that the game is really enjoyable. We just won't know the answer until we get our second look of the game at this year's E3 coming up in 10 days. Don't forget to check out our first look of MK Special Forces from last year's E3.

UPDATE: If you put any weight on EBWorld.com's release dates, they have MKSF PS listed for a 6/28/2000 release.