MDK

aka: Murder Death Kill
Moby ID: 344
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

In this 3D shoot 'em up, you play Kurt, and your job is to save the world. Aliens have sent 8 giant fortresses to destroy earth. You run and jump through 6 missions of strange 3D worlds and kill the "Stream Riders" with your machine gun arm. Precise platform jumps are part of the challenge.

Kurt is equipped with a special battle suit with an included parachute and a sniper interface (allowing you to aim precise shooting while standing still) embedded in your helmet. Further weaponry enhancements are available as you progress through the game.

Spellings

  • 亡命暗殺令 - Traditional Chinese spelling
  • 孤胆枪手 - Simplified Chinese spelling

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Credits (DOS version)

67 People (39 developers, 28 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer
Producer
Associate Producer
QA Lead
Testing Staff
Sales and Marketing
Marketing Manager
Business Affairs
Sound Design
Original Concept
Designed in equal parts by
Additional Design
Programming & Tools
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 86% (based on 43 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 154 ratings with 10 reviews)

A perfect mix of 3D shooters and platfrom gaming, combined with great graphics and sound.

The Good
In one word, this game is PERFECT. In more than one word:

  • Clever and original map design. You will battle in many environments, from deserts to icy mountains, and inside high tech crawlers. This game features some of the most amazing 3D fight scenes I have seen to date, easily beating modern giants such as Unreal, Quake II, Half Life and such.
  • Incredibly fast 3D engine, runs great on a Pentium 166. The engine basically utilizes flat and texture mapped polygons (as well as other nice tricks). Innovative map design and clever use of texturing helps avoid the need for lighting. MDK runs smoothly on modest hardware yet it has complex scenes and objects.
  • Simple and configurable interface, which enables you to quickly learn to control Kurt. This is especially important in platform games like this, where you have to jump quickly from platform to platform, parachute while blasting away at the enemy, then landing on the floor, running for cover, switching to sniper mode and taking off people's heads from a distance. You will have to do this and more, and the this interface makes it all easy.
  • High quality music and sound effects add much to the atmosphere, and change dynamically from scene to scene. I especially like the James Bond theme when Kurt surfs on the snow while shooting.
  • Non stop action. Whether its classic platform actions (clever jumping and parachuting to get from place to place), shooter action (blast away or bomb every moving thing in sight) or a combination of both, you will not be bored.
  • The platform game aspect. Power ups, long range jumps, running and sneaking abound. Although some might not like this, I think that this is a vast improvement over the traditional shooter style where you just go up the stairs, ride down an elevator and such. What's the point of 3D if your game is limited to running on planes?



The Bad
Nothing. Really!
Well, there is something I didn't like...
You can only save a game after each stage. Some of the stages are very long, and might take almost an hour to complete even if you know exactly where to go, what to do and you are good at the game. The option to save the game everywhere might ruin it for you, but having to option to save after a very difficult part.

The Bottom Line
If you like Commander Keen. If you like Rise of the Triad. If you like Doom. If you like fun. This is your game. I started playing the game and couldn't leave it alone for a week until I finished it. My family left me and my dog died - but I tell you, it was worth every second!

(No, not REALLY, in case you wondered)

DOS · by Mickey Gabel (332) · 2000

Funny,original, epic & just plain awesome!

The Good
M.D.K (stands for murder death kill?? max doctor kurt?? mother's day kiss?? whatever...) was really groundbreaking in it's time back then in 1997. You play as kurt & your job is to terminate the alien bastards out of this world(for saving earth). You have six missions/levels which you will travel & kick some alien ass. Mdk was the first game (at least on the pc) that had a sniper. Boss battles are just awesome & creative . The graphics (for it's time) were unbelievable, you really felt like part of a living world. The atmosphere while post-apocalyptic has a heavy comedic feeling. Also the soundtrack is definitely a plus, it's helping making the game a powerful & epic experience.

The Bad
Well the game was way way way to short-> only 6 missions(at least they are long ones). another problem is the fact the game can get repetitive at times.

The Bottom Line
Great game! very close to a masterpiece( & some may say it is) By far Shiny's best& one of the best gaming experiences ever.

Windows · by BlackNightmare (259) · 2004

Imaginative action-packed masterpiece

The Good
This is truly an awesome game, an eclectic mix of platform and shooter games with enough wacky and creative touches to spare. Mdk takes what seems to be (and is actually) a brain-dead, cliche premise and renders it with so much style and creativity that the end result is literally a masterpiece. Making use of a remarkably good 3d engine, the game delivers some of the most imaginative and hypnotic scenarios ever to grace a computer screen, with the first good use of sniping sequences blended in seamlessly with massively entertaining shoot-outs. The dinamic soundtrack is simply amazing, truly one of the best ever. Yet all of these wouldn't count for nothing if it weren't for the excellent pace and dinamism the game has, you literally have no "fat" on this chunk of meat, every moment spent with Mdk brings lots of fun and never comes close to becoming tedious or boring, this is probably a result of the excellent mood the game gives you, sure, you'll be taken to dark and sinister alien bases...but you can always count on finding a power-up that makes a cow fall on top of the enemies!

This game is the finest example of that "Shiny-touch" that many have mistaken for failed comedic relief, when it actually serves the purpouse of intentionally mocking and toning down the "seriousness" other games pose. While many would have us believe that their game is a "serious religious experience which will completely take over your life and transform you forever" Shiny takes a more humble aproach and reminds us that this is simply something to have a good time with! (when in reality it does much more). This shouldn't be confused with some sort of nostalgic desire to regress ourselves to the days of pac-man, I truly consider videogames as a viable medium to develop creativity (and in the end, an art) and I'm positive so do the guys at Shiny, but in an age where every game labels itself as "serious stuff" and deathmatch is considered almost a paid sport, something that simply aims to entertain (but which, once again, in reality does much, much more) is truly the stuff of legends.

The Bad
Well, the only bad thing about this game is that it leaves you wanting for more, but then again, is that a bad thing?

The Bottom Line
To conclude: this is a masterpiece of epic proportions...that barely broke even sales (gee... whadda ya know? I thought quality games always managed to hit it big on the gaming industry! surprise, surprise!). As always, Quake was responsible and as a result this game is regarded as somewhat of a cult classic, lots of people will say nice things about it, but few have actually finished it (or played it, for that mather) so if you come upon it on a bargain bin don't pass it up. This is required playing if you want to seriously consider yourself as a game-buff.

Windows · by Zovni (10504) · 2001

[ View all 10 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Tips Jim Seward Mar 6, 2013
MDK game series fansite Mnich47 (2) Nov 27, 2010
Stuck in level 3 vedder (70685) Apr 3, 2010

Trivia

1001 Video Games

MDK appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Advertising

Early ads for MDK appeared with the slogan: "Prepare for a religious experience." The game's slogan was later changed to: "On a good day, 2.5 billion people will die".

Development

According to MDK developer diary (August 1st, 1996), one level of the game was developed by demosceners.

German version

In the German version the green blood was re-coloured blue and gore effects (cut off limbs, exploding heads after headshots) were removed. Additional changes are the removed "headshot" statistic and different, less human sounding screams for the kamikaze aliens. A detailed list of changes can be found on schnittberichte.com (German).

iMac

MDK was one of two video games, alongside Nanosaur, that were bundled with Apple's original 1998 iMac when it launched in August of 1998. The game was not included with the later (1999) Rev. C, Rev. D, and Rev. DV/SE iMac models.

Intro

The PC version does not have an intro movie (only the Playstation version does), but you can clearly see pieces of the intro in the final video after beating the game, albeit in black in white (intro was made in glorious color).

Movie

There was a plan to make a Hollywood movie based on MDK, but obviously this didn't come about. Shiny also got an offer for an animated series, but they didn't accept since they were holding out for the movie.

Music video

The music video that plays at the end of the game is from the song "Non, Non, Rien N'a Changé" by the French band Billy Ze Kick and whom the development team are apparently fans of (they even urge you to buy their CD's on the readme file... good luck finding any!). The song appeared on the band's 1996 album Paniac and was released as a single in 1997.

North American Edition

The PC version of MDK sold in North America and Canada had a bright yellow sticker proclaiming 'Exclusive North America Edition!' (see Cover Art section). It is not known if there are any differences to the other versions.

References

  • In the sled-surfing sequences you'll find a unique power-up not found legally elsewhere in the game (sometimes hidden on an overhead opening you can jump to instead of continuing through the main courses, sometimes laying in plain sight. The hidden arena 9 in world 5, only reachable by using the "givemealliwant" cheat, contains more of them.) These power-ups are actually the face of Jim from Shiny's Earthworm Jim. Get them and for each one you catch a cow will fall on top of your enemies.
  • The first minecrawler you must fight is heading towards Laguna beach. This is where Shiny's development studio was located at the time.

References to the game

The PlayStation version of the game can be seen played during the very first scene of an episode of the science fiction series The X-Files. Series 5 episode 9 "Schizogeny" starts with a full close up of the games running, and then it pans across to the main character of the story who is playing it.

Soundtrack

There is a soundtrack disc for MDK by Tommy Tallarico. It was released in 1997. The soundtrack can be bought at http://www.synsoniq.com

Tracklist:

  1. Prologue
  2. Stranger Things
  3. The Enemy Among Us
  4. Facing the Inevitable
  5. An Upscale Affair
  6. Vengeful Alien
  7. Grenich Time
  8. Portrait of an Insane Asylum
  9. A Padded Cell
  10. New Territories
  11. Dreaming of Victory
  12. Starship
  13. Gunter Planet
  14. World Militia
  15. Tribal Unity
  16. Crossfire
  17. Bounty Hunter
  18. MDK (Planet Trax Remix)

The soundtrack disc was packaged along with the game itself in Germany, where it sold over 50,000 copies.

Title

The meaning of "MDK" was the subject of many discussions. The most popular interpretations are:

  • Mission: Deliver Kindness (From the manual)
  • Max, Dr. Hawkins, Kurt (the protagonists)
  • Murder, Death, Kill (from the 1993 movie Demolition Man)

When asked, each MDK developer said that MDK stands for something different:

  • My Diary something beginning with K
  • My Dog Ken
  • Million Dollar Ko
  • Massive Dollops of Ketchup

In the FAQ section of the readme.txt file of MDK, the developers state that "MDK" does not stand for anything special, and can be whatever you want it to stand for, such as Mother's Day Kisses.

In a 2009 interview, Perry stated that "Murder Death Kill" was the title used for the first internal promotional video but had to be replaced because a planned toy line.

Information also contributed by Agent 5, Atomic Punch!, Dmichal, festershinetop, MAT, Maw, Mickey Gabel, Sheldonist, shifter and Zovni

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by robotriot.

Browser added by Sciere. PlayStation added by Adam Baratz. Antstream added by lights out party. Macintosh added by Mullet of Death.

Additional contributors: Ray Soderlund, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Игги Друге, Peter Ferrie, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Mnich47, Plok, FatherJack, WONDERなパン.

Game added November 1, 1999. Last modified March 19, 2024.