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)

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

A fun, fast shooter that's a breeze to play

The Good
MDK is an almost perfect blend of fun shooter. The emphasis of the game is enjoying it, not trying to think about things too much, but to sit and feel the game experience wash over, making it a breath of fresh air to play. Taking the role of Kurt, equipped with a fancy suit that allows for gliding, shooting, sniping and others you face a whole series of mild, shooting based challenges taking out the most comedy of comedy aliens.

The game never immerses itself in any sense of seriousness about what you're doing with aliens who play peek-a-boo with you and levels which are like an enormous kids playground. The controls have been well thought out and are intuitive to use allowing for fast game play.

The Bad
I've no real negative comments about this game, some may consider it too short, but I like short games. Being developed for consoles too means there's check-point style saving, but in a fun and frantic game like this saving halfway through an action sequence would detract from the manic fun.

The Bottom Line
Looking for a fun game that's a world away from heavy games that try to make you believe serious reasons why you should shoot up aliens? This is the one.

DOS · by RussS (807) · 2009

Like a beautiful painting, but with explosions

The Good
- action packed gameplay - intuitive controls

The Bad
trouble running on modern pcs

The Bottom Line
A masterpiece by David Perry! MDK has it all – action, music & humor.

Back in 1997 the software based graphics engine was one hell of a ride! It was fast, had brilliant visuals and a very far visibility - not using any 3D acceleration. The gameplay is a stunning ride through an action packed surreal alien world. The whole game has an unique art style, architecture and creativity that I rarely have seen in other videogames. From mirror labyrinths to abstract paintings, the levels are as crazy as they can get. The music is composed by Tommy Tallarico, with orchestra combined with techno - which perfectly fits to the visuals of the game. The controls and movement are fluid and you can fight a huge number of enemies without getting lost.

The overall experience is a unique and brilliant trip - this game is on my list of the best games of all time.

Windows · by cosmo ruski (39) · 2011

[ 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.