MDK
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 |
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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)
The Good
Shiny! What's not to like? This is probably the weirdest shooter I've EVER played. The enemies are weird, the plot is weird and the music video when you finish the game is even weirder. But that's good, right?
This game has a phenomenally fast 3D engine, which runs 100% smooth even on an old P100 in high resolution, and it also looks damn good - so good, in fact, that running the accelerated version doesn't improve performance and the visual quality improvement is negligent.
And most important is the fun factor -- this game is unbelievably addictive! I couldn't put it aside until I completed it.
The Bad
Zero replayability, which is unfortunate since this game is really, really good.
The Bottom Line
Am amazing shooter which is without a shadow of a doubt a classic.
DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4538) · 1999
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
The Good
This game is lots of fun to play. You have lots of weapons and silly powerups at your disposal and the gameplay is pretty much non-stop. Sniping is cool as well- at the end of each stage you get a total head-shot count that gets you extra points per head! The enemies are funny and the action is fast paced.
The Bad
Somewhat bland graphics.
The Bottom Line
Great! It's got a lot of fun action that will appeal to almost everyone!
PlayStation · by Ben Fahy (92) · 2001
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Tips | Jim Seward | Mar 6, 2013 |
MDK game series fansite | Mnich47 (2) | Nov 27, 2010 |
Stuck in level 3 | vedder (70767) | 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:
- Prologue
- Stranger Things
- The Enemy Among Us
- Facing the Inevitable
- An Upscale Affair
- Vengeful Alien
- Grenich Time
- Portrait of an Insane Asylum
- A Padded Cell
- New Territories
- Dreaming of Victory
- Starship
- Gunter Planet
- World Militia
- Tribal Unity
- Crossfire
- Bounty Hunter
- 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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Related Sites +
-
Hectic HQ
Fansite about the MDK series, including information about MDK (English) -
Interview with David Perry, MDK Executive Producer
on Gamezilla.com (1998)
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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.