After releasing some, at points questionable games (MK Vs DC Univers with no blood?) the rebooted Mortal Kombat is finally here. After a long awaited release is the game that will restore fans fith in the series?
Pros (The Good) :
1) A great roster
2) All those brutal, gory fatalities are back
3) Babalities
4) Plenty of modes to keep you busy (story mode, verses,challenge tower, test your might/sight/ ect, battle tower, online)
5) Enhanced fighting engine
6) The level designs are gorgeous offering you more than just eye candy
7) Plenty of things to unlock (fatalities, costumes, artwork, ect.)
8) The details of characters wounds are amazing to look at
Cons (The Bad & The Ugly) :
1) Story Mode is entertaining but at times is pretty corny (fighting games are never really known for the stories anyway.)
2) The boss battles, at points it can be unforgivingly cruel
3) graphics at cretain times lose it's sharpness and makes the characters look dull
4) Handicap battles can be unfair and cause frustration (you shouldn't have to rely on doing the same four moves to win : jump, duck, uppercut, repeat)
5) You're unable to skip cutscenes
It's about time!
Mortal Kombat has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, from playing with my brother as a child to watching the movies with my family (yes even seeing Mortal Kombat Annihilation in theaters). Mortal Kombat has always and will always be a arcade classic, but with games like Super Street Fighter 4 and Marvel Vs Capcom 3 leading the fighting game army how does Mortal Kombat stand? Well truth be told a lot has changed gameplay wise in the newest installment of the blood splattering series. Mortal Kombat adds a whole new super meter which will change how you play. With the super meter it can do a variety of things, each of which can alter the end results of a match. The super meter can help you pull of longer more impressive combos, enhance your special moves to do more damage, or if you fill it up to the max you'll be able to pull off your "X-Ray Attack". What the X Ray attacks do is slow down the gameplay and zoom in to see your character break the others bones and pierce organs. Along with the new super meter, the game also brings in a tag team mode. Players choose two characters to make a team, while playing you can call your partner in for assistance or tag him/her in. This mode leaves you open to do a variety of things you normally don't think of doing in a Mortal Kombat game. Combos are a big part of this, with your partner you can use an assist and continue your combo into your X Ray attack, giving you a new way to play Mortal Kombat. Everything in the game runs smoothly, the combos connect perfectly, and tag matches don't seem forced or added on as a cheap gimmick. The game itself is uses 3D graphics with the classic 2D fighting system. Running a modified version of the Unreal Engine 3, and a all new fighting mechanic to enhance the gameplay. The features a roster of twenty six characters to choose from, each of them plays different to each other so you don't feel like you're using the same character with a different skin.
Blood, Blood, Blood!
One of the things that Mortal Kombat is known for are what? Fatalities of course! This game does nothing but live up to the standards that fans set, not only that they take it one step further. The fatalities in Mortal Kombat look fantastic, each character has rich detail to them making every cut worth awing at. With character molds so realistically designed with veins, organs, and joints you can't help but just appreciate the carnage that is happening before you. Just when you thought Scorpion was cool taking his mask off and burning you, wait until you see Kung Lao use his hat to cut you vertically in half. Not impressed? Picture the same thing happening and add the body falling after the opponents guts, lungs, veins, and spine all fall to the floor. After being disappointed by MK vs DC Universe (ultimately not a terrible game, but far from a Mortal Kombat game.) this new game is nothing but fan service at best. Fans demanded blood, Nether Realm's took noticed and went a step further. Fans demanded gorier fatalities, Nether Realms took noticed and delivered. Along with bringing back the series to a 2D plane, and making it the bloodiest and goriest in the series Mortal Kombat has more to it than that. Offering many modes to keep you busy and never bored. Online matches (Ranked, player, king of the hill) Battle Tower, Story Mode, Challenge Tower and more. Mortal Kombat offers you more then most fighting games out right now, giving you hours worth of modes to play and complete.
Whats this? I didn't order a story with my order of kick ass fights.
When you hear a 2D fighting game has a full fledge story mode you normally just shrug, however Mortal Kombat pulled it off. To be honest the story isn't perfect, but it gets the job done and keeps you entertained. Although sometimes you'll just chuckle at how corny some of the dialogue sounds, for example theres a where a character (I will not mention who due to spoilers) says to another character "If you do not let me go.....THEN YOU ARE MY ENEMY!" and the fight starts. Although the story does do a good job explaining the history of the series, for those who are relatively new the series you'll get the gist of whats going on. The story takes place after Mortal Kombat Armageddon and returns to the beginning of the series, now taking place in the time lines of Mortal Kombat I,II, and III. But how is this possible? A simple plot twist to which Raiden now knows what happens in the future and tries to alter the events that lead up to that. As far as fighting game stories go this isn't bad, in fact I was personally entertained the whole way through. The one major problem that holds this game back does happen during the story mode. That is the ability to skip to cutscenes, why is this such a big deal? You're forced to watch every cutscene that happens without the choice to skip it or pause it. If you leave and restart the story mode, you will have re-watch the same scene again. It's not bad in the sense that it affects the game, it's just really annoying. The story mode does a good job in letting you play with a variety of characters, so you won't be bored going through the entire thing with the same character.
I'm about to break this controller!
It just wouldn't be a fighting game if it didn't get your frustrated at times would it. Mortal Kombat offers its fair share of moments that make you want to power toss your controller. For example during the story mode you will be pinned in a handful of two on one battles. These handicap battles play like a regular battle, meaning you have to win two rounds. Which would be fine if you weren't fighting two people by yourself, to win a round you must defeat both characters while they just have to defeat you. It doesn't really sound like a big deal does it? Well I said the same thing until I came across some pretty obnoxious team ups. Characters will spam moves at you leaving you at times unable to attack or get around them. These computer players aren't exactly always easy too, there will be times where you have to press that retry option many times. Two of the most annoying teams you will battle will be Noob Saibot and Quan Chi, when they're not spamming moves at your or teleporting you (Noob Saibot) they will corner you. The other team will be Goro and Kintaro, keep your distance or else with three regular hits you'll suffer 32% damage. If that's not bad, when they grab you in a X Ray attack it does about 52% damage way more than yours. Also your moves on them will do less damage so keep upper cutting! Along with these handicap battles you're also tossed into boss battles which are even worse. The final boss battle of the game will drive you to the point of sheer anger. If you're the type of person who gets easily angry, the final boss battle will make you to put the controller down for a while. The final boss moves at a ridiculous speed at times, does massive amounts of damage, and leave you no other choice but to be cheep and spam moves.
The Verdict!
Although a very different fighting game when compared to Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat stands its own against those two. Giving you that old school arcade feeling that Mortal Kombat games used to give you, and at the same time it's evolved into something more. Having a solid new fighting mechanic that allows for more strategy and combos, this is a step forward for the folks over at the Nether Realms. Fans of the series will not be disappointed, new comers will enjoy the game just as much as the fans. With hours worth gameplay and many collectables to keep you busy Mortal Kombat is a great game. Even with it's hiccups in the story mode, nothing about this game will get you bored or disappointed. The roster is solid, the game offers a high entertainment value and tons of fan service making this the best Mortal Kombat game to come out.
The Score
5/5
- After spending some fair time thinking about what score to give this game, I was set on giving it a 4 but then I started thinking harder. The more I thought about this game, the more I started to remember the story mode and everything I did with the other modes. You know a game is when you go to bed at night and before you shut your eyes, you start thinking about that game in your head. Picturing some of the moves, and start to think of possible combos the next day at work or school. It's these qualities that as a gamer myself, I decide if a game should get a certain score. The game gets a perfect score of a 5/5 due to the fact that there is just so much to like. Even though the game has problems, there is so much it offers and delivers on. With what you get in this game all those small problems can be easily over looked. If you love fighting games, and love arcade fighters this is the game you should definitely get.-
