7:53 PM
Ryan (Entr0p1k)
I remember the old days when Mortal Kombat was played in 8 simple bits. I remember when those 8-bits caused so much controversy that they were censored unless a cheat code was entered. Now, when the game has truly reached it’s graphical peak (for now), the controversy seems to have disappeared and MK can, finally, show it’s true bloody colors.
Gameplay
If you’ve kept up with the Mortal Kombat franchise recently, it’s pretty plain to see how it’s slowly spiraled downward. With every new release another “gimmick” has been added. Whether it be changing stances, addition of weapons, long scripted combos or, the worst of all, the infamous Kreate-A-Fatality.
The next installment of the MK series has been hyped as rediscovering the roots of the series and returning to what made Mortal Kombat great. I, for one, was intrigued but wary. Many times games have talked about “returning to their roots” and fallen short, instead falling, once again, onto the unforgiving spikes of gimmicks.
Mortal Kombat, however, delivers on its promises. Forget the days memorizing super complicated combos and welcome the new/old system of stringing together your own combos. A few combos are still programmed into the system but most consist of stringing together short combos with special moves to preform juggle combos. This allows for much more creativity when fighting and makes the gameplay feel more fluid.
The game is also takes place in one-pane as opposed to the 3D fighting of its recent predecessors. This makes MK feel more natural and makes it easier to jump and duck quickly.
If that all sounds like old news then you’re in luck, the developers didn’t just copy the old MKs. This new MK introduces X-ray attacks! These attacks can be used when the player’s special bar is fully charged and releases a devastating string of blows on the enemy (if it lands). With every blow the opponents internal structure is shown, allowing you to truly witness the carnage being inflicted. These attacks deal devastating amounts of damage and can shift the tide of battle if used correctly.
Video / Audio
I’ll be blunt, this game has the best graphics of any Mortal Kombat released to date, but the graphics are still not great. This game really showcases what made the franchise famous: grotesque amounts of violence and gore. Every hit dealt causes a splatter of blood somewhere, and I’ll be honest, I love it.
The X-ray attacks are a nice little change from the bloody routine while still staying true to MK’s brutal nature. Everytime I see an X-ray attack, even if it’s being performed on me, I enjoy sitting back and watching the mayhem.
The voice acting, however, is pretty terrible. Most of the lines feel unnattural and many of them just made me laugh at how incredibly bad they were.
Story
The story, surprisingly, is not too bad. I actually really enjoyed watching it develope. Even the character development was well done, by the end of the game I really felt I knew the general personalities of every character.
The lines did not do much to aid the story, however. It seemed like every other sentence was some sort of terrible one-liner. On top of that, EVERYONE throughout the game has an unbelievably short temper. It ussually seems to go like this, “Ok, the fate of our world is at stake, we better be really quiet, like your mom,” “what did you say about my mom!?” Fight breaks loose. Okay, maybe I exaggerated just a little bit, but you get the gist of it.
Content
Okay, this game has A LOT of content. It consists of three main single player modes (Story Mode, Challenge Tower and Arcade) and several multiplayer modes. Story Mode takes you through the Mortal Kombat storyline. This mode is actually pretty entertaining and actually makes you switch between many different characters. This mode is surprisingly long for a fighting game. Challenge Tower consists of a whopping 300 challenges ranging from fights to minigames. This mode would take forever to complete (it took me about 2 hours to do the first 25). Arcade mode is... arcade mode (you should know what that is). Add multiplayer into this mix and you get an unbelievable amount of content.
When it all comes down to it though, it’s still all Mortal Kombat or some slight variation of it, and I, for one, get rather tired of MK after a while, long before I would get through all the game’s content.
Huevos Factor
Mortal Kombat showcases unprecedented amounts of violence exceeded only by its extraordinary amounts of blood. I love it. This installment is, without a doubt, the best installment of the series to date.
Gameplay
9.0 |
If you’ve kept up with the Mortal Kombat franchise recently, it’s pretty plain to see how it’s slowly spiraled downward. With every new release another “gimmick” has been added. Whether it be changing stances, addition of weapons, long scripted combos or, the worst of all, the infamous Kreate-A-Fatality.
The next installment of the MK series has been hyped as rediscovering the roots of the series and returning to what made Mortal Kombat great. I, for one, was intrigued but wary. Many times games have talked about “returning to their roots” and fallen short, instead falling, once again, onto the unforgiving spikes of gimmicks.
Mortal Kombat, however, delivers on its promises. Forget the days memorizing super complicated combos and welcome the new/old system of stringing together your own combos. A few combos are still programmed into the system but most consist of stringing together short combos with special moves to preform juggle combos. This allows for much more creativity when fighting and makes the gameplay feel more fluid.
The game is also takes place in one-pane as opposed to the 3D fighting of its recent predecessors. This makes MK feel more natural and makes it easier to jump and duck quickly.
If that all sounds like old news then you’re in luck, the developers didn’t just copy the old MKs. This new MK introduces X-ray attacks! These attacks can be used when the player’s special bar is fully charged and releases a devastating string of blows on the enemy (if it lands). With every blow the opponents internal structure is shown, allowing you to truly witness the carnage being inflicted. These attacks deal devastating amounts of damage and can shift the tide of battle if used correctly.
Video / Audio
7.0 |
I’ll be blunt, this game has the best graphics of any Mortal Kombat released to date, but the graphics are still not great. This game really showcases what made the franchise famous: grotesque amounts of violence and gore. Every hit dealt causes a splatter of blood somewhere, and I’ll be honest, I love it.
The X-ray attacks are a nice little change from the bloody routine while still staying true to MK’s brutal nature. Everytime I see an X-ray attack, even if it’s being performed on me, I enjoy sitting back and watching the mayhem.
The voice acting, however, is pretty terrible. Most of the lines feel unnattural and many of them just made me laugh at how incredibly bad they were.
Story
7.0 |
The story, surprisingly, is not too bad. I actually really enjoyed watching it develope. Even the character development was well done, by the end of the game I really felt I knew the general personalities of every character.
The lines did not do much to aid the story, however. It seemed like every other sentence was some sort of terrible one-liner. On top of that, EVERYONE throughout the game has an unbelievably short temper. It ussually seems to go like this, “Ok, the fate of our world is at stake, we better be really quiet, like your mom,” “what did you say about my mom!?” Fight breaks loose. Okay, maybe I exaggerated just a little bit, but you get the gist of it.
Content
9.0 |
Okay, this game has A LOT of content. It consists of three main single player modes (Story Mode, Challenge Tower and Arcade) and several multiplayer modes. Story Mode takes you through the Mortal Kombat storyline. This mode is actually pretty entertaining and actually makes you switch between many different characters. This mode is surprisingly long for a fighting game. Challenge Tower consists of a whopping 300 challenges ranging from fights to minigames. This mode would take forever to complete (it took me about 2 hours to do the first 25). Arcade mode is... arcade mode (you should know what that is). Add multiplayer into this mix and you get an unbelievable amount of content.
When it all comes down to it though, it’s still all Mortal Kombat or some slight variation of it, and I, for one, get rather tired of MK after a while, long before I would get through all the game’s content.
Huevos Factor
7.5 |
Mortal Kombat showcases unprecedented amounts of violence exceeded only by its extraordinary amounts of blood. I love it. This installment is, without a doubt, the best installment of the series to date.
Breakdown:
| Gameplay | 9.0 |
| Video / Audio | 7.0 |
| Story | 7.0 |
| Content | 9.0 |
| Huevos Factor | 7.5 |
Total | 8.3 |
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