Mortal Kombat has never been known for its deep or complex systems. Mortal Kombat X changes all that and is by far the deepest and most polished Mortal Kombat ever made. With 25 playable characters available at launch and more on the way, Mortal Kombat X boasts a diverse roster with a ton to explore. NetherRealm Studios has learned from their previous games and elements from their past are here, but much has changed. New and old features return, but MKX does enough to separate it from the pack. The one thing that hasn’t changed is the gallons of blood that will be spilled.

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The fatalities that define a Mortal Kombat game are back are the most disturbing yet. No part of the body is safe during a fight. Brains will be exposed and intestines will be ripped out. Fatalities are every bit disgusting as they are satisfying and there is a lot of detail in each one. The game looks stunning and the animations are great. Each fighter moves differently and have interesting moves that look clean and smooth. Running in 60 frames per second seasoned fighting game players will be glad to know that it runs without a hitch. Character detail is also very impressive. Lots of little details went into the characters to match their personalities. Some characters are bland and uninteresting to look at. Jacqui Briggs stands out in my mind due to her all military style costumes that are just boring compared to her personality. This doesn’t take anything away from their respected play styles, but I was immediately drawn to more interesting looking characters. Erron Black is my favorite newcomer, dawning a Wild West look, he uses a wide array of weapons to get the job done. There are 8 brand new characters some that may have relatives to those who have been a series staple. Cassie Cage for example is the daughter of movie star Johnny Cage and general Sonya Blade. Cassie has access to different moves from her parents depending on what variation is chosen.

Variations are completely new and huge depth to each character. After a player has chosen their kombatant they will be faced with picking a variation. Each character has 3 different variations that can give the player access to new moves and combos. Scorpion’s ninjitsu variation gives him to katanas that help extend combos and add a mix up game to his attack. The inferno variation lets Scorpion summon a demon that can grab his opponent and help zone and set up attacks. Each of these variations offers different ways to play the same character each with its own strengths and weaknesses. It also lets players choose a different variation that may help them get around an opponents tactics. If a player having trouble with dealing with zoning, switching variations adds an option that may help circumvent that move and get them the win.

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There are many ways to beat your opponent down. X-ray attacks return and gives a glimpse of the twisted carnage that happens during a brutal fight. X-ray attacks are powerful and require all a full bar of super meter. The meter can also be used for enhancing special moves and breaking combos. The run mechanic also returns and is tricky to master, but allows for players to step up the pressure. Running can also be used for combos and closing in on your opponent very quickly as long as you have the stamina to do so. Gameplay is fast and resembles NetherRealm Studios previous fighter Injustice: Gods Among Us. Mortal Kombat takes the groundwork of Injustice and makes changes for the better. Like Injustice the stages are intractable. Allowing for branches to be swung on and even an old lady to hurl at your enemies. Intractable also use stamina that is replenished over a short period of time. These are fun ways that add some interesting ways to get out of the corner and add a layer to which stage is being played on.

1 vs. 1 is will most players will spend most of their time, but Mortal Kombat X has many other options for those who prefer a single player experience. Arcade towers make a return along with a full story mode. The story takes place right where the last Mortal Kombat game left off and goes all the way to 25 years after those events. The story boils down to long cut scenes with quick time events, which lead to a one on one fight. The story is broken into chapters with each chapter focusing on one specific character. This shows off some of the new characters and forces players to learn a little bit about the chosen characters fighting style. If one fight is too hard the option to skip a fight using a skip token, these are a finite number, but the story shouldn’t cause too much trouble for most people. The story is a bit bland and predictable and fails to live up to the previous MK. Story mode is far from perfect, but it’s a nice inclusion and a fun distraction.

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For those looking for more single player content they will want to visit the living towers. These towers act a lot like the traditional arcade mode, but usually have a twist. The towers also rotate hourly, daily, and the premier tower. The premier tower is the most interesting because it usually lasts a week and seems like it will give access to extra content. The first premier tower allowed me to play as Goro even though I hadn’t purchased him, it was nice to test out Goro in a live match. I conveniently was given access to all of this variations throughout the tower and it had me feeling a bit odd knowing I could play this character physically, but I had to buy him in order to unlock him during other modes.

Online play is huge for fighting games and being able to have a match run smoothly is key to keeping players happy. Unfortunately some matches I played were laggy and nearly unplayable. It’s extremely frustrating to press a button and then a second later the character performs it on screen. The interface for which the online is handled also seems a bit outdated. There were many occasion were I stared at the screen for minutes while it tried to find a match. The online system definitely needs work and will hopefully improve over time.

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Another online component is the faction system. Upon starting the game players are forced to choose a faction. This affects some of the title screens and provides players with faction kills. Faction kills are faction specific finishers similar to fatalities. Unlike fatalities everyone in the same faction can do the exact same kill depending on the faction level. In theory this is interesting, but the faction kills are boring and lack any sort of personality.

The krypt also returns this time and feels way to big. Unlocking items is fun, but having to wander around huge environments colleting random items to advance is tedious. This also plays into the pay to unlock system that seems a little gross in this game. Don’t want to unlock things in the krypt, well you can pay $20 dollars to have it automatically done. Can’t figure out fatalities, well easy fatality coins can be bought for $5. I don’t mind paying for some content, but it can’t be thrown in my face as much as it is here. Goro is on my character select screen, but when I go to choose him it reads “press X to purchase”. This doesn’t sit quite right with me, but it doesn’t take anything away from the great gameplay.

Mortal Kombat X still provides the pick up and playability of the old games, but it also offers so much more. The single player content can take a few hours, but the multiplayer shines here. Beating down your friends has never looked this good and fighting has never felt this crisp in a Mortal Kombat game before. With over 25 characters all with 3 different variations players will have tons to tinker with and explore. I loved seeing how one variation led to different combos than the other. This is what will keep people playing Mortal Kombat and rightfully so, because MKX is a great fighting game.

This review is based on a review copy of the PlayStation 4 version of Mortal Kombat X developed by Netherrealm Studios published by WB Games

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X-Rated | Mortal Kombat X Review
Overall8.5
Positives
  • New Fighters
  • Crisp Combat
  • Variations
Negatives
  • Online Mode Needs Work
  • Uppercuts Are Too Powerful
8.5Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)
0.0

About The Author

Professional nonsense talker and part time writer, Andrew is stuck in the 80's and can often be found watching reruns of Seinfeld. Fueled by synth music and turkey jerky he plans to turn his passion of video games into a career.