Great game and a huge breath of fresh air for the franchise.
Mortal Kombat has been a series that is most notable for its gore and hilarious use of overly-violent fighting. It had a humble beginning as a series that eventually exploded in popularity with Mortal Kombat 2 and Mortal Kombat 3. After that, the series began to taper off, and the quality began to falter greatly with the jump to 3D. So much so that the series was eventually sold off.
Naturally, I was a little skeptical of this release of Mortal Kombat, as the previous installments have been less than stellar. I was able to get the game used for cheaper than expected, so I took a chance and honestly? It was well worth it.
The game returns to its roots. Even though it's a 3D game, it plays like a classic 2D fighter. And the developers focused more on quality than quantity, which was a huge plaguing issue for Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Each character has distinct fighting styles, moves, and characteristics. However, as everyone still has overall the same basic moveset (down + punch = uppercut; back + kick = sweep; etc.), the characters themselves are all relatively similar. Though this is also positive considering that it's easily approachable by newcomers.
The game itself plays very smoothly, even though the game does seem to cheat at times (seriously- the AI seems a little too good at times and Shao Kahn (the final boss) does a tremendous amount of damage in a very little amount of time). Additional modes are welcomed, such as tag-team co-op to play online and through the arcade mode. Old favorites such as Test Your Might return as well. There's also a very detailed story mode, but it can be a bit awkward at times, and even at the end you may be left scratching your head, especially since it hints heavily at another installment of Mortal Kombat coming soon. After you finish the story, you'll understand what I mean when I say that it's a little confusing to continue the series considering.
With that in mind, the game itself still feels relatively sparse. You can collect koins and such currency to use in the Krypt which has returned. However, unless you care a lot about the game's music and art, there's not much to be found in exchange for coins. If you don't care about collecting the art and music, you'll likely end up like me and end up with a stockpile of koins with nothing to spend them on. There are also only two characters that you can unlock in the game: Quan Chi and Cyber Sub Zero. The boss characters are locked throughout the game, which is kind of disappointing, but also very understandable as they could easily break the game.
And finally, there is a noticeable gap between character tiers. Some characters really are just better than others. If you don't believe me, you can consult Bradygames' guide and see the tiers. Some characters are difficult to deal with because of their special moves, and in the AI's hands, some characters use the special moves to disturbing efficiency. Though this idea isn't anything new, as even popular games like Marvel VS Capcom 2 have notable tiers, it can kind of take away from the game when the difficulty suddenly spikes.
The bottom line though comes to whether or not the game is fun, and it is. I'm not sure I would recommend it at full price, but the game is very enjoyable for a fighting game. Compared to the previous installments, it's a fun breath of fresh air with fun modes, but not a lot of substance.Read full review
