This week, I am reviewing the latest in the long line of “Mortal Kombat” games. The new game stays true to its predecessors in that it still maintains both the “Mortal Kombat” brutality and the heart of a true fighting game at its core.The combat is pretty much the same as we’ve seen countless times before, a two dimensional stage on which two combatants engage in bloody, gory and gruesome battle, the likes of which no other video game can claim to match. There is the tag team element included in this new version, which adds a new twist to how you can defeat your adversaries with tag team attacks and switch attacks. Of course the most memorable part of Mortal Kombat is still at the end of every battle-the fatalities, as bloody and intense as ever.
The story arc is much better than the past games in the series, in my opinion. It is much more complete this time around because it combines the first, second, and third games’ stories into one. The game did a great job of building out the story and the character developments from start to finish.
For example, you get to see the original Subzero killed, his brother take up the identity and fail in his quest to avenge his fallen brother, the original brought back to life to become Noob, and then the younger brother rebuilt as Cyber Subzero.
The graphics are better than the originals, but nothing out of this world. The sound is what really stood out to me with this new game. The developers put more detail into the sound effects this time around. For example, when you uppercut one of the cybernetics, they make a metallic sound as though your character actually just punched or kicked a robot. Mortal Kombat has always been a great series. The developers just needed to pay more attention to detail, and it seems as though they have made some of the necessary detail work to make this game stand a cut above the rest.
The gameplay itself was pretty good, if a little unbalanced in the story mode. The online and local play can be pretty entertaining to prove who the greatest warrior is. However, the one player story mode can be rather infuriating at times, given it often has your one player pitted against two or even three opposing characters. However, I don’t think even you versus three characters is as big of a pain as you versus Shao Kahn, who is by far the most annoying character in the game, even going so far as to tell you so on a regular basis.
Mortal Kombat is a fantastic addition to the series’ history. It has a decent story, revamped sound and graphics with closer attention to detail, still some of the greatest and goriest battles the virtual world has ever seen, and an awesome addition to a party or way to prove who the best fighter is amongst you and your friends.
All-in-all, this new Mortal Kombat is a fantastic fighting game that earned it’s four out of five stars from me.