Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s): Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Release dates(s): April 19th, 2011 (NA) April 21st, 2011 (EU)
Genre(s): Fighting game
Mode(s): Single play, multiplayer
With Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe being such let down, as a massive Mortal Kombat fan, I couldn’t help but feel slightly apprehensive about their newest release. Following an anxious wait to play the new release, I’m happy to say that Mortal Kombat is back in all its orignial greatness.
Story
The game introduces a story mode, re-telling the events of the original Mortal Kombat trilogy. The story begins after the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. Owing to a twist within the plot, Raiden now has knowledge of the future, the events of the time have altered slightly. The story is divided into sixteen chapters, in which you play various amounts of characters. Each chapter highlights the events of the story from each character’s perspective. With critics calling this the best story in a fighting game for quite some time, I fully agree. It will keep you engrossed and enlighten you regarding the characters you play.
Training
The training section within the game is in-depth with four seperate modes. I’d recommend starting the standard Tutorial which covers the basics such as blocking, combos, and the introduction of x-rays and tag team play. X-rays is available when the X-ray bar becomes full after successful special moves are applied. Once landed, the X-ray is a devastating move which will vary depending on the character you select.
You are also able to practice Fatalities with the Fatality Tutorial. It allows you to perfect the button input, along with where you must be positioned to successfully perform the Fatality. Practice mode allows you to select a character to fight and then face a character. This enables you to hone your performance with a particular fighter. It will also tell you how much damage each move you perform actually inflicts.
Tag Team Practice is also available which is useful to prepare yourself for the Tag Ladder mode. Whilst playing as a tag team, you are able to tag your partner in whilst inflicting damage on your opponent. It’s rather tricky to master with various fighters which is why I’d recommend trying out this practice mode.
Challenge Tower
With over 300 challenges, this mode will provide you with hours of entertainment and gameplay. The challenges will vary in difficulty which will affect the reward you recieve. As you progress, you will recieve ‘’Koins’’ for completing each challenge. You are able to use these Koins to skip challenges you are unable to complete, or to unlock items in the Krypt.
Fight
Mortal Kombat provides you with various modes in which you can fight. Ladder mode allows you to face fighters in a tournament ladder, which will lead to a fight with a sub-boss then the main boss. Upon completing the ladder, you will unlock an ending for the fighter you selected. Tag Ladder features the same game mode as the basic Ladder but, allows you to use two fighters. You will then unlock the ending of the fighter you use to defeat the main boss.
Mortal Kombat includes classic mini-games such as Test Your Luck, might, strike and sight. Test Your Luck allows you to spin a slot-machine style set of reels which will reveal a character for you to fight and various stipulations you will endure during that match. Some will be positive, others negative which will create more of a challenge in defeating your opponent.
Test your Might requires you to press multiple buttons until the gauge next to the character passes a certain point. The player then has to press the block button to strike. Test Your Sight is a mini-game in which the character stands above a set of cups. The game will show the player which cup the MK icon resides. The cups will move in a random order to make it difficult to track the movement of the MK icon. Like Test Your Might, you are rewarded with ‘’Koins’’ when you select the correct cup.
Test Your Strike is a mini-game that makes its debut in this title. The player has to hit a specific block within a stack of blocks, without using too much force thereby not breaking the block surrounding it. It has a similar system to Test Your Might but includes an upper limit as well as a lower limit, which acts as the threshold in which the striker’s strength must be to pass the test.
Extras
With the game providing you with a handful of methods to earn Koins, the Krypt is the place you are able to spend them. The player is able to unlock in-game content in the Krypt. It is separated into four sections, the Deadlands, Bloodmarsh, Hollow of Infestation and Meadow of Despair. At random points whilst visiting the Krypt, you may have a little visitor pop up on the screen. Named by the players as ‘’Krypt Monster’’ it lets out a scream, then disappears again. Along with the Krypt, Mortal Kombat includes the Nekropolis which is where the content you unlock is displayed. Content such as art, music and costumes can be viewed here.
Xbox Live
With the choice to play ranked matches or player matches with your friends, there’s a match type for every player. With a leaderboard to see how you’re doing against people across the world, it’s a great tool to break down your performance into wins, losses and best streaks to date. You can search for 1 vs 1 or tag team matches. If you have difficulty finding an opponent using this method, there are also rooms you can join. The player can create their own room for people to join if they wish. When entering a room, you can propose a fight with any individual in that room.
Another interesting online feature would be King of The Hill. A group of friends are able to fight against one another and then vote on how entertaining the match was. If three friends were playing, two would fight then the other would vote on the quality of the match. Whoever wins the match will be the current ‘’King of The Hill’’ then the other friend will then have the opportunity to face them.
Verdict
Having been a fan of the Mortal Kombat franchise for a number of years, it’s great to see the game going back to its original roots. With so many game modes, offline and online, I find it difficult to imagine anyone growing tired of this title. With so much to unlock and complete, Mortal Kombat will keep you engrossed for weeks. I hope you pick the game up. I’d love to have some new challengers online.
Once again, thanks for reading. I really appreciate the interest and support I’ve been receiving. Any questions, feel free to ask me on Twitter, either at @x_FV or my personal account @xsuperhan. If you’re more of a fan of Facebook, search Flawless Victory! I've also included a trailer for you to take a look at if you were interested!
Many thanks, until next time!
Hannah
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Thorough review! I can't wait until I save up enough not to feel guilty about buying this game!
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