Mortal Kombat

9.25 Overall Score
Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 9/10
Sound: 10/10

Classic 2D Mortal Kombat | Amazing Sound

Online Lag

Game Info

GAME NAME: Mortal Kombat

DEVELOPER(S): NetherRealm Studios

PUBLISHER(S): WB Games

PLATFORM(S): PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

GENRE(S): Fighting

RELEASE DATE(S): April 19th, 2011

MORTAL KOMBAT!!! This is the cry let out by many gamers that grew up playing this long running fighting game franchise. What started out in 1992 as a game just thrown together to compete in the fighting genre with Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat has since become one of the top tier fighters. With long-time characters returning, such as Liu Kang, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero,  the simple mention of these characters starts getting the blood to boil, and there’s a whole lot of blood to go around in this reboot.

There are many different modes in this game including your basic ladder match and Vs. modes. Then Netherrelm studios went all out with the addition of a Story Mode, which follows different characters through a retelling of the Mortal Kombat tournaments from the first through the third games.  Another new gameplay option is Tag mode, which you can play against or co-op with a partner on and offline. The Tower, a challenging new mode which has 300 different objectives to complete will test even the fiercest kombatants. Speaking of testing, they even brought back Test your Might and Sight along with a new Test your Luck mode which has player’s fates controlled by a random slot machine.

Mortal Kombat returns to it’s 2D roots, dropping the 3D style that started with Mortal Kombat 4 and lead all the way up to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. This retro change has only been for the better. Playing the new MK is like reliving it’s glory days albeit a much smoother and better animated one. Everybody has a sweep move and an uppercut and there are no weapons unless they are pulled out during a combo. The dial-a-combo system from Mortal Kombat 3 is still intact but it’s not as easy to pull off 30% or higher damage combos as it once was in Mortal Kombat 3. All 27 Kombatants (28 on PS3, with the addition of Kratos from God of War) have their own unique move sets and at least 2 fatalities a piece. The fatalities in this reboot are very gruesome, pushing the M-rating to the limit with the goriest and violent finishers ever put into a Mortal Kombat game and are not for the faint of heart.

Online was the only thorn that I could find on this rose. The main issue is the lag, when the connection was great the game ran very smooth. The problem is that most of the time the connection was very laggy. When playing King of the Hill mode, which is like an online arcade where the winner stays and loser moves to the back of the line, you didn’t know if the next person you fought was going to bring the lag with them or not.

Overall, I love that Netherrealm chose to go back to the 2D style of game play. It’s like hopping onto a bicycle you have not rode on in the last 16 years. From the violent characters to the easy to pick up moves, to even the gruesome stage fatalities, everything screams Mortal Kombat. If this is the road the series continues to drive down, then Mortal Kombat is back, and back with a vengeance.

 

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Author: Ryno View all posts by
I would like to say that I came out of the womb with a controller in hand, but it wasn't until the age of 3 that I would receive my first console, the Atari 2600. From that moment on, games have not only a hobby of mine but a passion as well. Owning the majority of gaming platforms out there, I try to play as many different types of games that I can.