Apologies for the title, I was in a bit of a blank mind for a snappy subtitle. I'll rename it if someone can get me a decent subtitle.
The Mortal Kombat series of fighting games began in 1992, and took the world by storm. Ed Boon and John Tobias, realizing the success of the first game, released another in 1993, and from that point on, history was made. Mortal Kombat became a symbol of violence in video games, due to the bloody battles and fatalities, and is one of the most recognizable fighting games in existence. However, the jump to the PS2 generation was not kind to the series. The battle system felt clunky, the 3D aspect was somewhat lacking, and the new characters were almost entirely disliked by the fanbase. Eventually, the games stopped selling with a lackluster leap to the new generation of consoles, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and Midway Games, deprived of their cash cow, went bankrupt. The rights to the series were picked up by Warner Bros., who proceeded to reboot the series with Mortal Kombat, a game released in April of 2011. However, was it all in vain, or had the series finally found the quality that had eluded it for so long?
The story of Mortal Kombat begins at the end of Armageddon. Nearly all the characters are dead, save two, Raiden and Shao Kahn. Shao Kahn proceeds to open a can of whoop-ass on Raiden after being the victor in the battle royale. Raiden, finally realizing that he has fucked up, sends a message back to his younger self, during the original Mortal Kombat game's timeline. His younger self, with the incredibly clear guidance of "he must win", as well as a few visions of the future, proceeds to attempt to prevent what his older self suffered.
The plot is actually well done. It's a bit cheesy, but it has the charm of a B-movie. As a way to follow up and reboot the series, it was a great idea. And thanks to Raiden's views of the future, events that occurred in the original timeline don't necessarily happen the same way, or at all. My complaints are fairly few. The voice acting is decent for the most part, but still seems a bit stilted at times. And the characters, while fairly well developed, are exaggerated, particularly in the case of Johnny Cage, who goes from a skilled fighter/movie star with a somewhat large ego, to a cocky movie star with a huge ego and views himself as the ultimate lady's man, with an incredible talent for putting his foot in his mouth. Funny as hell, but not necessarily true to his older self. All in all, though, after the stories of Deception and Armageddon, the quality of this game's story was a breath of fresh air. Mortal Kombat has always had a surprisingly deep storyline for those who look for it, and this is the first game to embrace that deep story in a long time.
The general gameplay has also changed from the last Midway Mortal Kombat titles. Rather than go into full 3D, this game takes the approach of Street Fighter IV, using 3D graphics while keeping the fighting on a 2D plane. And man, it helped the combat system so much. The moves flow well, and the combo system, while still affected by the "dial-a-combo" system that has affected the games recently, still feels natural. While large hitting combos are tricky to pull off, it is still a matter of common sense to do three or four hit combos, or more with juggling. Not satisfied with the shift of perspective, however, Warner Bros. also introduced a new gameplay mechanic, the super meter. Based on the same concept as the Rage meter from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, the super meter fills as you use special attacks, take damage, or have your attacks blocked. There are three levels to it. The first level lets you use more powerful versions of your special attacks. For example, the enhanced attack for Nightwolf's arrow attack uses three arrows rather than one, shooting straight, upwards, and downwards, making a near-guaranteed hit. The second level of the super meter lets you use a Combo Breaker, which is self explanatory. The final level, requiring the meter to fill, lets you use an "X-Ray move", a highly damaging combo that occasionally shows X-Rays of just how brutally you are beating your opponent. For example, Jade's X-Ray move features her slamming her staff between the opponent's leg, causing damage to the muscle tissue (males, feel free to vomit in sympathy), followed by a spine-shattering slam by the end of the staff. These moves are brutal, powerful, and work very well in a Mortal Kombat atmosphere. While you may wonder how some of them allow their opponents to still be fighting (Baraka's involves stabbing the blade into the opponent's throat, followed by a stab through the eye), it's an enjoyable addition to the series, and feels natural, unlike some additions in previous games (weapon impalements).
With the change in gameplay, however, came a change in graphics. And here, the game is a bit lacking. The game does look decent, and the bloodshed is definitely a case of "less is more", with opponents not losing a near-fatal amount from a punch to the face. However, the graphics did not improve as much as they should have from Armageddon, a game from the previous generation. The graphics are noticeably better, but there are fewer characters in this one, which makes the only noticeable increase a bit underwhelming. The graphics aren't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but they are not great, either. Street Fighter IV, while animated, looked better that this game, mostly due to looking natural. This game looks like a CGI film from the early 2000's. Not bad for a video game and its processing powers, again. But I can't get over the nagging feeling that the graphics could be better.
Yet another change made for this game, referenced in the last paragraph, was a scaling back of characters. While Armageddon had over 60 characters, this game has only 27 playable characters (28 on the PS3, the exclusive character being Kratos, a case of duck meets water), with 3 unplayable bosses (Goro, Shao Kahn, and Kintaro), one character only seen in cutscenes of the Story mode (Motaro) and so far, two DLC characters (Kenshi and Skarlet, a character born from a glitch in the older games). But this was a change that was needed. The overwhelming number of characters in the series resulted in characters that were, well, stupid (Exhibit A: Hsu Hao). This game focuses on fan favorites from the older games, such as Liu Kang, Kitana, and Kabal, completely ignoring the games from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance onwards (with the exception of the downloadable characters). The game does, however, add in one new character. Well, not exactly new as much as a modified version of an older character. This character is Cyber Sub-Zero, created due to the fact that in this storyline, Sub Zero was the one turned into a robot instead of Smoke, who is now a human. It's a change that makes sense, doesn't force in a new character awkwardly, and still makes the roster a bit different. While you could complain that there aren't any truly new characters (except for Kratos, only available on the PS3, and Skarlet, who's only DLC), this is a refreshing change from the bloated roster of Armageddon. In fact, I would describe it as taking a fatty piece of steak and trimming off the fat. Sure, some people lack the fat with the steak, but the meat of the roster is left intact, and is pleasing to more people than not.
The music in this game is one example of something that did not change from the newer games, which is not a bad thing. The music is ambient, but adds to the mood of the stage that it is played on. While not as epic as, say, the music in Mass Effect, it is suitable for the game, and works well. It isn't the best soundtrack to a fighting game (I still say that honor goes to Guilty Gear XX #Reload), but it works well for its purpose, and doesn't make you want to turn off the music, either.
Overall, this is the Mortal Kombat game that fans have been wanting for a long time. Fewer, more developed characters, a decent story, 2D gameplay, a solid combat system, and, of course, bloody as all hell fatalities. Is the game perfect? No, it's not. The bosses can be cheap, especially the controller-smashingly so Shao Kahn, the voice acting can be a bit hokey, and the graphics are not as good as they could be. But the game is still solid, feels good, and is fun to play. And with several modes of play, such as a developed Story Mode, an Arcade mode, and a Challenge Tower (a series of challenges), and plenty of unlockables through the Krypt, this game has plenty to keep you entertained. And if you want to play with a friend, this game has both local and online multiplayer, including a tag-team mode for up to four character combat. In the end, while it regrettable that it took a video game company going bankrupt, the change of developers may be the start of a boost in quality that Mortal Kombat has needed for so long. Is the next game going to be as good? We can hope so, and this time, it may just pull it off.
The Mortal Kombat series of fighting games began in 1992, and took the world by storm. Ed Boon and John Tobias, realizing the success of the first game, released another in 1993, and from that point on, history was made. Mortal Kombat became a symbol of violence in video games, due to the bloody battles and fatalities, and is one of the most recognizable fighting games in existence. However, the jump to the PS2 generation was not kind to the series. The battle system felt clunky, the 3D aspect was somewhat lacking, and the new characters were almost entirely disliked by the fanbase. Eventually, the games stopped selling with a lackluster leap to the new generation of consoles, Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and Midway Games, deprived of their cash cow, went bankrupt. The rights to the series were picked up by Warner Bros., who proceeded to reboot the series with Mortal Kombat, a game released in April of 2011. However, was it all in vain, or had the series finally found the quality that had eluded it for so long?
[sub]The amount of women's clothing in the Mortal Kombat universe, thankfully, remains in the hot zone.[/sub]
The story of Mortal Kombat begins at the end of Armageddon. Nearly all the characters are dead, save two, Raiden and Shao Kahn. Shao Kahn proceeds to open a can of whoop-ass on Raiden after being the victor in the battle royale. Raiden, finally realizing that he has fucked up, sends a message back to his younger self, during the original Mortal Kombat game's timeline. His younger self, with the incredibly clear guidance of "he must win", as well as a few visions of the future, proceeds to attempt to prevent what his older self suffered.
The plot is actually well done. It's a bit cheesy, but it has the charm of a B-movie. As a way to follow up and reboot the series, it was a great idea. And thanks to Raiden's views of the future, events that occurred in the original timeline don't necessarily happen the same way, or at all. My complaints are fairly few. The voice acting is decent for the most part, but still seems a bit stilted at times. And the characters, while fairly well developed, are exaggerated, particularly in the case of Johnny Cage, who goes from a skilled fighter/movie star with a somewhat large ego, to a cocky movie star with a huge ego and views himself as the ultimate lady's man, with an incredible talent for putting his foot in his mouth. Funny as hell, but not necessarily true to his older self. All in all, though, after the stories of Deception and Armageddon, the quality of this game's story was a breath of fresh air. Mortal Kombat has always had a surprisingly deep storyline for those who look for it, and this is the first game to embrace that deep story in a long time.
The general gameplay has also changed from the last Midway Mortal Kombat titles. Rather than go into full 3D, this game takes the approach of Street Fighter IV, using 3D graphics while keeping the fighting on a 2D plane. And man, it helped the combat system so much. The moves flow well, and the combo system, while still affected by the "dial-a-combo" system that has affected the games recently, still feels natural. While large hitting combos are tricky to pull off, it is still a matter of common sense to do three or four hit combos, or more with juggling. Not satisfied with the shift of perspective, however, Warner Bros. also introduced a new gameplay mechanic, the super meter. Based on the same concept as the Rage meter from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, the super meter fills as you use special attacks, take damage, or have your attacks blocked. There are three levels to it. The first level lets you use more powerful versions of your special attacks. For example, the enhanced attack for Nightwolf's arrow attack uses three arrows rather than one, shooting straight, upwards, and downwards, making a near-guaranteed hit. The second level of the super meter lets you use a Combo Breaker, which is self explanatory. The final level, requiring the meter to fill, lets you use an "X-Ray move", a highly damaging combo that occasionally shows X-Rays of just how brutally you are beating your opponent. For example, Jade's X-Ray move features her slamming her staff between the opponent's leg, causing damage to the muscle tissue (males, feel free to vomit in sympathy), followed by a spine-shattering slam by the end of the staff. These moves are brutal, powerful, and work very well in a Mortal Kombat atmosphere. While you may wonder how some of them allow their opponents to still be fighting (Baraka's involves stabbing the blade into the opponent's throat, followed by a stab through the eye), it's an enjoyable addition to the series, and feels natural, unlike some additions in previous games (weapon impalements).
[sub]The coolest robot ever.[/sub]
With the change in gameplay, however, came a change in graphics. And here, the game is a bit lacking. The game does look decent, and the bloodshed is definitely a case of "less is more", with opponents not losing a near-fatal amount from a punch to the face. However, the graphics did not improve as much as they should have from Armageddon, a game from the previous generation. The graphics are noticeably better, but there are fewer characters in this one, which makes the only noticeable increase a bit underwhelming. The graphics aren't bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but they are not great, either. Street Fighter IV, while animated, looked better that this game, mostly due to looking natural. This game looks like a CGI film from the early 2000's. Not bad for a video game and its processing powers, again. But I can't get over the nagging feeling that the graphics could be better.
Yet another change made for this game, referenced in the last paragraph, was a scaling back of characters. While Armageddon had over 60 characters, this game has only 27 playable characters (28 on the PS3, the exclusive character being Kratos, a case of duck meets water), with 3 unplayable bosses (Goro, Shao Kahn, and Kintaro), one character only seen in cutscenes of the Story mode (Motaro) and so far, two DLC characters (Kenshi and Skarlet, a character born from a glitch in the older games). But this was a change that was needed. The overwhelming number of characters in the series resulted in characters that were, well, stupid (Exhibit A: Hsu Hao). This game focuses on fan favorites from the older games, such as Liu Kang, Kitana, and Kabal, completely ignoring the games from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance onwards (with the exception of the downloadable characters). The game does, however, add in one new character. Well, not exactly new as much as a modified version of an older character. This character is Cyber Sub-Zero, created due to the fact that in this storyline, Sub Zero was the one turned into a robot instead of Smoke, who is now a human. It's a change that makes sense, doesn't force in a new character awkwardly, and still makes the roster a bit different. While you could complain that there aren't any truly new characters (except for Kratos, only available on the PS3, and Skarlet, who's only DLC), this is a refreshing change from the bloated roster of Armageddon. In fact, I would describe it as taking a fatty piece of steak and trimming off the fat. Sure, some people lack the fat with the steak, but the meat of the roster is left intact, and is pleasing to more people than not.
The music in this game is one example of something that did not change from the newer games, which is not a bad thing. The music is ambient, but adds to the mood of the stage that it is played on. While not as epic as, say, the music in Mass Effect, it is suitable for the game, and works well. It isn't the best soundtrack to a fighting game (I still say that honor goes to Guilty Gear XX #Reload), but it works well for its purpose, and doesn't make you want to turn off the music, either.
[sub]Pictured: pain. [/sub]
Overall, this is the Mortal Kombat game that fans have been wanting for a long time. Fewer, more developed characters, a decent story, 2D gameplay, a solid combat system, and, of course, bloody as all hell fatalities. Is the game perfect? No, it's not. The bosses can be cheap, especially the controller-smashingly so Shao Kahn, the voice acting can be a bit hokey, and the graphics are not as good as they could be. But the game is still solid, feels good, and is fun to play. And with several modes of play, such as a developed Story Mode, an Arcade mode, and a Challenge Tower (a series of challenges), and plenty of unlockables through the Krypt, this game has plenty to keep you entertained. And if you want to play with a friend, this game has both local and online multiplayer, including a tag-team mode for up to four character combat. In the end, while it regrettable that it took a video game company going bankrupt, the change of developers may be the start of a boost in quality that Mortal Kombat has needed for so long. Is the next game going to be as good? We can hope so, and this time, it may just pull it off.
