I never expected Mortal Kombat to show this much heart – at least, not in the metaphorical sense. In the 90s, Mortal Kombat made its name with its infamously grisly fighting, particularly its absurdly violent “Fatality” finishers, where just about every vital organ could be punched, ripped, cleaved or shot out of a character’s body as if it were a meaty piñata.
In Mortal Kombat 11, these gory finishing moves are more creative and more depraved than ever, to the point where shooting an opponent into a helicopter’s whirling rotors seems tame. Yet amid all that spilled viscera, Mortal Kombat 11 also displays a cunning fighting brain and a surprising amount of soul.
For once, Mortal Kombat’s main attraction isn’t the comically extreme violence, but its story. For any fighting game, this is highly unusual, a bit like the main attraction of an amusement park being the monorail. And Mortal Kombat’s story is a wild ride. The knotty, time-travelling plot brings a host of much loved and gleefully hated characters back from the dead, while the game’s heroes must ally with, and sometimes battle, past and future versions of themselves.
The result is ridiculous yet entertaining, like a Marvel movie with fewer jokes and more decapitations. It looks stunning and the action is relentless, though the writing isn’t up to the same standard. The excellent voice actors often have to chew their way through breezeblocks of exposition. That said, there are enjoyably personal moments. In one delightfully silly scene, the young and arrogant movie star Johnny Cage trades punches and wisecracks with an older, wiser version of himself. Meanwhile, a similar encounter between two Scorpions – one evil, one good – has a more dramatic payoff.
Mortal Kombat 11 offers a pleasing balance of accessibility and challenge. New players can take advantage of extensive tutorials, while environmental attacks and powerful, one-off “Fatal Blows” help them to hold their own in those first few hours. Veteran players will enjoy mastering the new “Amplify” ability, which, if timed correctly, triggers more elaborate versions of special moves. Scorpion’s iconic “Get over here!” chain-grab, for example, can be amplified to include a jaw-cracking elbow to the chin.
As well as being a quality fighter, Mortal Kombat 11 is generous. Perhaps overly so. The game features a “Krypt” area where you can exchange in-game currency for random rewards, such as new moves and costumes for characters. If you’re after a specific death for a specific fighter, however, there’s no way to unlock it directly. Time spent opening chests is time not spent beating your foes into blancmange. Players are already griping about the amount of time or money it can take to acquire everything.
Yet this is comfortably the best Mortal Kombat in a long time. Played competitively against another person, it’s great, and the single-player experience is the most accomplished of any recent fighter.
