I know I’m a bit late with this review, but I wanted to spend more time ranking up in Kombat League because luckily Mortal Kombat 1 has become my favorite game from NetherRealm Studios since Injustice: Gods Among Us, due to its combo-heavy gameplay that invites experimentation and creativity. While I’ve really enjoyed my time with MK1 I do feel that the game still needed some time to polish and add some features that are inexcusably missing from the game’s launch such as online lobbies and the ability to tag moves onto HUD.
One of the most successful elements of the modern era of Mortal Kombat games is their cinematic story mode in which the player fights their way through several chapters each highlighting a different character for about 5 fights per chapter. The story mode in MK1 follows the same format as past story modes, but that doesn’t mean that the formula doesn’t work, in fact to this day no one does fighting game story modes like NetherRealm studios. MK1’s story follows the events of MK11 as Liu Kang has rebooted the universe and it gives us a new timeline that still features the legacy characters, but it gives us different backstories. For example, in this new timeline the fan-favorite bad guy Shao Kahn, was never the ruler of Outworld, thus he was never a Kahn and because of that, he’s now called General Shao. The new timeline is a great way to play with players’ expectations while also being a good jumping-on point for newer, more casual players.
Invasions is the other single player mode in MK1, and it involves the player progressing through a grid based map going from fight to fight and leveling up as you progress. Most of the fights in Invasion feature some sort of gimmick, whether it’s something small such as your opponent having super armor on their moves or their being toxic gas in the air that is constantly chipping away at your health bar. One of the selling points of invasions is that it features a storyline that will rotate every season, these storylines while interesting do little to incentivize repeated playthrough of the mode. The players’ tolerance towards these gimmicks is what will determine your enjoyment of Invasions, and for my money, I felt like they were getting in the way of the gameplay and were forcing me to grind to an obnoxious degree that got tedious and repetitive. While there is some fun to be had in invasions, it will still be an afterthought compared to the story mode and the 1v1 gameplay.
The games cast of fighters features reimagined versions of past fighters, whether its Johnny Cage who doesn’t have his green energy that allowed him to throw projectiles or Rain who is now a water sorcerer which is a fresh take on the character that is taking full advantage of his water abilities. The highlight of this new cast is the reintroduction of the characters that haven’t been playable since the Playstation 2 era. Characters like Li Mei and Ashrah are standouts due to their flashy moves and great implementation from their classic moves.
Mortal Kombat 1 features one of the most satisfying combo systems that I’ve played with in a long time and its enjoyment factor is increased with the implementation of the games assist mechanic called Kameos. The characters that are available as kameos range from franchise staples like Scorpion or fan fan-favorite niche characters like Sareena and Shujinko. The Kameo characters bring a new level of depth to the gameplay, with all of them having a utility that ranges from combo extenders to projectiles. Kameos really are the standout new feature in MK1 and my only gripe against them is that there aren’t enough Kameo characters, which only makes me excited for future DLC Kameos.
Kameos aren’t the only factor differentiating gameplay from Mortal Kombat 11. The game is less focused on the footsie style combat that slowed down the pace in MK11’s gameplay and instead, it gives us a combat system that gives every character an extensive move list that is overwhelming at first, but it being long allows the player to have options in a wide range of situations and choose which moves benefit them the most. Whether you want to zone out your opponent with ranged moves or juggle them with air combos, options really are quite extensive and encourage creativity that is sure to retain players and make them want to learn new combos and characters. I can personally vouch for this as I have spent several hours trying to master combos with Li Mei and testing different Kameo partners that bring out different attributes from her gameplay. My main criticism against the combos is that sometimes they last too long and if you don’t have a combo breaker you might be stuck in what feels like a blender that lasts over 30 seconds, which is ridiculous considering the rounds only last 90 seconds, and this becomes an issue if you find yourself losing matches only because your opponent managed to land 2 combos.
Online modes are sadly lacking in this game due to it basically only giving you the option to compete in Kombat League, friendly matches, and King of the Hill. Kombat League is the games ranked mode and it is satisfying to rank up the various levels unlocking cosmetics as you fight more matches, but its best of 5 format is quite long and it feels even longer if you encounter someone with a bad connection, its also quite baffling that the game doesn’t give you the chance to leave without a penalty if your opponent has truly terrible internet. The other modes are quite standard for a modern fighting game, but its absences are truly whats disappointing since the game doesn’t feature a lobby system where you can fight against your friends, which means that the only way to fight with a group of friends is through king of the hill which forces a certain order upon you which isn’t ideal.
Mortal Kombat 1 feels like NetherRealm Studios listened to all the criticism that people had towards MK11’s combat system, which was considered slow and uninteresting, and treated us with a complex assist fighting game that might not be the most beginner-friendly due to the complexity of properly implementing Kameos in neutral and combos but it’s incredibly rewarding for those that decide to keep playing and want to experiment with different Kameo setups and combinations. While I stand by the thought that the game needed more time to add more content and iron out some bugs, I am still in love with the games combat and can’t wait to see how NetherRealm will keep updating the game for the next few years.
The Gaming Diary 