One of my favorite things about NetherRealm’s recent Mortal Kombat games is that they commit. The aesthetic and world of these games sounds incredibly goofy – an interdimensional fantasy/sci-fi war fought between various flavors of ninja, supernatural creatures and special ops soldiers.
It’d be very easy to go in for ironic winks and self-referential gags about this premise, but these games don’t and it pays off beautifully. So, Mortal Kombat X continues the mostly great Mortal Kombat 9 (and is followed by Mortal Kombat 11, which I will play on PS5 when it’s out in a few months).
Obviously I’m pretty late to the party on this one, but I had a great time picking through the typically well written and directed story mode (with Cassie Cage the obvious breakout star), working through some of the single player content and, best of all, getting into versus mode with some new housemates.
This might sound a little strange, but I think Mortal Kombat is a great litmus test for whether I’ll get on with someone or not. If they turn their nose up in pantomimed disgust at the Itchy and Scratchy style fatalities or the kickass X-ray bone-smashin’ attacks it’s not going to work out.
If they giggled with barely disguised glee as Cassie Cage rips someone’s jaw off and poses for a selfie, we’ve got the basis for a friendship. Being high-minded about horror movie madness is just a sign that you may take yourself a little too seriously and cannot experience the simple joy in watching a blue ninja freeze a yellow ninja’s guts, then shatter them to smithereens.
Plus, Mortal Kombat X is a damn sight more approachable than most fighting games. Even a complete novice to video games (they had literally never held a game controller before) was having a good time at our games night. Combos are intuitive, special moves are easy to execute and there’s an innately satisfying rhythm to the thwack-thwack-thwack of the combat.
It also shines against more skilled opponents, especially now that the many annoying teleportation moves in Mortal Kombat 9 have been reduced to just a handful. What remains is a very satisfying back and forth, with the refined meter system shinier than ever.
Also nice is that they’ve substantially toned down the booberama soft porn aesthetics of the last game. The women are all still conventionally attractive, though at least they’re wearing outfits that juuuuuust about make sense for fighting in. Kinda. To some this distinction will seem pointless, but I still have flashbacks to the one time I brought out Dead or Alive 5 and everyone thought it was creepy as fuck (let’s face it, it is).
I’ll always be a Street Fighter player at heart, but even after multiple blockbuster entries Mortal Kombat still feels like the scrappy, rough and tumble underdog of the fighting game scene. This is a game with personality that’s had a lot of love poured into it – my kinda good time.
Pixel Hunted 