4/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of Mortal Kombat X.

System: PlayStation 4 Started: July 20, 2015 Ended: March 1, 2016 Flashback Review After playing MK9, I had confidence that NetherRealm Studios would be making the next Mortal Kombat game by the mid-2010s. I wondered where they would go from there since MK9 was a remake and started a new story after Mortal Kombat Armageddon. Even my friends are hyped for the new Mortal Kombat game that we actually watched the ‘Who’s Next?’ trailer from my friend's living room. I didn’t approve of the Wiz Khalifa song or the lack of actual gameplay footage, but it was still enough to convince me to get this game, as the trailer did show what to expect. This, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Guilty Gear Xrd were my first PlayStation 4 games, and I played Mortal Kombat X for a good while, especially during weekend nights with friends. X is an interesting change of pace, moving away from the traditional quirky, fun-gore aesthetic of Mortal Kombat to a more serious-gore and technically detailed graphics approach. I still like this game, but some problems stand out to me, especially considering it’s not as good as its predecessor. The graphics looked incredible, and I already knew that this was unlike any other Mortal Kombat game I’d played before. Ed Boon stated that he wanted to showcase more of the technical and graphical side of Mortal Kombat, including fabric designs for the characters. The costumes for each veteran character look great, especially Scorpion. The new characters were passable; I approve of Erron Black, Kotal Kahn, and D’Vorah. I didn’t care much for the new hero-side characters, maybe Takeda. I still remember Cassie Cage as the most popular new character among most of the people I know. One standout aspect of modern Mortal Kombat games is the guest characters. Bonus points for including classic horror movie icons like Jason Voorhees, Alien, Predator, and Leatherface. I wanted Freddy Krueger in there, but he was already in MK9. Still, I would have loved a Freddy vs. Jason rematch, like in the crossover movie. At least we got Alien vs. Predator, though. Gameplay has been taken from MK9, since we still have X-Ray Moves and Story Mode, along with new fatalities like Faction Kills and Quitality, which makes the player quit during a match and have their head explode. It reminds me of Hara-Kiri from Mortal Kombat: Deception. However, I still prefer Hara-Kiri over Quitality, as you get to see many varied ways of Kombat characters offing themselves compared to only just the head-exploding of Quitality. Now for the drawbacks I didn’t like: This Mortal Kombat entry is different from previous games in the series. I think it even strayed from the fun tone of Mortal Kombat to a more cold, drab, and serious atmosphere. The fatalities felt darker but brilliantly effective, matching the game’s tone—brains spilling out, disjointed eyeballs, and twitching tongues after heads split open. Don’t get me wrong, I like this style, and it’s incredibly detailed, but it feels unlike any other Mortal Kombat I’ve played before. I might consider this a minor nitpick since it’s one of a kind. Story Mode was pretty good. This marks the point where NetherRealm Studios started making cinematic story modes in their fighting games, following MK9 and Injustice’s success. The story focused heavily on the next generation of characters like Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs, Takeda, and Kung Jin. They did kill off one of my favorite characters, whom I won't spoil. Regarding locked characters, Mortal Kombat X also ushered in microtransactions, with some paid characters behind a paywall. It's Street Fighter X Tekken all over again with on-disc DLC. For example, if you didn’t preorder for Goro, he’d still appear in the character select screen, but with a “Purchase This Character” prompt next to him. When selecting characters, you also need to choose from three variations, which I don’t like. You have to learn more move sets for each variation, especially when changing after every battle. If you want to use a favorite move, you must pick the specific variation that includes it. It’s annoying. This system is somewhat similar to the later 3D Mortal Kombat games, where characters could switch martial arts styles like Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, or Wing Chun and change styles mid-match, especially when using weapons. I never liked the Easy Fatality setup; I prefer the traditional method of memorizing combo inputs as it's more rewarding. Easy Fatality caters to casual players who refuse to learn the button inputs, allowing quick button presses to perform fatalities. It reduces the suspense and satisfaction of pulling off a fatality manually. Now, after every match, you can see bloody gore without much effort. Multiplayer introduced a new feature called Faction Mode. It’s a neat concept where you choose a faction and earn points through faction kills to boost your faction’s rating in monthly competitions. The problem is, the game allows you to switch factions, which often turns into a popularity contest for the Lin Kuei or Black Dragons. Other than that, online multiplayer is fun and an improvement over MK9, but local multiplayer is always better. Another disappointment is the lack of 2-player co-op Story Mode and 4-player tag modes from MK9—a huge downgrade. I get it that Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios wanted to bring something different to the franchise. Mortal Kombat X is a solid entry but not as good as MK9, Deception, or any of the classics like Mortal Kombat II and III. Some fans might say MKX was the peak, but I personally believe MK9 was the series’ high point. From there, the franchise seems to have gone downhill: MKX marked the start of more microtransactions and a decline in quality, including features like local tag team matches. Still, NetherRealm continues to add action movie star characters, which sometimes feels like it’s going too far, as seen in Mortal Kombat 11. I praised the graphics, which are possibly the best-looking Mortal Kombat game to date, and I still recommend this game if you want to see how the story continues. Just make sure to get the XL version for the full, definitive experience.