Mortal Kombat 1 Review – Gory Glory

Following the apocalyptic events of Mortal Kombat 11 and its story-based expansion, Mortal Kombat 1 represents a new era for the franchise’s characters. While it purports to do the same for the video game series, the more I played Mortal Kombat 1, the more familiar the latest entry felt, but that’s far from a bad thing.

Mortal Kombat 1 is a game that takes tight gameplay to a whole new level. In the death dances, Mortal Kombat’s characters use every punch, special, throw and kick. Once you get a few fights under your belt with your character of choice, the gameplay really starts to sing as you learn how to chain together combos, specials, and this entry’s new addition, Kameo Fighters.

You can choose to have a second character as a backup after selecting your main fighter. The Kameo Fighters can use distinct attacks to either attack or shield your opponent from an incoming attack. Or they can disrupt the battle flow. Sub-Zero can be aggressive, attacking with different attack plans, and then using Scorpion to save me with his spear. It was a lot of fun to experiment with Kameos and different strategies in order to get the most out of this mechanic.

Many of the franchise’s favorites are represented on this roster. They all have their own styles and tactics. Kitana, Li Mei and Geras are more agile than bruisers such as General Shao or Geras. This is one of strongest rosters in the series. Add series icons such as Liu Kang and Mileena. They all have excellent character designs and moves sets. It’s just a shame that one of the main characters in the story, Shang Tsung, is locked behind being preorder DLC.

Mortal Kombat 1’s story plays out like a movie. NetherRealm is much more adept at weaving fights seamlessly into the story than inserting moments solely to create fights. The story’s production values are among the elite in the games industry, with state-of-the-art facial animations and some of the best cutscene fight choreography ever seen in the medium. I had a blast following the narrative of Liu Kang’s attempts to keep his new timeline in order, even if the – albeit extremely fun – conclusion gets rather messy.

Single-player content is plentiful once you’ve finished the story. The Invasions Mode allows you to complete challenges across multiple realms to unlock a variety of rewards in the game. This creative test ranges from easy fights to difficult boss battles with multiple phases, obstacle-dodging trials for survival and Test-Your-Might. This mode is great and delivers nine hours worth of single player content every six-weeks. However, I found that the formula became a bit tedious as I advanced. Even so, it was fun to end my night by exploring a dozen nodes and seeing what new challenges I would face or what customization cosmetic items I might earn for my fighters.

Mortal Kombat 1’s more traditional side brings single-player arcade Towers back, along with a limited number of online options. King of the Hill can be a little boring watching strangers fight, but I enjoyed the ranked five-matches in the Kombat League. While Story and invasions will remain my preferred modes of play, I have found that getting to know a player in a series of three-to five fights creates heightened tension. This is where some memorable Mortal Kombat 1 moments can be had.

Mortal Kombat was first released in 1988. Since then, it has become known for its blood, violence, and gore. While that is still at the forefront thanks to Mortal Kombat 1’s Fatal Blows, Brutalities, and, of course, Fatalities, the longer the series has gone on, the longer it has rightfully become just as known for its genre-leading approach to single-player content and incredibly tight fighting mechanics. Mortal Kombat 1 continues to move the series forward by making great strides in these two areas.