Mortal Kombat 11‘s key strength is in how ridiculously over the top it is. It’s been a key strength in pretty much any good Mortal Kombat game to date. Without it, you just have bags of meat slicing away at each other like a duel between sentient Sunday roasts (my money is on the beef).
Weirdly though, this strength is split somewhat in MK11. Creating a better, more deliciously silly side with its story, and a weaker, slightly more tired side with its showcasing of violence. You could argue that the ultra-gore sort of jeopardizes the balance of a very good fighter, though it’s far from the problem it could be.
Story then. A tyrannical Raiden is upsetting the balance of good and evil after the events of Mortal Kombat X, so naturally, Kronika (the new big bad), the keeper of time, decides to rewrite history to rebalance and make all well again (as well as can be in a universe where cleaving people in two is as common as saying hello).
This causes time to go a bit doolally for the Kombatants, and that most fun trope of time travel rears its head and we get versions of the characters from past, present, and future clashing against each other with gloriously enjoyable results.
The ludicrous and melodramatic paths the Mortal Kombat story has taken over the years means there’s plenty of callbacks to be found in terms of characters, places, situations, and storyline.
The real draws here are that modern iterations of characters like Johhny Cage and Raiden get to interact with their past selves throughout the story, and you also get to revisit some elements and characters of the series that have been missing for a while. Better yet, the variant versions of characters actually play differently, so it’s more than just a simple skin change.
For longtime fans, it’s an absolute hoot, full of fun fan service and a healthy roster of characters. For newcomers? Well, it may be a tad baffling, but it doesn’t take itself seriously so there is still plenty of fun to be had without knowing the various ins and outs of the lore.
It’s all the more engaging as a story because of how good Mortal Kombat 11 looks. Following on from the equally gorgeous Injustice 2, MK11 is a visual showcase in every sense. The facial animations, the detail in outfits, and of course, the freakishly graphic detail in the blood n’ guts combat, all of it is incredibly polished.
On the downside, some of the voice acting is well below the level of the rest. It’s not even got the grace to be comically bad or just plain ham and cheese, it’s dull, dry, and awkward. Not to name names here, but let’s just say it’s easy to tell who is an established voice actor and who is there for crossover appeal.
As enjoyable as that story may be, and even with all the graphical flourish in the world, it wouldn’t really matter if the fighting wasn’t up to snuff. While the overall fighting style is new for Mortal Kombat 11, it is not an unwelcome change.
The action is geared to a more confrontational, aggressive style, with close encounters being the norm and the reliance on blocks and reversals to get out of a sticky patch being more handsomely rewarded than by simply keeping your distance. If you time those blocks well enough, you can hit a swift counter instead of continuing to fend off attack after attack with no respite. It forces the aggressor to change tactics and the result is a more fluid back and forth that’s super intense to be a part of.
There is nuance and mastery to this latest entry’s combat, and yet also, with the need to retain an audience after launch, an allowance for a more casual audience to enjoy itself too. This was somewhat true of Mortal Kombat X, but here it appears the balancing act of catering to a wider audience has been handled a touch smoother than before. A plethora of genuinely useful tutorials go a long way to bridging the gap between casual and serious play if needed too. There’s no elitism to Mortal Kombat 11, it’s probably the closest we’ve gotten to a fighting game for all skill sets (though obviously not exactly a game for all given the gore).
It’s slower, yet the shift in style means the pace is strong and steady from fight to fight. Each strike carries weight now, which enriches the bone-cracking nature of the game in a way, but also highlights an issue with Mortal Kombat 11‘s gorier set-piece moves.
Now, there is absolutely no doubt that the fatalities and X-Ray moves (now redubbed ‘Fatal Blows’) are the big selling points for Mortal Kombat games, and the insane levels of gory creativity NetherRealm have reached for fatalities are worthy of high praise. Overkill is an understatement for Mortal Kombat 11‘s set piece murders as there’s a number of incredibly graphic eviscerations, bludgeonings, and impromptu surgery that range from wince-inducing to absurdly hilarious.
The problem here is there can be a bit of a disconnect between what the player does and what is presented in these fatalities. Spectacular and inventive these moments may be, but they don’t always feel like they are your moments. Rather, it’s sometimes hard to shake the feeling you’ve activated a cutscene. Considering how flowing and impactful the fighting is for MK11, these more grandiose showcases of violence should be as well integrated as the occasional X-Ray move that gets blended into regular combat, where it’s just a shift of a camera angle, it happens instantly, and you have personally made the input for the damage.
It’s a strange one because it’s no different to before, yet because the fighting is so seamless and smooth otherwise, it’s more noticeable when you transition into fatalities. It may not bother everyone, but for me, it stops the fighting from truly being as excellent as it deserves to be. Finicky as that may seem.
On a more positive note, NetherRealm should be applauded for the sheer depth and variety of the roster. I mentioned before that the various versions of characters throughout the ages all have their own feel and play style, and they really do. Some have three or four refreshingly different variations of the same basic character and it would have been so easy to just have alt-costumes for each and be done with it, yet here we are with some exciting variants of the likes of Raiden, Lui Kang, Sonya Blade, Scorpion, and the rest.
For a roster that plays heavily on nostalgia, there’s still room for some newcomers. Unfortunately, because of that focus on the series’ history, the impact made by these new Kombatants is currently not all that significant. Cetrion, Geras and The Kollector enter at this awkward time for new faces.
While he has the most cringe-worthy name, The Kollector is at least quite fun to play as thanks to its extra limbs and greased-lightning speed. Geras has some impressive-looking sand and time-controlling powers but is rather dull as a character, and Cetrion is a little too close to Injustice’s own Poison Ivy in design to truly stand out as something fresh. Maybe with time these characters will get tweaked and tuned into something more palatable and interesting, but for now, stacked up against more established names, they pale by comparison. Still, there’s plenty to choose from elsewhere so the odd dud isn’t exactly devastating.
There will be plenty of time to figure out what suits you, as, in addition to the story, Mortal Kombat 11 has a wealth of options and modes to play around with.
Returning from Injustice 2 is the character customization. Once you find your favorites, you can change up their look in a pretty extensive way without taking it too far. Even the moves can be altered for that extra level of personalization. For the committed player, having such control over the appearance and style of your main character is a smart move. Again though, it does detract from the newer characters and their chance of standing out.
The Krypt mode returns as a simple third-person adventure, bursting with things to unlock for our characters, as do the Towers, which has the longevity-making ‘Endless Towers’ where every fight has something new (such as damage modifiers) and you can square up any disadvantages with modifiers found in Krypt mode.
These additions can be great time sinks, but they lean so heavily on the loot system that it feels forced, like there’s little trust that the gameplay alone would be enough. It’s great to be rewarded for your effort, but this level of it is a tad exhausting and granular.
Mortal Kombat 11 is a great fighter, perhaps the best the series has been to date. It’s a visual spectacle filled with lots of ways to play for players of all skill levels, and features the most enjoyable fighting game story I’ve ever gone through.
It also has some boring new characters, crippled further by the extensive customization suite, and a growing disconnect between the regular fighting and the fatalities. Small issues, but issues all the same. Still, you’ll probably be having too much fun to care.
Mortal Kombat 11 review based on user-purchased PS4 version.
Mortal Kombat 11 is out now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch