Mortal Kombat; a series that has become a household name, associated with blood, gore, carnage and some lacking fighting mechanics. The series, fondly remembered, specifically the first three titles, for its over-the-top style and sheer entertainment, has grown stale recently, with lacklustre collaborations and a convoluted and downright moronic story. Now, in the year of it’s nineteenth anniversary, Ed Boon and co. at NetherRealm Studios have created a game that they hope will recapture the hearts of old fans, while enticing new audiences and be recognised as a true fighting game and not a simple novelty act.

As fans of fighting games know, the mechanics are what makes a game a true fighter. Looking to step toe-to-toe with the likes of Tekken, Street Fighter and Marvel Vs. Capcom, NetherRealm has vastly improved the mechanics of Mortal Kombat, a change undoubtedly welcomed by all. Mortal Kombat goes back to fighting game basics, ditching the 3D plane for a more traditional 2D plane, restricting players to moving only forward, backward, up and down.

Mortal Kombat is a joy to control. Movement is smooth and fluid, while the seemingly total lack of input lag is wonderful, a feature that should be present in any fighter. A gauge at the bottom of the screen is the new addition of the brilliant super meter. Split into three sections, the meter is filled by being hit and performing moves, with one section full you can add some extra oomph to a special attack. Fill two and you can execute a combo breaker, a very useful move if you are being bombarded with combos. Tapping forward and block while being hit with a combo utilises the breaker to immediately disrupt the combo and get yourself out of a tight spot. Once you’ve filled three sections, things get serious. It’s time to execute a powerful X-ray move that will knock your opponent silly. Working these powerful moves into a combo can lead to serious devastation. Taking the game’s core mechanics back to basics has certainly paid off for a series which has never been known for it’s prowess as a fighter. Mortal Kombat finally feels like a real fighter, which is perhaps its greatest strength.

“Mortal Kombat finally feels like a real fighter, which is perhaps its greatest strength.”

Graphically, the game looks fantastic. Character models are brilliantly rendered and the scenery in the stages is just gorgeous. It runs at a silky smooth frame rate which never dips, at least not to any degree the human eye could even notice. The action is fast paced, beautiful and with no screen tearing, which is a great achievement considering its frame rate. Animations are fluid, intricate details beautifully drawn, ensuring Mortal Kombat really is a beautiful game. I’m sure you are all waiting to read about the fatalities, and I can assure you they don’t disappoint. Each fatality is violently over-the-top and a treat to witness, if inherent violence is your cup of tea that is. Opponents are acidified, melted, shot point-blank in the face and ripped apart limb from limb, with copious amounts of blood spewing all over the screen. Players should pay particular attention to Noob Saibot’s primary fatality and Johnny Cage’s alternate fatality for laugh-out-loud violence.

Speaking of characters, Mortal Kombat boasts a healthy roster of twenty-six characters, or twenty-seven if you are playing on Playstation 3, with Kratos being the exclusive extra character. Series favourites such as Scorpion, Sub-Zero and others are all here and each character has his/her/its own move set and animations, with no two characters bring the same. They each have their own unique fatalities and babalities, which are hilarious I might add. Disappointingly though, the boss characters of Goro, Kintaro and Shao Kahn are unplayable.

Ahhh, boss characters. One of few sticking points in Mortal Kombat that made me want to throw my controller through my television. They are ridiculous, plain and simple. So stupidly overpowered that I had to resort to “turtling” [Ed - a heavy defensive strategy] and spamming projectiles to beat them. It’s a huge problem that really took me out of the experience at times and that’s only the one-on-one fights. Oftentimes, the player will be tasked with winning two-on-one and even three-on-one battles, without health regeneration. On the higher difficulties which most fans of the genre will most likely be playing, this can be an absolute game breaker.

These battles are mostly present in the story, which, for the most part, is the best story of a fighting game I have ever played. The story of Mortal Kombat goes back to the events of the first three games in the series, though to be the least nonsensical part of the series’ storyline. Players take control of a different character over a set number of chapters as the dwellers of Earth Realm seek to prevent the invasion of the maniacal Shao Kahn and the nefarious evil doers of Nether Realm through a tournament. Characters like Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, Liu Kang and Raiden fight to the death for the good of Earth realm. As Raiden works to alter a vision of the future, characters will take part in epic battles, some will win, most will die. It’s a very well written story, always interesting, never boring but sometimes infuriating, mainly due to the unfair balancing of some fights, as previously mentioned. Not only that, but it’s a meaty tale, clocking in at around seven or eight hours, more than your average modern first-person shooters.

“Mortal Kombat is a fantastic package for fighting fans, a staggering amount of content complemented with fantastic gameplay, smooth visuals and all-round entertainment.”

Meaty is certainly an appropriate term to describe this ninth outing for the franchise. There is a plethora of modes and things to collect in the game. As well as the fantastic and lengthy story, each character has their own ending in arcade mode to view by playing it through, which completionists will no doubt love. Add on the tag-team ladder, versus modes and the challenge tower and players will find plenty of things to do in Mortal Kombat that will keep them coming back for more. The challenge tower especially is hugely enjoyable. There are a total of 300 challenges to complete, with players advancing to the next challenge after each success, which could include killing zombies using only projectiles, engaging in headless combat, testing your sight, might and luck or fighting multiple opponents. Each challenge gets tougher as you move further up the tower, culminating in a monstrously difficult battle, which I won’t spoil here. Add in the Krypt, an in-game store where you can buy concept art, alternate costumes, alternate fatalities and more, and there is certainly plenty to keep people busy for a long time.

Even after all the single player and offline modes, there is still a huge emphasis on online multiplayer. Fighting enthusiasts will no doubt want to prove their prowess against real opponents, and Mortal Kombat boasts a nice range of online modes that will give fighting fans plenty of opportunities to do so. These modes include one-on-one fights, tag fights and the new “King of the Hill” mode, which sees eight players pick characters to fight with and can spectate other fights.

Unfortunately, online in Mortal Kombat is a bit of a mess right now. Matchmaking is slow, there are constant disconnects and the lag is crippling, both on the screen and when inputting commands. All the online features that Mortal Kombat has are nigh on useless without network stability and this is a huge problem. King of the Hill is a nice addition and a great idea, but is a major victim of lag, probably due to the amount of players.

Nevertheless, Mortal Kombat is a fantastic package for fighting fans, a staggering amount of content complemented with fantastic gameplay, smooth visuals and all-round entertainment. Although the online situation is a worry, it is something that can be fixed in time, which unfortunately cannot be said for the cheap bosses that can make the game infuriating at times. However, these problems are wholeheartedly outweighed by the positives, of which there are plenty in Mortal Kombat. A fighting game that all can enjoy, whether you are new to the genre or a fighting king, everyone can pick up Mortal Kombat and enjoy it immensely.

Mortal Kombat isn’t just a return to form, it has surpassed every game in the series so far and sets a precedent for future titles in the series.