The Mortal Kombat franchise has remained a reliable constant for the past three decades, carrying the fighting game scene through a number of lean periods where new entries in other series were few and far between. We’re definitely not in a lean period now though, as games like Street Fighter 6, King of Fighters XV, and the upcoming Tekken 8 have generated renewed interest in the genre. Not to be left out, NetherRealm Studios have entered the arena with Mortal Kombat 1, a rather oddly-titled reset of the series featuring a new tag-team mechanic.
Does Mortal Kombat 1 have what it takes to compete against the latest crop of acclaimed fighters? Or does it fail to land that killer blow? Time to test this one’s might…
Mortal Kombat has always offered its own unique take on the fighting genre and this latest entry in the series doesn’t wander too far from the established blueprint. Mortal Kombat 1 keeps it simple with only four attack buttons (back punch/kick and front punch/kick) and forgiving, easy-to-remember special attack inputs. No thumb-blistering half-circle special moves here. This is Mortal Kombat as you remember, but of course, some significant tweaks have been made.
The most immediately obvious addition to Mortal Kombat 1 are its Kameo fighters, a set of selectable tag-team partners you can call in to perform various moves with a quick push of the right trigger. This is a fun idea that’s been used successfully in a number of past fighting games, but their introduction to the world of Mortal Kombat isn’t terribly exciting.
When summoned, Kameo fighters fire off a single move then scamper away and there’s a limit to how many times you can call on them. Even if you aren’t in the midst of a cooldown, there are some scenarios when you can’t summon your partner -- I envisioned being able to use them to interrupt enemy combos, but you can’t call them up as you’re absorbing damage. There are occasions when you can combine your main character’s offense with your Kameo fighter’s attacks to create some slick combos, but just as often, I found calling on them kind of interrupted my flow. With only 15 Kameo fighters in total, many of which are just copies of main roster fighters, the whole concept just feels a bit underbaked.
Thankfully, while Kameo fighters may be a slight letdown, almost everything else about Mortal Kombat 1’s overhauled combat hits the mark. Mortal Kombat 1 feels significantly faster and more freewheeling than Mortal Kombat 11, which pushed the series’ action in a more deliberate direction. There’s a lot more opportunity to piece together your own offensive approach and unique attack chains as air combos and other mechanics designed to make the action feel more fluid are back in the mix. Some elements from Mortal Kombat 11 have been removed or simplified, such as that game’s offensive and defensive meters being combined into a single bar. Fatal Blows return, but they’re not as overpowered and easier to avoid. Everything just feels a bit more slick, a bit more streamlined.
Ultimately though, the thing that’s changed the most about Mortal Kombat 1 are the fighters themselves. Yes, there are no all-new characters in this game, but many are so changed they feel new. Even old favorites like Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Raiden have had their movesets revamped significantly. The changes may throw you a bit at first, but any concerns you might have will be allayed when you realize how good almost everyone feels to play. Traditionally, there’s been a pretty wide gulf between top-tier and mid or low-tier fighters in NetherRealm games, but this time around, almost every character feels pretty competitive. Don’t get me wrong, tier lists are still going to developed, but I’ll leave that to the hardcore types to worry about. I still haven’t settled on a main and I’m having fun figuring out who it might be.
In addition to playing well, Mortal Kombat 1 looks fantastic. Stages are jam-packed with detail and the impressive facial animation tech from MK11 and other recent NetherRealm titles has been pushed to a whole new level. Add some nice HDR implementation, and you have a game with a very rich, polished look to it. You may prefer the visual style of Street Fighter 6, but on a technical level, Mortal Komat 1 puts its contemporaries to shame. All of this is delivered at a rock-solid 60fps on PS5 (although cutscenes are still 30fps, a fact that’s sometimes noticeable).
Speaking of cutscenes, like the last few entries in the series, Mortal Kombat 1 features a grand spectacle of a story and it’s the best ones NetherRealm has ever pulled off. Despite its title, Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t actually reboot, soft or otherwise. The game actually picks up after the events of Mortal Kombat 11’s time-traveling yarn, as Liu Kang – not just a god, but now the God – recrates the entire universe, with the notion that changing certain characters’ destinies will avoid the conflicts of the past. This means we get to see a number of classic characters in an interesting new light – Raiden is just a humble trainee, Mileena is now the honorable heir to Outworld’s throne, and Sub-Zero, well… Sub-Zero is an absolute prick. After decades of more or less doing the same thing, it’s fun to see these characters try on some different hats, and frankly, I actually like some of these new characterizations more than the original ones.
All that said, without giving too much away, it seems the old Mortal Kombat universe may not be entirely erased and some bad guys will always be bad guys. Even as Mortal Kombat 1’s plot becomes more complex in its later chapters, it never devolves into the kind of incomprehensible mush served up by many past MK titles. This story remains fun right until the end and ought to provide a solid foundation for future games.
Beyond its story, Mortal Kombat 1’s other core single-player option is Invasion mode. This mode serves up lower-key stories (the first one focuses on Scorpion trying to save his wife Harumi across multiple timelines) through a series of simple board-game like maps and single-round fights. In addition to being able to choose your path through these stages, you can level up fighters and collect gear and consumable items. There’s a certain amount of depth here, but the overall presentation feels a bit cheap and underwhelming compared to something like the Krypt from Mortal Kombat 11.
In addition story and Invasion modes, Mortal Kombat 1 offers up a small handful of classic Towers to tackle and the usual array of online modes, including tournaments and the ranked Kombat League. While I didn’t get a lot of time to test online play with my MK1 review code, the game features the same solid rollback netcode as other recent NetherRealm games, and it performed well during online stress tests earlier this summer, so there’s not a lot of reason to worry.
One thing Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t offer is the deep customization (er, sorry, kustomization) and gear system from other recent NetherRealm titles. That isn’t necessarily a fatal blow, as I found collecting gear a bit grindy in Mortal Kombat 11, but that depth hasn’t really been replaced by anything. Instead, MK1 offers a bog-standard live service setup, with NetherRealm promising regular infusions of seasonal Invasion content and cosmetics. Some of the game’s cosmetics can be unlocked through gameplay or purchased with in-game currency, but, of course, there are also premium items that can only be bought with real money. This kind of stuff is endemic to fighting games now, so I can’t knock MK1 too much for it, but it all feels a bit more up your face this time around.
Overall, outside of its meaty 6-to-7-hour campaign, Mortal Kombat 1 just feels a bit… light. That’s not uncommon when it comes to new fighting games, but traditionally NetherRealm has hit harder than the competition when it comes to content, so it’s disappointing to see them pull their punches a bit here.
This review was based on a PS5 copy of Mortal Kombat 1 provided by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive.
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