NetherRealm Studios returns to the fighting game genre after 3 years with the latest entry in the long-running Mortal Kombat franchise. After 25 years, Mortal Kombat 11 looks to be their most ambitious entry yet and hopes to set the bar once again on what a fighting game should strive to be. In this Mortal Kombat 11 review, we’ll look and see if it lives up to the hype or if it falls short of its legacy.
Release Date: April 23rd, 2019
Price: $59.99
Approximate Size: 22.5 GB
Genre: Fighting Game
Developed By: NetherRealm Studios, Shiver Entertainment (Nintendo Switch)
Published By: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch; Also available on Xbox One X (played), PlayStation 4 Pro (played), and PC.
I’ve won a Black Dragon cage match
No fighting game developer -and I mean none- makes story modes or plots like NetherRealm Studios. They are, in the fighting genre, the best at crafting a story that is fun to experience. Mortal Kombat 11 is no different from a plot designed to provide the ultimate fan service for longtime investors in the series. I would recommend new players either play MK 9 and X to better understand the story, or watch the cutscenes on YouTube, but if you don’t, you will still be able to enjoy the story for what it is. Now, the story mode offers lots of nice Easter eggs, callbacks, and characters that you might not know are involved and I don’t want to spoil that, so, I’ll only tell you the foundation of the story without much detail because, as I mentioned earlier, NetherRealm Studios has put a lot into this story and it should be experienced.
In the closing moments of Mortal Kombat X, Shinnok was defeated by Cassie Cage and this becomes the catalyst to the change of personality from Raiden. No longer is he the kind Elder God who seeks to protect Earthrealm as peacefully as possible. Instead, he rules with an iron fist and threatens all other realms with eradication and devastation. Raiden’s fall from grace even sees him decapitate Shinnok so that his severed head can be used as a reminder and threat, to all other realms of the consequences they will face if they get brave enough to ever cross him or Earthrealm. This course of history is disliked by Kronika, the keeper of time, and she seeks to rewrite the flow of history into one she desires, thus merging timelines with the villains protecting her so that she can erase Raiden from existence, and the heroes attempting to restore order.
The story is excellently paced and there is never a dull moment. All the character interactions, especially the ones with younger versions of the same characters dealing with their older counterparts, are well written and often hilarious. The encounters that are meant to feel epic, are done right and achieve that feeling, as well as the ones that are meant to be as over the top as possible. Speaking over the top, there are more story elements in Klassic Tower. These have ranged from hilarious to over the top and they are all pretty enjoyable. I enjoyed the plot of Mortal Kombat 11, I liked the character endings in Klassic Tower, and I think there is something for everyone to enjoy. I know it’s a common practice as of late to skip story modes in fighting games because they are usually poorly constructed and terribly written but don’t miss out on this one. NetherRealm Studios put a lot into this, and it’s really well done.
So you were to defeat Shinnok?
This review has been pretty positive and the rest of it pretty much will maintain that jubilant feeling because the game is fantastic in every area… Except one. The area that it falls short on is big enough to tarnish the entire experience and it’s with heartbreak that I have to write that. I’ve been a fan of the Mortal Kombat series since I was a child, but it seems the developers, or perhaps the publisher, have lost sight of what their fans want. The intrusiveness in which these attempts to take even more time and money from devoted players is confusing and spreads across modes like cancer. Not even Dead Or Alive 6, which launched with a $100 season pass, or EA, who are obsessed with microtransactions, have reached this level of disrespect to their audience. Microtransactions have been a plague on the industry since their inception and NetherRealm Studios games have slowly been pushing them in, but the level and jump from Injustice 2 to Mortal Kombat 11 is a far greater leap than anyone could have expected. Now, it gets complicated, so I’ll do my best to clearly explain the severity of the situation.
At first glance, you don’t really see or feel the impact of the microtransactions because these are hidden behind the game’s massive grind for unlocking content, so much that just buying things would be preferable and with an online shop, that’s possible. You’ll get coins for the most basic of actions in the game, but you never receive enough to buy anything until you’ve put in some time. The two main areas of grind are found in the Krypt and in the Towers Of Time. Starting with the Krypt, the way it works is that you’ll maneuver through this interestingly constructed third person dungeon crawling like experience in search of boxes that contain loot. Yes, I know what I purposely did there. Once you find these boxes, which are expensive, you’ll pay to open them to receive random items. Now, the items you can receive range from character skins and gear pieces to combat card icons and backgrounds, and everything in between. The game knows this and its algorithm is designed to make sure you get the least desirable options. That means you’ll mostly see Koins, concept art, and Krypt items. Once you’ve opened a sizeable amount of loot boxes and want, or need, to reset these boxes, the game gives you the option… At a price.
The Towers Of Time has been purposely designed to get you to spend money because they are difficult beyond reason. I love hard games, I adore tough boss battles, and I love when a game can weave them together in a way that makes you feel even more satisfied when you finally overcome that complimentary trial. Mortal Kombat 11’s towers are just plain not fun. Some of the conditions in these towers, which change from round to round, are just horrendous. One minute you might be fighting a character who has a fire buff that adds extra damage over time to you and then the very next one might have homing missiles that only target you and do a massive amount of damage. It’s frustrating… So much that the game offers you buffs in hopes of making certain towers easier, but since the conditions change from round to round, you may be alright in one, but it might actually become a hindrance in another. Then you have towers that you basically have to purchase to get into and although they are character specific and offer rewards like the ones you find in the Krypt, they’re also random and you never get what you want or need. Basically, you earn rewards that don’t deserve the effort you put in.
The whole buff system, or augmentations, are extremely specific and poorly constructed as well. The character gear you unlock changes the look and abilities of your fighter. They also have a progression system and once you level them up, you can usually add up to three of the five types of augmentations to them. It just takes forever for them to level up. Even with all of that, you still can’t add whatever buff you want. Nope. You have to have the right augmentation type for the right augmentation socket for the gear it was intended for. The types that unlock for that gear are also random, so you can end up with the coolest looking suit with three of the least favorable augmentation possibilities. Now you are given the option to re-roll in hopes of getting an augmentation you want, or at least a different one if you have three of the same, but it’s also random. It also cost $1000 Koins. I spent $6000 Koins on one Scorpion gear piece and the game mocked me for it because I didn’t get anything substantially better. Some of the buffs you can get for your gear are things like resistance to poison, resistance to damage overall, etc. All gear you unlock will start at level one, so you’ll have to repeat this process but even if you got your dream suit with your dream augmentations, the towers are still corrupt and designed to fatality. You could unlock consumables too, like removing weather conditions or having other fighters aid you in battle, but it’s like the game knows this and doesn’t care because it has a counter ready. The cherry on top, NetherRealm Studios knew this and has added tokens to skip rounds. That should say it all.
All of this is purposely done to frustrate the player and put them in a position to just want a monetary escape. They’re smart because they know this generation of gamer wants instant gratification and is willing to spend as much money as it takes to be first. It’s honestly not worth it and, even though I never want to tell people how to spend their money, I strongly encourage you to avoid falling victim to this scheme. Now, yes, you can unlock and complete everything without spending a dime, but you’ll need several lifetimes to do. Super Smash Bros Ultimate is an example of a fighting game that is loaded with content and constantly unlocks items for players without headaches and corporate greed. If you grind everything out in Mortal Kombat 11, we’ll all be on the eleventh installment of Smash Bros and you’ll probably be nowhere near completion. There are also like four other currency type of items too, but it’ll just make your head hurt as much as mine does when writing this.
Let’s just knock out the rest of the negatives because that rant above depressed me, and I want to go back to praise the other great aspects of the game. The game requires always an online connection to do pretty much everything. Story mode and offline local battles are the exceptions, but you can’t even do the Klassic Tower, which is the equivalent of an Arcade Mode. The Krypt is understandable because of the randomized unlocks but the Klassic Tower makes no sense. This will affect less the players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but some alternative should have been considered for Switch. If you do play some of the towers offline, you’ll receive no rewards and it’ll basically won’t count. On Switch, there were some framerate issues in only two places: the final fight in the Klassic Tower and in some of the Story Mode cutscenes as they transition back to gameplay. Other than that, it’s a silky smooth 60FPS.
Despite deciding to go into a less combo string driven approach, Mortal Kombat 11 offers more depth than initially believed form impressions given from the beta. The key to victory is a game of chest between you and your opponent and figuring out who can utilize their meters, environmental objects, and short combo strings more successfully. You’ll have buttons dedicated to throwing, blocking, environmental interactions, two for punching, and two for kicking. At any moment you can pause the game and view your move list, which consists of a few directions and pressing a button. With all of these elements, it’s a game to see who can win the best of three. The roster is diverse, and each character has their own strengths and weakness, but even if you fight with a character who is considered weaker to another, it really comes down to player skill and that’s all that matters. NetherRealm Studios has managed to make every encounter feel like it’s all down to skill and that’s a beautiful feeling that every fighting game should strive to aim for. This is also one of the few fighting games where blocking is a crucial element to master because, if not, you can be severely punished. Likewise, if you block too much, you can be punished. I’ve never been one for using the block mechanics in fighting games, which would explain my win-loss record, but Mortal Kombat 11 makes it an element of importance. Now, this is all typical in fighting games, but we should know by now that, for better or worse, NetherRealm Studios is always challenging themselves and pushing the fighting game genre in new directions.
During your fighting for supremacy, you’ll be able to use your Amplified Attacks. Certain attack strings or moves can have your offensive meter applied to it and add additional damage to your attack. These can really make a difference and close the gap if you’ve been on the receiving end of a devastating string of attacks and have low health. If you, or your opponent, get the health low enough, you’ll be able to use Fatal Blow. For those who remember the old x-ray moves from previous entries, this functions similarly. Instead, these focus more on cinematic gore that just simply seeing bones shatter and can deal a quarter of damage to whoever is on the receiving end. Another element that returns in Mortal Kombat 11 is the Environmental Attack. Now, these are great for adding additional damage, get another hit off an attack string, or to counter enemy projectiles. What this version helps out more in, at least I found myself using it more as, breaking a combo onslaught when trapped in a corner. Using this to escape, to make a separation between me and an opponent, was a strategy I never thought could be as effective as it was. You also have counters that give you a nice x-ray visual and Air Attacks are more important in this entry than previous ones. Jumping towards your opponent and landing a kick, with some fighters delivering more than one, do more damage and becomes an effective strategy against those who want to spam projectiles.
Now, once you win the majority of three encounters, you’ll be able to perform your Fatality, Brutality, or even a Mercy. These are performed after a winner is declared and each fighter has their own unique button inputs and each one is unique to the fighter. Mercy, which hasn’t been in a Mortal Kombat game since MK 3, sees the defeated player receive some health back and the fight continues once again. This happened in one of my online encounters and I wish I could say it was me who performed it, but it wasn’t, and I wish I could say I won when I got my health back, but I didn’t. What adds to the game and makes it all even better, despite me initially not being a huge fan of it, is how customizable the fighters are. You can add different moves and costumes to characters and that adds some unpredictability to each encounter. If you play online and choose a character like, say, Scorpion and your opponent also choose Scorpion, it is very unlikely the two fighters will be or play the same because of the customizable moves. At first, I was hesitant to embrace these customization options because I felt the balance would be ruined but the more I played and the more I saw new things, the more I wanted to see if I had it unlocked or to see what I could have to counter it. Also, surprisingly, I never felt balance was affected in the slightest and, maybe because I was having so much fun, I didn’t care if there were any balancing issues. Oh, and professional players don’t have to worry about balancing when playing competitively because the folks over at NetherRealm Studios have preset variations for competitive players.
Feeling competitive, Kung Lao?
KONQUER
Story Mode
It’s here where you’ll go through the story of Mortal Kombat 11. In trademark NetherRealm Studios fashion, the story will unfold and lead to scenarios where you’ll take control of a fighter to face off against another. The story is great and the fights themselves can range from classic and fresh to epic. They know when to set the tone and it all feels like it works the way it’s supposed to. In this entry, the developers have found a way to encourage replayability. Certain encounters, which I feel inclined to mention a tag mechanic would have been a welcomed addition to MK11 as seen in MK9, will allow you to choose which fighter you will play as. It doesn’t make much of a difference if you choose one fighter over another but those who want to attain one hundred percent completion will have to replay it. Overall, it’s a great mode for people to go through solo. You get a lot of great encounters with a great story and near perfect gameplay, it’s the perfect mix.
Towers Of Time
These towers rotate and change at different intervals, giving you different challenges, but the rewards are always random. The main criticism I have for this mode is that it feels maliciously designed to cause grief and upset the player into seeking financial means to complete these poorly designed and overly challenging fights. Now you can use consumables and you might be able to build the perfect counter and move set for, say, the first challenge, but it feels like the game knows your train of thought and counters you in the very next round. There are things that are great when they’re offering a meaningful challenge, but this difficulty is just unfair and frustrating.
Klassic Tower
This is pretty much the game’s version of Arcade Mode. You’ll choose a difficulty and climb through a series of fights. In the end, you’ll get an ending for your character and it’s a nice art frame with slight motions. It looks fantastic and a nice change to everything else in the game. The final boss in this mode is not only challenging but alters the map and summons other fighters to attack you. On Switch, the mode suffers from framerate issues during the transitioning to other stages and in the final cutscene. That being said, that ending cinematic that results in the boss’ death is awesome, and when you lose to her, her fatality might be the best one in the entire game. Utterly fantastic, even if this mode is also designed to reward the least desirable collectibles and objects.
The Krypt
Over the course of playing through the various modes of the game, you’ll be accumulating all the various different kinds of currency, albeit it’ll take massive amounts of time, and the Krypt is where you’ll spend that money. Essentially, this mode is a third-person dungeon crawler without any enemies and just boxes of loot. All the chests vary in price and all the rewards are randomized but, like everything else, you’re never given what you want or need. It’s very hard to get the things you would want, like skins and augmentations, but I do have to admit the mode did surprise me. Shang Tsung’s island has a lot of Easter eggs and lore that will make longtime fans of the series happy to see, and it also happens to have a decent number of puzzles. That last part was most surprising to me because they actually put in a considerable amount of effort into the mode. If the rewards were better or if getting skins and augmentations could be more frequent, this would be an excellent mode.
FIGHT
Local
This is the long tried and true game mode where players usually fight amongst themselves in the same room. This mode used to be one of the most important aspects of a fighting game before online connections became so popular. You’re given the option of facing off against another human player or fighting against the CPU. Depending on the difficulty, the CPU can be quite difficult. Due to how fun the game is, and the massive amounts of creative brutality, it was easy to get family and friends to try the game out against me. Always a flawless experience and a ton of fun to trash talk and play with others besides you.
Tournament
Mortal Kombat 11 allows you to set up your own tournaments to play against others. The few times I throw or attend parties, we usually pull out a fighting game and use the tournament feature if the game supports it. It’s the perfect party mode or mode for a group of friends to figure out who is the best amongst them. All the usual options are there and it is all seamless and easy to set up. I went through the mode once with another friend on both PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, at the same time to compare the two, and it’s excellently done on both platforms. Also, it works really well if you’re an event organizer looking to host a tournament without a headache.
ONLINE
Starting it off, Mortal Kombat 11 offers Ranked Match that’ll arrange fights with players of similar skill and rank. The matchup is accurately done, and I was never faced off against someone drastically better, or worse, than me. Balancing was predicted well, and each encounter felt competitive with every victory feeling earned. It’s a thrill to not know what a player is using and discovering during the battle and having to form strategies on the fly. Balancing isn’t as terrible as I thought it would be and I felt, for the most part, everything was balanced. Once again, everything came down to skill. When it comes to connection and performance, Mortal Kombat 11 is flawless. Seriously, this game runs phenomenally online with no issues whatsoever, even players with lower connections still gave me a great connection. More impressively, it runs this good on Switch which, apparently, has online issues. If Ranked Match isn’t your cup of tea, you also have Kasual Match. This is where wins and losses don’t matter and you can go on to fight various players of varying degrees of skill. It can be pretty unforgiving when you face players that are ten times the skill you have but you also get to see high-level combo options. King Of The Hill is where players gather into a room and face one another for bragging rights online. The game keeps track of the players win streak and respect earned from playing. Other players can spectate the fight, and you can as well when you aren’t fighting. It’s a mode NetherRealm Studios continually improves upon and this might be the best implementation of it.
Mortal Kombat 11 introduces a mode called A.I. Battle which sees you select three fighters from the roster and send them to fight against three fighters chosen by another real-world player. The catch is that you have to watch the fight take place with the CPU taking control of all fighters. It’s a weird mode that I only tried once and didn’t really enjoy at all. I don’t mind watching the CPU go at it, but this mode doesn’t offer anything you can’t really get somewhere else in the game. Maybe in time, it’ll find a player base. If you only want to fight against friends online, you have your own section dedicated to it called Private. Here you can set up one versus one fights, a Kustom Lobby, or just practice your skills. It’s all very easy to set up and perfect to fight against your friends that live across the world. You can also set up a public Room, or join one, under 1v1 or King Of The Hill rules.
OTHER MODES
Two of the more robust features of Mortal Kombat 11 are the customization options and the training modes. You can change a lot of character’s look and moves using augmentations and skins unlocked through earning money and unlocking boxes of loot in the Krypt. It’s more elaborate and has more depth than I think anyone could have imagined and it does feel like a natural, positive progression from Mortal Kombat X. You have a very robust set of features here designed to not only teach you the game’s mechanics but also master them. You will learn the basics and even some of the more complex combos. What I found most important about the training mode in this game is that it’s the best way to master the tournament and completive variations of a character. You see, the variations you see in all the menus are completely different from the ones that are considered balanced and allowed in the competitive scene. I chose Cassie Cage, who happens to be my favorite at the time, and I went into Kustomize and went to her abilities section. Above all the abilities you can choose, you press X or Square on PS4, and it’ll give you a list of preset variations you can try. The ones that have the chalices next to them are the approved ones. You then make one of these ones your variation and go into training to master it. It would have been nice if the game explained this, but it doesn’t and I only figured it out because I’m a curious guy. Training mode is definitely where you want to go to hone your skills and it breaks everything down, from framing to damage dealt, and it just feels like one of the best training implementations within a fighting game. Finally, there is a store to tempt you into spending money on gems to spend those gems on skins and what not. It updates every couple of hours and, from what I’ve seen, or from what the game tells us, everything is unlockable in the Krypt.
You know there’s a word for girls like you.
This is primarily a review for the Nintendo Switch version of Mortal Kombat 11, but I’ll address the graphics of the other versions towards the end of this section. With that out of the way, let’s discuss the character models.
Character models in Mortal Kombat 11 are very nicely done on the Nintendo Switch. The models are detailed far more than I expected, and the compromises compared to other versions are minor. No model stands out in a negative way with only one exception. The hair on some models, like Cassie Cage, for example, look pretty bad and stand out in the beginning. However, once a round starts and you’re in combat, you’ll forget about all of that. It’s really impressive the amount of detail NetherRealm has managed to implement in this game. Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Johnny Cage, and Skarlet all look better than ever, and the different armor and clothing options give players a wide amount of room for expression. This makes playing online even better because, more than likely, no two characters will look the same if both players select the same fighter. The different clothing options are well crafted and detailed with armor looking rough and durable and cloth looking soft and textured. Hands down though, the best-looking characters are the more crazy looking ones, like the cyborgs. The level of detail in their intricate metallic robotic designs are really amazing. Also, a special shout out to D’Vorah who’s more bug alike and creepy design make her stand out from the rest of the fighters. The team at NetherRealm Studios sure know how to craft some beautiful models and some grotesque ones.
Character animations are also graphically splendid with a plethora of effects often unique to their characters. Characters like Sub-Zero and Frost have some of the best ice effects in a fighting game, often using icy crystal like moves to deal devastating damage to opponents and freeze them. Likewise, a fighter like Scorpion has hellfire flames rich with bright oranges and yellows with small embers flying off. Johnny Cage will have a green aura cover him as he deals more destructive attacks and Baraka will have sparks fly when he rubs his blades together. Environmental interactions will have an encouraging shine and most attacks will see blood come off, or out, of whoever is on the receiving end of punishment. Certain moves will almost play out like a cutscene and show even more bloody effects with more detail and focus on what’s happening. It all looks and runs wonderfully. Speaking of cutscenes, Mortal Kombat 11 has some of the smoothest and best-looking CGI in all fighting games, maybe even in gaming. It’s up there. It looks so good in fact that when you’re playing, say the story mode, and you transition from the CG scene into fighting it can be jarring due to how graphically different the two are. This only applies to the Switch version. The fatalities in the game are bloodier than ever and this comes across well in the graphics.
Let’s talk about those stages. You have quite the varied selection of areas to fight on and they all look great. My favorite stage by far is Shirai Ryu Fire Garden, which uses an autumn color palette with orange and yellow leaves with Red Acer trees. The background also has a warm feeling with its sunny nature, overcast from the trees, and large shrine in the background. It’s absolutely beautiful, wonderful visuals to fight on. Another great stage is Goro’s Lair which is almost the exact opposite of Shirai Ryu Fire Garden. It’s dark and gloomy like a Skyrim dungeon, dead corpses scattered across the map, and the decaying corpse of Goro sitting on a broken throne. The light that trickles in and shines over the dust-covered Goro is a wonderful visual and one where players, who may not be engrossed in the action, can construction a story based off of it. The game doesn’t just keep things on the gritty and beautiful, it also has stages that seem they could have come from another series. The stage titled Tournament takes place on a large stage where music bands play on in real life and the loud nature of it all, flashing lights and deep reds, reminded me a lot of a stage from Street Fighter V. Really well done and a lot of variety for your eyes to enjoy. Despite how varied and beautiful they all are, further inspection shows that there are low textures used in the background, but I had to really search for them to notice. I was far too involved with the action.
The largest visual blemish on this game, specific to the Nintendo Switch version, is the Krypt. You will be spending a lot of time here to get unlockable items but the Switch version, unsurprisingly, has had a lot of compromises afflicted to it. Like some of the fighting stages, low textures are used but this version also has added a sort of fog to this area. The Switch’s competition has a volcano, a sky, and a nice atmosphere as a whole in this area but this is seemingly absent here. It is understandable compromises had to be made, but I would have preferred they had taken a different approach for Nintendo’s version. It’s not horrendous, it’s just a more drastic downgrade from other versions than everything else in the game. You’ll still spend enough time in here to get used to it and, at least, it’s varied on what you’ll see. The mode uses a lot of oriental imagery that’s excellently crafted and looks as if it’s based on a real locale. It’s not all bad here, visually, but temper your expectations on the Switch version.
The menu system and UI used in Mortal Kombat 11 is sleek and professional looking. There is something about black and gold aesthetics that add a premium feel to the whole experience. Game modes are broken into four main categories, with a description of what is included in these sections, and it’s all broken down smoothly making things easy to find. It was obvious since the beginning that the Switch could never compete with the other versions on the market but, even so, NetherRealm Studios made an excellent choice in having Shiver Entertainment develop this version.
Now, let’s talk about the other versions. For the sake of this review, I played both the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X versions. You take all the praise from the Switch version and multiply it by 11 and you get the other version’s visuals. This is the most gorgeous looking fighting game to date, hands down, and no contest. It truly is a visual masterpiece for fighting games. All the attention to detail found in the Switch version is refined and with even more precision. The biggest difference, graphically, from the Switch version is the lighting engine these other versions have. First off, colors are richer with deep blacks and colors that pop. God rays shine through the maps, effects are brighter than ever, my favorite map I mentioned before is lusher and more vibrant, and the more rustic inside maps look authentically recreated with realism. It’s all exactly how you would expect, only depicted with graphical fidelity that will be hard to match. I could write another couple of pages about how amazing the game’s graphics can be on the PS4 and Xbox One, but I don’t think I could ever do it justice, you have to see it to believe it. Besides all of that, Nintendo’s hybrid console is no slouch.
Ultimately the graphics in Mortal Kombat 11 can be broken down into two: impressive and perfect. It’s impressive that such a game can run on Switch and look as good as it does at times. Shiver Entertainment has found a way to make the game look good and utilize what they needed too to make the experience as flawless as they could. It truly is better than I expected. Perfect would better suit the other versions because I don’t think the PS4 or Xbox One versions have any graphical blemishes of any kind and I don’t think any other fighting game can match its graphical fidelity. For those curious on how the game looks docked compared to the handheld for the Switch, you’ll be pleased to know that the game looks great on the smaller screen. I’ll even go as far as to say it looks better in handheld mode and playing table top with a pro controller was wonderful.
My green magic, your green outfit.
The game’s voice acting is both impressive and fantastic. Every single voice actor does more than just recite lines, they become that character. Voice actors who reprise their roles, such as Andrew Bowen who voiced Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat X, settle back in with ease and haven’t missed a beat. He even goes as far as to portray the character on a whole new level with a performance that can, often times, fill you with an intense desire to see him get demolish and, yet, also able to fill you with a unique smugness as you see his antics insult a defeated opponent. Excellently done and well executed. Newcomers, like former UFC Bantamweight champion and former WWE Raw Women’s Champion ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey, debut in a way that makes them almost feel destined for the role. Sonja Blade has always felt like an intimidating woman who could do anything and Rousey’s performance, and her well-known background, add another layer to it. Rousey was once considered the toughest woman on the planet, much like Sonja Blade was in gaming, and, so, this becomes a match made in heaven. Scorpion still sounds like the undead fierce force he always was, Raiden sounds as immortal and powerful as always with the more menacing tones bringing chills, and D’Vorah sounds snake and bug-like with how the actor speaks and the effects added. An absolute perfect voice acting across the board.
Speaking of effects, Mortal Kombat 11 has some of the best. Punches sound heavy with realistic impact, weapons all have accompanying audio that is both realistic and sounds brutal and moves that result in broken bones and limbs can sound so real at times that you, or others near you, I flinch at the brutality. The team has gone out of its way to build a foundation of realism in the game’s audio design. The sounds of Scorpion’s chain clanging in the air, the audio when Sub-Zero lets out his ice attacks, and Cassie Cage shooting her guns are just a few examples of how great the sound effects are. The game has never sounded this good and headphones only magnify the experience. The melodies that play during matches are also fantastic. You’ll have some stages that’ll play light music, very Oriental-inspired, and others that’ll play heavier tracks with guitars. Each stage that has music accurately reflect where you are at and adds another great layer to the fight going on. Though none of it is iconic or will become exactly memorable, you’ll more than likely tone them out as you fight.
The music design in Mortal Kombat 11 is fantastic and well implemented. The sounds of the blood being splattered from attacks, the grunts and trash talk from the fighters, the sounds of weapons all unique to themselves, and the music all add to the experience with a level of detail many other fighting games don’t, or possibly can’t, strive to produce.
Yours is not a virtuous life.
Mortal Kombat 11 is a great fighting game that is nearly perfect in every aspect of it. From the graphics, sound, story, and gameplay to online infrastructure, everything is as close to perfect as a fighting game would want to be. A gorgeous fighter that is friendly to casuals and offers some complexity to hardcore players, a game that tells a great story that’ll appease longtime fans and, yet, doesn’t have a plot that’ll confuse new players. There’s an excellent selection of varied fighters to choose from and tons of modes to play them in. Even the game’s training options are perfect to first-time players because they teach you so much with simplicity and easy to understand menus. So, why isn’t the game getting a deserving score? Why has it scored lower than what’s reflected in nearly every part of this review? It’s quite simple and sad to write.
Mortal Kombat 11 is a fighting game that, overall, should be near perfect but… do you know why it’s not? The game is maliciously muddled with so much grind that it attempts to seduce the player to ease that grind through microtransactions. Everything is far more expensive than it should be, you’re nearly always given the least desirable unlocks, and the towers are designed to frustrate and annoy you. It’s all calculated and done for the sole purpose of what almost every developer and publisher desire and that’s to get you to purchase a $60 game and suck the remaining funds in your bank through horrific business practices. Now, NetherRealm Studios can say all they want that it’s unintentional and that they’ll be changing things for the better but that’s only because of the fan backlash. If we had said nothing, they would have done nothing. They knew that these would become negative issues for gamers and they purposely hid them until release to get that initial $60. There also shouldn’t be a conversation of changing things for the better because of player feedback because the game shouldn’t have had these issues, to begin with. Several other fighting games, like the ones from Arc System Works, get it right without taking advantage of their fan base. NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros have no excuse, they tried to screw us all and got called out and now want to try to make things right through the fake disguise that it’s for the players. Mortal Kombat 12 or whatever their next game is, will probably be worse and we should be overly cautious with them from now on.
