Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns (PS5) Review

Mortal Kombat 1’s first major expansion, Khaos Reign, is by no means a terrible expansion. Overpriced? Maybe. Possibly. I could be convinced that paying nearly the entire cost of the base game for an expansion of content which includes six kharacters (only three at launch), a two-or-so-hour kampaign, and a smattering of aesthetic content is a troublesome trend. When compared to the likes of Street Fighter VI and Tekken 8’s expansion passes, Khaos Reigns gives the player a bit more while costing a bit more. I just don’t see Khaos Reigns as worthy of massive amounts of vitriol.

Instead, I see it worthy of critique. Knowing that the future of fighting games is one of annual expansion passes in exchange for continuous support (hopefully) in the form of balance patches and new content, it’s important to assess how well an expansion caters to both the diehard competitive playerbase (of which I am not) along with those who are simply along for the kasual narrative ride (hey, that’s me!). To that end, Khaos Reigns…is a step in the right direction. It’s not the best example of an expansion pass, but at the same time, it has just enough to make both realms of players satisfied.

I’m just not convinced that it’s worth picking up immediately at its full price. Maybe once it’s entirely completed and the rest of the kharacters are available, I would argue that the $50 price tag is worth it. Maybe if there were some unannounced surprises (more on this in a moment) between now and the entire cast being released. Maybe.

Let’s start with the story, as it’s the major selling point of this DLC expansion. NetherRealm Studios has positioned Khaos Reigns as a story expansion and kharacter pass in one package, all of it taking place immediately after the main story of MK1. At the start, we’re shown an impressive battle between Sektor and Cyrax, two series mainstays who have had their backstories and identities wiped in line with how Liu Kang has rebuilt the timeline in his image. Instead of being fully-robotic as they were in Mortal Kombat (2009; also known as MK9), they’re humans wearing cybernetic enhancements as a part of the Lin Kuei’s machinations. We learn that deception and grudges plague the Lin Kuei, driving these two to interrupt a rare moment of tenderness in MK’s universe.

The rest of Khaos Reigns takes place in Havik’s realm, a space in which Titan Havik (the cleric of khaos who was briefly shown in the post-credits scene of MK1’s story) resides and has consumed multiple other timelines for the sole purpose of khaos (a phrase repeated over and over and over again in the two-hour-or-so story). Instead of a traditional Mortal Kombat tournament or existential crisis involving a “big bad,” Cyrax and Sektor are sent to this realm on a rescue mission and stop Havik with interfering with Liu Kang’s timeline and wiping it from existence via a kamidogu-infused Thanos Snap.

Kamidogu, you say? You mean the keys to each of Mortal Kombat’s realms circa Mortal Kombat: Deception that were also used by Onaga, the Dragon King, to bring on the events of Armageddon?

No. Not those Kamidogu. Khaos Realm’s Kamidogu are of another design that are used to disintegrate a timeline and the main sources of uber power for Havik to wield as the antagonist of Khaos Reigns…and they’re not fully utilized beyond granting Havik potential world-ending powers.

Look, I know that MK1 has done away with the Mortal Kombat universe we’ve come to love, including the oft-forgotten 3D-era of MK involving the likes of Hotaru, Hsu Hao, and Kobra. I have come to terms with the future of MK being something that will take bold steps in the direction of a multiverse in which lore can be reshaped like a wet ball of clay. With how MK1 has explained away backstories and new beginnings as side effects of Liu Kang restarting the timeline, I just want a focus on stakes. I want a deep exploration of the current threats that make sense to give me reason to participate in mortal kombat (the act) in a new era.

My biggest issue with how Khaos Reigns’ story is laid out is how it quickly previews Titan Havik, his Kamidogu power, some brief mentions of how he intends to use that power, and then pivots away into a romp through a dungeon that would make Jigsaw (from Saw) proud. There’s very little focus on the threat of Havik along with his abuse of power. Instead, there’s a repetitious reminder that Havik cares about khaos over, over, and over again. It’s strange, as Havik has the potential to be a rogue agent who does things for the sake of khaos without much of a plan, similar to the Joker. Yet, the ways his plans were designed and shown to the player in Khaos Reigns skewed chaotic neutral rather than chaotic evil. When I think of a chaotic evil archetype, I think of The Dark Knight’s Joker who was inflicting pain for the sake of inflicting pain all through Gotham. Havik was positioned as a fully visible kharacter with clearly outlined plans…which seems counterintuitive to his character archetype.

He needed his big moment, especially since Havik hasn’t been a part of MK’s in-game universe since 2006.

I appreciate how this brief kampaign put the spotlight on a few playable kharacters who were briefly shown in the original MK1 kampaign, even if the iterations of these characters (no other spoilers, I promise) were different from the base game’s story. It’s always great to see kharacters shine by putting the players in kontrol of them, but I would have preferred that control to have been transferred to some of the kharacters in Liu Kang’s timeline instead of throwaway variants who have no stakes in the overarching lore.

By the time the story ends, more questions than answers remain. What is next for the future of MK1? Where will NetherRealm take this game’s story in a way that doesn’t reiterate the flavors of the month that are the multiverse or kamidogu-collecting ala Infinity Stones? There’s no post-kredits scene or a teaser at time of writing, so we’re left at square one. If there’s another story expansion coming for year 3 of MK1, I sincerely hope that the story is wrapped in a fashion where there are potential directions of what’s to come in MK’s future.

Outside of the story, Khaos Reigns contains three kharacters right from the start, with three guest stars coming soon. Outside of Sektor and Cyrax, Noob Saibot is the other series favorite who was brought back into the roster. With Noob Saibot’s addition, we have almost every single ninja on the same roster, be it a kameo fighter or kombatant. The only ninjas left to complete the roster are Skarlet, Jade, and Chameleon (not Khameleon!).

My fanboying aside, let’s talk about how about everyone feels as a kombatant. Cyrax is a fluid kombatant, able to chain together bombs for long juggling setups. In some ways, she plays like how Shang Tsung felt in MK9 with being able to juggle opponents by setting traps in between attacks. This iteration of Cyrax is refreshing because she feels less clunky and more strategic.

Sektor is an easier character to pick up and play, relying on smaller chains of attacks with a wider range of specials. Without kameos, Sektor is more beginner-friendly in that her kombos feel easier to augment with her flamethrower and rockets compared to Cyrax’s bomb placements. During Khaos Reigns’ story, I preferred playing as Sektor than Cyrax.

As much as I was thrilled to see Noob Saibot added to the cast, he felt far more clunky than his MK9 and MK11 iterations. Perhaps this is for the better, as MK11’s Noob Saibot dominated the online ladders and was abused to complete AI-towers because of how easy he was to use and chain simple attacks. His portal attacks and shadow-figure kombat remains in MK1, but expect him to play far slower than ever before.

At the time of writing, there are three more Guest Fighters on the way as a part of the Khaos Reigns expansion and will be granted to all Khaos Reigns owners upon their release: Ghostface, Conan the Barbarian, and T-1000 (from Terminator 2). I’ve had a love-hate relationship with guest fighters in prior MK games, but I’m quite excited to see an Arnold-based character return to the MK universe along with T-1000. Ghostface looks and sounds intriguing, too. Seeing as MK1’s Kombat Pack 1 has awesome Guest Fighters (I’m still not over the silliness that is John Cena as Peacemaker), I’m confident that NetherRealm will make these Guest Fighters shine.

Khaos Reigns brings three fighters who are appealing to players of all kinds, be it kasuals or pros. I’m curious to see how komplex the guest fighters end up being, but right now I am feeling good about the appeal of the newest entries to MK1.

The final weird thing about Khaos Reigns is how there are no additional kameos at this time. It’s especially strange given that MK1’s main gimmick is its kameo fighter system, a mechanic that dramatically opens up combo flexibility and grants players variability at the kharacter select screen instead of fiddling around with enabling and disabling special moves deep in the Kustomize menu. I know that some kameos in the Kombat Pack 1 were surprise adds – namely Janet Cage – so I’m hoping that Khaos Reigns surprises players with some special kameos when the Guest Fighters are delivered in the near future.

Outside of the paid Khaos Reigns kontent, MK1 features quite a bit of new free features, most notably the Animalities. I’m sure some of you have seen the preview videos on YouTube and Twitter over the past few weeks. The Animalities are awesome and an excellent treat for longtime MK1 players who haven’t yet kommitted to Khaos Reigns. The animations are bonkers, just like the fatalities of MK1. Seeing Peacemaker turn into an eagle with a gun brought out an audible chuckle from me.

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns adds a good amount of kontent for MK1. Price concerns aside, the additions of Sektor, Cyrax, and Noob Saibot should be seen as a blessing for MK fans. It remains to be seen about the future of MK1’s story and the rest of the Guest Fighters coming soon, but this is a good step in the right direction for a larger-form kontent in year 2 of MK1.