Mortal Kombat 1 Review (PS5)

Netherrealm Studios (NRS) has turned its Mortal Kombat franchise into Chicago’s leading gaming export. What was once an arcade game prominently featured in hysteria-inducing news koverage of the “death of decency” in America has now grown into a 30-year-old franchise blending gruesome goofiness, kompelling storytelling, and approachable kombat (heh) for kasual and kompetitive players alike. As a child, I wasn’t allowed to play Mortal Kombat, but I would often play it with my kousin whenever I visited his home or at the arcades on the rare occasion I was allowed to hang out with friends. I’ve grown up alongside Mortal Kombat and have witnessed its successes and mishaps throughout my life, but I’ve stuck with it to the point of encouraging those interested in the fighting genre to try it out.

Indeed, the MK series is one of the more approachable fighting games in the modern era. Unlike some of its kompetitors from the East (I’m looking at you, Street Fighter and Tekken), Mortal Kombat relies on simpler button kombinations, standardized mechanics in the form of kombo breakers and special moves, and memorable finishing moves – fatalities – to make end of a round pack quite a punch. Its cinematic story (from MK9 onward) has managed to pull in players for a taste of kombat and then get them to stay for repeated tower gauntlets, tests of might, and even online play in the form of Kombat League. The earlier MK titles might not have been as plot-driven as the titles of late are, sure, but its ridiculous story over the years has kept players like me looking forward to every upcoming installment.

It’s so easy to get into Netherrealm’s fighting games because of this. Mortal Kombat is no exception. The MK titles of late don’t push players away by presenting them with ridiculously steep learning kurves and kharacters with cheap and/or punishing movesets. Some kharacters in MK might have some unique facets, but these lesser described elements are not the norm. The Mortal Kombat series is the most approachable and tantalizing fighting series out there. I just love them.

I realize that I’ve waxed poetic for longer than intended. This is meant to be a Mortal Kombat 1 review, not a historical account of the Mortal Kombat series. My apologies, kombatants. Let’s get to it and kontinue to use Ks instead of Cs.

Mortal Kombat 1 (MK1) is NRS’ 12^th installment into the Mortal Kombat franchise. It takes place just after the events of Mortal Kombat 11 when Liu Kang took kontrol of Kronika’s hourglass and restarted time once again in hopes to rid the world of evil altogether. This new era of Liu Kang’s design is gorgeous, modern, yet just as bloody as Liu Kang’s history.

Much of this review will directly kompare MK1 to its predecessor, Mortal Kombat 11 (MK11). MK11 is but four years old at the time of writing; quite a bit of kontent from MK11 has made its way into MK1 mostly for the better. There’s still some kinks to be worked out in terms of its quality, but there’s very little doubt as MK1 being one of the better Mortal Kombat titles of the past decade.

Thankfully, kombat remains just as accessible yet deep as Mortal Kombat titles of the previous era. MK1’s kombo system gives players quite a bit of agency in chaining ground kombos with special moves that emphasize each kharacter’s power fantasy and add good variance to the fighting gameplay. MK1 doesn’t restrict players to ground kombat thanks to the return of aerial kombat (initially used in MK: Armageddon). Unlike its prior implementation, MK1’s aerial kombos still pull players down to earth while still training them to use every inch of the level to their advantage and figure out how to maintain momentum. Like MK11 (and MKX), the Fatal Blow system returns and gives low health players an opportunity to turn the tide of battle with a gruesome cinematic full of weapons piercing limbs and bones krunching into smithereens. The krushing blows that were introduced in MK11 are gone, thankfully, so kombat isn’t as rushed nor as fatal nor gated by secret requirements. Now, players are simply tasked with figuring out which kombos work best with other special moves. That’s it. Go play.

Kombat feels more cinematic and fluid and any other Mortal Kombat title I’ve played. I love it. Instead of rushing down enemies like I could in MK9, my attacks remain fluid but involve varied windups and animation cooldowns. Some attacks leave my opponent flat on the floor while others make my opponents slow down and collapse into the ground. Grabbing and throwing an enemy grants me a smidgen of reprieve through the use of a brief slow-down montage. It all feels good to experience, even when losing.

I struggle to put into words the best part of MK1’s kombat because, truly, it’s the best feeling MK title so far. When each round feels exhilarating and more like an action movie rather than a frustrating slaughter, that tells me that time has been spent on giving MK1 players a wealth of opportunity to experience the violence in all of its beauty. Mastering kombat, then, becomes even more rewarding because of the satisfaction of successfully combining multiple smaller-form kombos in to a longer chain of attacks.

Of kourse, no Mortal Kombat is komplete without its fair share of over-the-top fatalities. MK1 kontinues to blend silliness with gruesomeness by incorporating more vivid violence than ever before. In one, Liu Kang creates a black hole with a snap of his fingers, stripping the enemy of their flesh and blood while the gore gets sucked into the black hole like water down a drain. Li Mei lights the enemy’s entrails like a firework fuse, resulting in the enemy’s head exploding into a burst of purple fireworks. Who cares if it’s unrealistic? It’s entertaining! It’s ridiculous! It’s Mortal Kombat!

The longer a series exists, the more nostalgia becomes a want from the playerbase. Adding new kharacters each new game kontinuously threatens players’ expectations for their favorite “main” returning in each new version. It’s a constant struggle for developers who’re tasked with innovating their games while including as many Easter Eggs for longtime players to relive some of their first and/or earliest moments with the game that got them hooked on kombat.

Think about the older fighting series’ casts for a moment. Street Fighter has over 100 characters. BlazBlue has over 30. Guilty Gear has over 50. Tekken has nearly 100. Mortal Kombat? Over 75.  Netherrealm’s (then, Midway Games) first attempt at appeasing everyone by including everyone was in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon – a pre-Sakurai “everyone is here!” in the form of 63 playable kharacters, most of which lacked uniqueness. Armageddon was quite rough, especially for Nintendo Wii players, because it leaned too heavily on its Kreate-A system for players to experiment with making kharacters and fatalities. Bringing everyone to the table ended up not being worth it.

MK12 is NRS’ second stab at bringing as many kharacters back as possible through the use of its Kameo system. When selecting a kharacter, players are tasked with choosing a second Kameo fighter that can be used in-battle to supplement and augment their fighting kombos. You can’t play AS these Kameos, but they are included in the gruesome Fatal Blow sequences and also have their own fatalities/brutalities. This system is one of my favorite parts of MK1 because it includes so many additional fighters and gives them moments to shine — err, bloodily exist. It’s difficult to expect the “everyone is here” approach to work well and konsistently across multiple series and entries. The best konsolation is that which gives a large kast of kharacters a handful of moves that still kontribute to komplex gameplay and meaningful finishers. MK1 does it quite well – your Kameo partner can supplement your kombos, get you out of a sticky situation, or even boost your movement/mobility against more-agile foes. The amount of good variance that emerges from the Kameo system is worth making evergreen just so players looking to invest time in mastering kombat can be rewarded. I also hope for the Kameo system to return just so new players can experience the ridiculousness of the MK’s cast – it has so many good kharacters. I kan’t wait to see where things go from here.

The roster of MK1 spans multiple eras of the Mortal Kombat series – the ninjas from the original Trilogy, Ashrah, Li Mei, Nitara, and Havik from the 3D era, all the way to MK11’s Geras. If you were hoping for a new kharacter in MK1, you’ll be disappointed to learn that the kurrent base roster is all existing MK kharacters. I don’t see this as a bad thing, however. It’s been nearly twenty years (yes, two decades!) since Nitara has been included in a MK title. On the other hand, a handful of the MK staples like Jax and Sonya have been relegated to kameo status after being mainstays for so many years. Rain, Tanya, and Reiko are included in the game’s base roster instead of DLC. It’s awesome to see the roster leaning into refreshing and revitalizing existing MK kharacters for the benefit of as many players as possible.

On the topic of the base roster, though, I’d like to point out that just about everyone in MK1 is hot. Yes, including Havik, an Outworlder with a half-burned face who rips his own limbs off and uses them to klobber enemies into a bloody pulp. I’m unsurprised to see Mileena being appealing in the eyes of some folks, but Reptile? The Killer Kroc-lookalike who can shapeshift into a social media influencer? Reptile is wild. I know that Liu Kang recreated the kharacters in his own image, so this must mean that Liu Kang is just as superficial and aesthetically minded as us on Twitter. Jokes aside, I never thought that an entire roster MK kharacters would tread into the aesthetically pleasing territory, but hey – it’s pleasant on the eyes. No komplaints from me.

The entirety of MK1 has never looked better. Outside of the kharacters’ general designs, the game’s kutscenes, levels, and overall violence look flat out gorgeous – on the PS5 at least. I kannot get over how alive the levels feel as I uppercut and ice slide through enemies as Sub Zero. Johnny Cage’s Mansion spans a fireplace, swimming pool, and a lookalike Los Angeles-esque beachfront view with traffic moving in the background. The Hanging Gardens are littered with flower petals that burst into blooms when enemies slam the floor. I get it – the most kompetitive kombatants will ignore these details, but some of us enjoy feeling like the world we’re fighting in is taking a beating just like we are.

There’s only so many instances you can tell the same “story” of a big bad threatening existence with an diehard fanbase. MK1 is the second retcon, if you will, of the Mortal Kombat franchise. Existing kharacters have mostly shed their histories and have backstories retold under the guise of history being rewritten under Liu Kang’s rule as the Keeper of Time. Thanks to Liu Kang, Bi Han (MK11’s Noob Saibot) is Sub Zero. Kuai Liang (MK11’s Sub Zero) is Scorpion and Bi Han’s adopted brother. Mileena, originally a twisted klone made in Princess Kitana’s image, is now Princess Kitana’s older sister and suffering from an affliction that threatens her humanity. MK1 reintroduced me, a longtime player and MK superfan, to my favorite kharacters for the first time, some of whom haven’t been seen for over a decade. For newer players, it’s an opportunity to test their might with MK’s 3D-era of kharacters who’ve often been alluded to but rarely seen. The “retcon” was quite a lot to unpack but totally worth it. Oh yeah, and Motaro was finally brought back (as a Kameo, which is a-OK for me) in his original Centaurian form.

I mentioned earlier in this review of MK’s stories being one of the main draws of the franchise – MK1’s story does not disappoint. Like its predecessors of the modern era, MK1 tells a nearly four-hour story chock full of kombat, deception, deadly alliances, and armageddon sequences that will appeal to even the oldest of MK fans. Chapter 2 shines especially bright thanks to how well Netherrealm’s writers utilized Johnny Cage’s role as providing komic relief with a shred of humanity. His relationship with Kenshi evolves over the multiple chapters – what begins as a hostage shakedown ends up as a buddy film-esque reminiscent of older 90s road trip movies. I never thought that Kenshi and Cage would end up being “bros” in this timeline, but it works. It works really well.

The end result of MK1’s story is an interesting one, albeit one that I am unable to predict. I literally cannot predict where things go from here other than pure khaos. Unlike prior entries, MK1’s story lacks a meaningful kliffhanger that kreates a situation where the story feels incomplete or someone’s story is left unfinished. Finishing MK11’s “Aftermath” story DLC offered multiple endings that could have become kanon in the future. MK1’s story feels quite komplete. It isn’t a bad thing for things to feel komplete, mind you. I just don’t want NRS to rely on yet another retcon for the purpose of reinvigorating their kast just so things can be interesting. There needs to be some kontinuity that’s a bit more evident and linear, even if that kontinuity is khaotic.

MK1’s Invasions mode is its bonus replayable single player content outside of the game’s Story mode and the tried-and-true towers. At first glance, Invasions takes inspiration from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s Adventure Mode/World of Light. You control a kharacter who’s been placed on a board-game-esque map, each node tasks you with a single round of kombat, and occasionally there will be a boss battle, miniboss, or minigame. You can use any kharacter you like but you’re encouraged to switch things up based on your kharacter’s type. Scorpion (fire) is strong against Ice enemies but weak against others.  Kompleting challenges and realms grants you with kosmetic kontent and kurrency to unlock other seasonal kontent. At the time of writing, six mesas (boards) exist for the player to komplete, but there’s going to be more. The kurrent plan for Invasions is to shift to a new season every six weeks, giving players ample time to komplete as many boards as possible and unlocking as much seasonal kontent as they wish without a battle pass.

In some ways, I appreciate Invasions mode significantly more than MK11’s Towers of Time. First, there’s quite a lot of kontent to unlock in this current season – enough for each kharacter. Having six weeks to unlock the seasonal kosmetics I want makes the game less of a furious grind and more of something I can accomplish within reason. I remember being quite frustrated with MK11’s towers that lasted a few hours and then wouldn’t return for weeks; it felt like I was frequently missing out the “good stuff” when I happened to be asleep or even out for the day. There’s no FOMO nonsense in MK1 – if there’s a seasonal kosmetic I want, it’s time gated to a more forgiving degree and I have quite some time to unlock it.

On the other hand, the Invasions mode is a missed opportunity for NRS to teach players the nuances of their favorite kharacters. Nearly every single kombat encounter gives the enemy additional armor, meaning that they are unable to be interrupted or knocked back unless you time a combination perfectly. Years of playing Mortal Kombat has taught me to expect bosses to have armor, not regular opponents. Because of Invasions relying on the armor modifier, kombos are unable to be practiced in a regular environment because of how armor interrupts gameplay.

To NRS’ credit, there are ways for the player to circumvent the armored opponents just by selecting a kharacter of an opposing type. Enemies take double damage if their weakness is exposed, meaning that a single uppercut can chunk a good 30% of health. “Cheesing” encounters by exploiting weaknesses and spamming uppercut in between armor-frames doesn’t make the mode fun, though, especially if there are quite a few encounters per season.

There is no doubt that NRS can make Invasions less of a chore by changing up its existing battle modifiers and adding variance. Some of the modifiers from MKX and MK11 could very well be implemented here.  Blocking Disabled, Brutality Kombat, Electric Fists, Falling Heads, High Ground, and Juggle Kombat all make kombat more khaotic without making the game annoying. Heck, even requiring a player to end an encounter with a brutality or a set number of special moves can teach them the nuances of their chosen kharacter. Even more: Secret encounters can (and should) be made more meaningful; their current implementation feels more like a chore and less like a secret miniboss like we got in the earlier MK games.

Look, I know I’ve spent quite a bit of time komplaining about Invasions. I spent several hours playing Invasions – actually playing it! Grinding away! Completing its six mesas (maps)! Unlocking kontent in the mode felt awesome, especially from bosses who had phases of combat mixed in with bullet hell influences, but…it was a grind rather than achieving the good variance it seeks to achieve. To its kredit, I didn’t rely on an AI-kontrolled kharacter of my own design defeating enemies for me like I did in MK11. But man, Invasions Mode needs some…khaos. Good ol’ fashioned khaos. If single-player folks are to be expected to return to Invasions for seasons to kome, things need to be seriously shaken up to make those kosmetics worth it.

In case you missed the typical timed-tower experience from MK11, there’s a realm in the Invasions Mode with a handful of rotating towers, too. Once you get stronger in Invasions mode, these towers present a meaningful challenge. Honestly, the only tower mode I wanted to komplete was the regular tower so I could watch a kharacter’s ending.

Speaking of which – I’ve become accustomed with seeing kharacter intros and banter at the start of tower matches. In MK1, it seems to have been removed and now only exists in…kasual PvP matches. Much of the MK series’ kharacters’ charm comes from their interactions with each other. Sometimes, they say reference the plot. Othertimes, they reference something else in a punny fashion. They need to be added back into the Tower single player mode, at the bare minimum. I want to see my kharacters say all the things! Please, NRS, bring that back!

MK1 is an incredibly easy recommendation for those wanting to try their hand at a fighting game or kasual fighting game players wanting to play something that lacks a massive investment for surface-level understanding. If any Mortal Kombat regulars are on the fence about this specific entry, the story alone will tide you over while you wait for Invasions to get some additional love. If you’re into the PvP of Kombat League, then you’ll have that to look forward to, as well.

Let’s be honest, though: You won’t want to miss the story. You just don’t. On that note, let’s wrap things up…

Violence has never looked as vivid, gorgeous, and wild as it is in Mortal Kombat 1. Its fighting mechanics remain just as approachable and appealing as prior entries, with one key difference: It’s the best-feeling Mortal Kombat I’ve played thus far. There’re some minor quirks that are still being ironed out at the time of writing, but I’m excited, legitimately excited, to see what Netherrealm chooses to add to this game.

A review copy of Mortal Kombat 1 was provided by the publisher for the sole purpose of this DigitalChumps review.