Mortal Kombat is a long-standing series known for its notorious amounts of blood, gore, and violence; more specifically, its unique Fatalities other end-match sequences that revolutionized the fighter genre. From the first installment, released in 1992, until now, the franchise has had its ups and downs in terms of releases. Ushering the series into a new generation of gaming is Mortal Kombat X, which launched in April of 2015 and upgraded to Mortal Kombat XL for PC on October 4, 2016 (March 1st, 2016 for consoles).
The Past: To put it lightly, MKX had a horrible launch for PC. The initial download only included the title screen of the game, leaving thousands of players locked out of the juicy content that laid within. Once that was fixed, a bombardment of poor patches kept breaking the game even further; one map had such poor optimization that it saw 15-20 FPS, another map was completely pixelated, it was almost impossible to finish an online match due to disconnections, the Living Towers wouldn't load, MKX Mobile rewards wouldn't unlock... the list went on and on. Finally, Warner Bros abandoned the PC port, leaving thousands of fans not only disappointed, but furious.
The Present: Warner Bros picked MKX back up during the middle of 2016, starting out with beta testing to ensure that all issues were being dealt with properly. With the release of MKXL, character balance, netcode, and optimization issues are supposedly fixed. After giving the game another try since the update, I am happy to report that the game runs great. Quitalities work now, the game runs at a flawless 60 FPS on all maps without any pixelation, and connection to not only opponents but the WBPlay network is strong. You now are obligated to run a benchmark prior to playing online, and when connecting with other players you can see both their PING and FPS rating.
Mortal Kombat X is the first game in the series to feature three different fighting styles per character. Whatever your play style may be, most characters have one to accommodate you; whether you are offensive, defensive, or a mix of both. Each fighting style comes with its own set of moves, and most of them incorporate both old and new moves for each specific person. This installment has also seen the return of X-Ray moves, first seen in Mortal Kombat (2011), which are powerful meter based specials that unleash a deadly, bone-breaking assault on your foe. Each character has 2-3 Fatalities, 5-6 Brutalities, the ability to perform Stage Brutalities and Fatalities, as well as Faction Kills, and if an opponent quits on you online then you get to see a Quitality. The new XL pack has also introduced new Klassic Fatalities.
Another newly introduced feature are Faction Wars; a continuous, affiliation-based Multiplayer mode. At the start of each week, you can choose to either ally yourself with the White Lotus, Special Forces, Black Dragon, Lin Kuei, or Brotherhood of Shadows. You can complete three challenges each day to earn points for your Faction, as well as simply play the game to level up within it, and at the end of the week the Faction with the most points is declared the winner and awards are given based upon your contribution during the week. As well, you can level up your tag and complete tons of prerequisites to unlock new borders, icons, and backgrounds for your multiplayer tag; similar to the Injustice: Gods Among Us tag system.
With 13 arenas, most of them having two versions, there is no shortage of visuals to take in as you're massacring your foes. The game looks absolutely stunning, with plenty of foreground and background material to take in; a lush jungle, a snow covered landscape, a shipping dock. All of the characters are even more impressive looking, never have you seen the cast of Mortal Kombat in such vivid detail. But really, who am I kidding? It's the blood, guts, and gore that's the greatest part of MKX. Every fatality is just as brutal, if not moreso, than the last, coming with tons of shock value at just how unique, disgusting, and realistic-looking they are. Take it from someone who has been playing this series for two decades and has seen every single Fatality, the ones that NetherRealm thought up for this game are the most sinister to date. Prepare to feast your eyes on tons of entrails, organs, blood, and bones; this is one game that will satiate your lust for carnage.
There's no shortage of modes to play, either. Rather than focusing on just one ladder to climb within the single-player arcade, there are a variety of towers to tackle. Traditional Towers include Klassic, Test Your Might, Test Your Luck, Endless, and Survivor. Living Towers have ladders that change weekly (Premier), daily, and even hourly; each one of these comes with its own special challenges and modifiers to create diverse experiences, no two towers are ever exactly the same. Lastly, Challenge Towers are randomly generated ladders of five opponents with random modifiers thrown in the mix; once you beat one, you can send the challenge to your friends, and vica versa. If you're in the mood for online play, take your pick between King of the Hill, Team Battle, Tower Battles, 1v1 Versus, and 1v1 Ranked.
Taking place two years after the events of MK2011, the story mode is a fantastic continuation of the current alternate timeline of the MK universe. I won't say much of it here as I don't have the room and I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but if you're in to MK lore then you will definitely want to play this mode before anything else. The Krypt is also back and bigger than ever, taking on a first-person, grid-based movement style. There are hundreds of unlockables, from concept art to new Fatalities, Brutalities, costumes, music, icons, and more. It also has a small story to it, and you must find certain character's items in order to progress further through the different levels of the Krypt; it is time consuming, and it takes hundreds of thousands of Koins to purchase everything.
All in all, Mortal Kombat X is one of the best and bloodiest entries into the series. Let's put past mistakes and grievances behind us, as Warner Bros have made amends and righted the wrongs that were previously plaguing this title; although it would've been nice if they gave the XL content to us for free, but we all know they need the money. In terms of mechanics and balances, it's a solid fighting game. Players still find exploits, such as infinite wall combos and Leatherface's horrible chainsaw, but that's a given in virtually every fighting game. The fighting is fast, fluid, and frenzied, and there are multipliers that can make it even quicker and crazier. In terms of sheer brutality and bloodlust, Mortal Kombat X will give you all of the blood, guts, and gore that your demented little heart craves.
Rating: 5.0/5.0 - An astonishing achievement, this game must be played.The Horror Network
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