Mortal Kombat X is the tenth major installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise. Being around since 1992, Mortal Kombat has obviously had its ups and downs over the past years, however after 2011’s Mortal Kombat (also referred to as MK9), the series seemed to gain momentum, as Mortal Kombat was widely regarded as not only well regarded as the best fighting game of that year, but one of the best, if not the best, game in the series to date. So a lot of people were left wondering what was next in the Mortal Kombat franchise, would MKX improve upon MK9’s success, or would it fall flat? That’s the question that we’re about to answer.
The gameplay in MKX was vastly improved from MK9. Matches are fast paced, fluid, and overall very enjoyable. All of the fighters are evenly balanced, so you don’t have to worry about someone picking an overpowered character if you are fighting in a tournament. MKX also features the return of some newer additions from past NetherRealm games, such as the X-Ray attack from MK9 (Which are still as gruesome and ridiculous as they were before) and the interactive objects in stages that were introduced in Injustice: Gods Among Us. The only real problem that MKX has when it comes to gameplay is the net code, which is pretty unstable to say the least. Sometimes whenever you’re playing an online match, you’ll encounter no problems at all, running at a smooth 60 FPS, whereas other times you’ll maybe get anywhere from 10-15 frames, which makes the gameplay look like one of those slow motion fights from the Mortal Kombat movies, and no, that isn’t a good thing. Another problem with Mortal Kombat X is the way it handles Downloadable Content. In order to receive Goro, who is arguably one of the most popular fighters in the franchise, you had to pre-order the game, or be forced to pay $5 for him after release. Even worse to receive 4 extra characters, you have to pay $30 for a Kombat Pack, which is pretty much just a season pass titles under a different name, and while you’ll get some great returning characters like Tanya and Tremor, you’ll also be burdened with Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, and Predator, who have no business being in a Mortal Kombat game. Mortal Kombat X also features several alternate costumes for you to unlock (or buy, if you’re into DLC), most of which can be unlocked via the Krypt, which is probably the best jump scare horror game on the market right now. The only problem with the Krypt, again, comes with the way that the DLC is handled. If you’re willing to pay $20, then all items in the Krypt will be unlocked for you, which pretty much removes its purpose for being in the game.
Now onto the story. The Mortal Kombat has never been known for being particularly well when it comes to storytelling; however the story in Mortal Kombat X is just mediocre. One of the biggest differences you’ll notice is that there are only 12 chapters in Mortal Kombat X’s story, as opposed to the 16 that were in MK9. The story starts off pretty good, you have a civil war going between Kotal Kahn and Mileena, Rain and Tanya secretly plotting against Mileena, Quan Chi still holding several of the main characters under his control, etc., however most of these plotlines are either rushed, or just left incomplete and completely forgotten. The biggest problem with Mortal Kombat X’s story is that it’s never really clear what the purpose of the story is, until maybe about half-way through, but by then it’s too late as you spend most of the story mode jumping from one plotline to another, each of which is usually left unresolved. Another problem with the story is that it only focuses on a small set of characters (Scorpion, Sub-Zero, The Cage Family, Quan-Chi, The Briggs Family, Kenshi’s Family, Kotal Kahn, D’Vorah, and Shinnok) whereas all the other characters were pushed to the side, which is a shame because a lot of them seemed really interesting.
However, despite the lackluster story, the gameplay in Mortal Kombat X is probably the best in the series, and is definitely worth checking out whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer.
