RATINGS
fighting
Mortal Kombat
Price Rs 2,499
Publisher Warner Bros.
Developer NetherRealm Studios
Distributor E-Xpress Interactive
Phone 022 29661017
E-Mail info@expressgames.in
Platform PS3, Xbox 360
It’s impossible to have grown up in the nineties not having heard of Mortal Kombat (MK). But as we entered the 21st century, Ed Boon and this team decided to break away from the game’s violent roots. Thankfully, newly founded NetherRealm has taken MK back to its hyper violent and totally over-the-top roots. This is the Mortal Kombat you’ve been waiting for, and it’s worth the wait.MK is essentially a fighting game, where your goal is to kick the living crap out of your enemy and then humiliate him/her using insanely violent finishers called Fatalities. Older versions made players memorize tons of complicated moves, but this time, controls have been streamlined, making it accessible to newcomers.
The tutorial will teach you how to pull off basic moves as well as combos. There’s even a practice mode for Fatalities, where you can master every character’s Fatality before jumping straight into the deep end. Mortal Kombat made a name for itself thanks to its ludicrous Fatalities that have you ripping, tearing, cutting, maiming, and stabbing all sorts of body parts. You can now do all that in glorious HD. This game introduces X-Ray moves that allow players to inflict heavy damage in X-Ray vision. Unlike fatalities, these can be pulled off during a fight itself by building up your energy meter. Inflicting or receiving damage will build up this meter, which when full, can be used to unleash these devastating moves. They don’t kill your opponent (unless their health is real low) but will eat into a significant chunk of their health bar. But be warned, these moves can be blocked.
After training, you can head into the game’s robust career mode. This allows you to experiment with every fighter, and by the end of the story, you’ll have chosen your favorite for the long haul. I’m not too well versed with MK lore, but I’ve spoken to a few vets and they were very happy with what the game brought to the table. The only issue I had with the campaign was the erratic difficulty that randomly kicked in from time to time.
Due to the PSN outage, I couldn’t take this game online, but thankfully, the game ships with a ton of content that’ll keep you busy for days. First up is your standard Ladder mode, where players progress through a bunch of fighters, eventually facing off against Shao Khan. After that, you have the Challenge Tower, where you’ll undergo 300 diverse challenges. While some of them may be the standard ‘kick his ass before the time runs out’, some are crazy innovative and hilarious like armless Kombat or topsy turvy Kombat (not their real names) that literally turn the game on its head.
Credits earned through every mode in the game can be used in the Krypt to purchase alternate costumes, concept art, new fatalities, levels, etc. Progressing through the Challenge Tower will also allow players to unlock fan favorite mini-games like Test Your Might, Test Your Sight, etc. Visually, MK is one of the most gorgeous fighters on the block. Thanks to the Unreal 3 engine, the detailing on each fighter is impressive. Fatalities and bone-crunching X-Ray moves look absolutely horrific (in a nice way, of course). During combat, every fighter bears testament to sustained damage via cuts, bruises, and tons of the red stuff. Levels also pack in a ton of detail and there’s always something going on in the background. The only aspect of the game I missed from older outings was environmental destruction, where you could send enemies through roofs or walls to unlock new areas.
To sum it all up, Mortal Kombat is a game that can be enjoyed by all (except the squeamish kind). It’s ridiculously violent, gorgeous, packs in an insane amount of content and will provide players with hours of entertainment both online and offline. It is accessible to newcomers, but at the same time capable of providing vets with a solid challenge.
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