Mortal Kombat X

The first video game I ever played was Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis. That game released in 1992…I was born in 1990.

Sure I may have been a wee bit young for a game of that nature, but just look at me now. I’m 25, struggle to maintain a healthy balance between work, drinking, gaming, and boyfriending, but God dammit I’m good at Mortal Kombat.

Or so I thought.

Mortal Kombat, and most fighting games for that matter, are sort of like Ping Pong. You think you’re good because you tool on your friends when you’re throwing back drinks on a Saturday night. After a few friendly tournament wins amongst your best buds, you muster up the confidence to take your stuff to the Ranked Matches online only to find yourself crying yourself to sleep after suffering 18 flawless victory defeats in a row.

But often times I found I was crying myself to sleep not because I lost to someone better than me, but because I lost to someone who somehow managed a better connection than me.

It’s frustrations like these that make me teeter back and forth between loving and hating the latest entry into the Mortal Kombat series. Even when I’m fighting someone at my level of experience, the latency between your actions and the character’s movement on screen are brutal. Hopefully NetherRealm can address these faults quickly because these hiccups are what truly make or break the longevity of a fighting game in the online/tournament crowd.

Beyond this, the games online systems are a cluttered mess. They incorporate a meta-online community game called Factions whereby all your actions contribute to your clan’s position in the ongoing struggle with other factions. Unfortunately the idea is no more than just that – a convoluted idea that’s not really executed well at all. After 20 hours of play both online and offline, I’m still scratching my head wondering the point of it. Sure every hour or so I get a message saying I can help take down some super foe that others in my faction are also fighting, but for what? All these events contribute towards a faction war that never makes you feel engaged. I couldn’t give two shits whether the Lin Kuei or White Lotus faction ends up winning, partly because you can change factions with a simple click of a button, but also because I had no idea what was going on in the first place. A win just falls flat when there’s no climax up to the triump.

But I’m sure many of you aren’t here to take on the Justin Wong’s of the world, so let’s get into the Mortal Kombat X’s single player modes. Unfortunately the frustrations I have with Mortal Kombat X aren’t isolated to the online play, however that's not to say it's a bad game. It's just a giant heap of potential filled with nothing but let downs. Like the all-star football player from middle school that found pot and suddenly became useless, deep down you know there's a rich athlete that could and should compete at the highest level...yet that athlete's shrouded in a cloud of disappointments.

So let me get this out of the way first - the games mechanics and core are top-freaking-notch. The combos are fluid and intuitibes yet every character has their own feel and style. Beyond this, the story mode is entertaining as well. If you enjoyed the first Mortal Kombat reboot by NetherRealm than odds are you’re going to like this. The cheeky Johnny Cage humor, and overly bad ass Sub Zero lines fit right in place in MK X as well. NetherRealm’s done a good job incorporating some new characters that I’m very fond of – particularly those that aren’t aligned with the Earth Realm. D’Vorah for instance sports some of the best character design I’ve ever seen in a fighting game. Her half-human/half-insect style leads to creative fatalities, a phenomenally well done voice over, and an interesting role in the story. Beyond this, the list of announced characters for their upcoming season pass are very intriguing. I must admit, I didn’t plan on even buying this game until I heard that the Predator was a playable character. Upon hearing that announcement I decided this was going to be a rare day one buy for me with the season pass included. When I arrived at the store, my jaw dropped when I saw the register show the numbers $93 and some odd change.

I know, I know – I should let things like this influence my review score, but you know what? I’ve had enough. $93 for 4 characters and a few skins is ridiculous. Furthermore the only special character available day one is the pre-order bonus of Goro, yet NetherRealm has the nerve to have him take up real estate on your character selection screen with the price tag of $4.99. I just spent $30 on your Kombat Pack, and you’re not even going to include Goro? Fuck that. Their greedy business practices extent beyond that as well. Locked within an on-rails maze referred to as ‘The Krypt’ are many of the games costumes, fatalities, brutalities, and more. Sure you can grind hours and hours to get enough koins to make it through that snooze fest, or you can unlock everything for the fair price of just $19.99! Wow! Yes, for those that may have just had a heart attack, you do start the game with at least one fatality and brutality for each character, however everything else must be either grinded or purchased.

Any who, excuse the French and all, but it’s something I had to get off my chest. For a game with such rich game play elements, creative character designs, and gorgeous graphics, it’s plagued by DLC woes, a shoddy netcode, a failed PC launch, and useless online modes that feel like a waste of time.

Hopefully NetherRealm will learn from their mistakes if and when they release the inevitable follow up to Mortal Kombat X, because it's a strong fighting game at its core. Sadly, the surrounding shell is a crumbling mess that needs to be addressed if they want Mortal Kombat to have longevity like its classic predecessors.