SVG REVIEW Mortal Kombat 1 - Gamecritics.com

This is a transcript excerpt covering the score awarded to Mortal Kombat 1 on the So Videogames podcast, episode 375: Chicken Wang FTW

BRAD: The last thing before we get out of housekeeping is I want to circle back to Mortal Kombat one. We talked about it a while ago, uh, last year. I feel like it was like [00:20:00] October or something like that, and I started it. I got a pretty good chunk into the story mode, and then I got distracted. You know, Q4 happened, it was like a million games a minute. We had lots of stuff prepping for game of the year and everything and everything, and it fell through the cracks. And I first, I want to apologize to everybody at the Mortal Kombat team and to Mortal Kombat PR. I meant to cover it in full a while ago, and I just I just lost it, man. I just, I, you know, I just lost track of it and I, I realized a couple days ago and I felt super bad about that. So I do want to apologize to everybody first.

So, let me just now circle back to Mortal Kombat with our official So video Games review. So I talked about it before, I, I like the Mortal Kombat series a lot. I think that ever since Mortal Kombat nine, um, they have just been better and better and better and better. The graphics keep getting better, the controls keep getting better. And the story, the story itself is amazing. Um, you know what the Mortal Kombat Story team did with nine, like, really basically revolutionized what we expect from fighting games they crafted. Like, I think one of the best story campaigns that’s ever been in a fighting game, and they just keep iterating on it time after time in Mortal Kombat one, just for people who don’t remember, uh, this is one where they kind of like reboot the whole thing. Um, in the last Mortal Kombat, they kind of brought everything to a head. It was like this continuing storyline over a couple games. They had, like this cosmic battle with somebody who controlled time and space, and it was just like this giant apocalyptic fight. And I was thinking to my head, where are you going to go from this? Because it’s already you’re like on a universe scale, like there’s nothing left to do, you know? But they pulled it off again. They kind of did like a a timeline, multiverse revamp. Uh, I guess multiverses are very popular in media right now. And so they kind of, uh, did this multiverse thing where they opened it up to different dimensions and there’s like lots of possibilities.

I don’t want to spoil any of the funny moments, but there are lots of crossovers and lots of mash ups with characters where you see like an alternate timeline Liu Kang, or like an alternate timeline Molina and you’re like, oh my God, what’s going on with that person? Um, and it’s just it’s just really funny and interesting. I think that was great. In terms of the combat, I think it’s super tight. I think it feels good to play. I think the moves have been revamped in a great way. There’s also a new system called the Cameo System, where these characters are not in the game officially, but you can still see them. They’ll show up as like a helper character. So like in the middle of a battle, you hit a button and like somebody who you cannot choose to use as a fighter but will show up in like, you know, like Kano will show up and like, shoot somebody’s laser eye or, or Sonya will show up and kick somebody. So you’ll still see her in the game and she’ll still be around. But I mean, the roster is already pretty big. They can’t carry forward like 150 characters every single game, right? There’s no way to do that. So I think that’s totally a fun system and I enjoyed that. After you beat the campaign, there’s also a new system called the Invasion System, where they’re rolling out these chunks of story on a seasonal basis.

The first one is like your inside Johnny Cage’s mansion. You kind of go through the rooms and each room is a different challenge. Now I’m in the second chunk where I’m in like Barakas area. It’s like a desert area, so you get more challenges, unlock some stuff. I think that’s a really interesting mode. I think that’s fun. Looking forward to that. And I think it’s fine that they got rid of some of the other stuff like the, the towers and some of the older the crypt and everything. I was like, okay, that was they’ve done that all like multiple times. And I think it’s fine to like let go of that and just try something new. So that’s all good. I think overall it’s great. I do also want to call out the character design. Um, they did something kind of different here where it’s like more realistic. It’s like a good blend between a realistic looking character model and slightly fantastical for video gaming. But they haven’t leaned into the fantastic very much. And I know some people are mad about that because honestly, uh, the boobs and the butts are not as big as they used to be. They’re not, as you know, they’re not as revealing as they used to be. And I think that’s fine. Like, I mean, you’ve got a whole internet full of porn if you need to get that stuff, that’s cool. This game doesn’t need to be all about just like a meat market, you know, Teddy show.

So I think it’s fine that they’ve scaled things back. Um, I do like the character design overall, and I think they’ve got some neat characters there that are that are fun to use. So enjoying that. Uh, it’s all it’s all good. What is the downside of this game? I think the downside is, number one, I don’t like the online store. Um, I feel like there’s like stuff to get to customize your character, a lot of cosmetic stuff, but I feel like it’s all kind of like wrapped up in the store and it’s not apparent, like what’s in there. It seems to rotate on a basis and like, I don’t really have anything to look forward to unlocking. I kind of just like check in in the store and see what they’ve got and kind of bounce when there’s nothing good. And I, I would much rather have something to work towards, or maybe the ability to choose what reward I want, or something that would give me something to keep playing the game after I finished the story mode. And if I don’t want to play online or something like that. Um, so I don’t like the online aspect of it. I don’t like the the lack of rewards that are obvious. I’m not a fan of that. Also, when you’re in the invasions mode, they kind of. I overcomplicated a bit. Like you can take your character through this and they’ve got like elemental affinities.

Like I was playing with reptile this morning who was a really cool, um, you know, human ninja, but he turns into a giant lizard and like, he’s like an ice character. And I’m like, why is he ice like he does? That doesn’t make sense. It seems like they randomly assigned affinities, [00:25:00] like someone’s fire and someone’s, you know, acid and someone’s steel or whatever. I don’t want to mess with that. I don’t I don’t want to worry about who’s strong. You know, fire beats wood, wood beats water. Water beats fire. Yeah. Like I don’t want to worry about that stuff. And there’s also like, medallions where you, like, have extra powers. You can, like, upgrade them. And I’m like, this all feels like just nonsense then. And trifle that I don’t want to mess with. So I don’t, don’t care for that too much. Um, but overall, I mean, it’s hard to fault Mortal Kombat because they’ve raised the bar, they have raised the bar, they continue to raise the bar, and even even an okay, Mortal Kombat game in modern times is way better than most other, uh, fighting games. And this one is pretty good. I had a great time with the story mode, had a great time, um, just playing, uh, in the practice mode and the versus mode and stuff. So I think it’s a really, really solid game. I really enjoy it a lot. And I’m going to give it an official SVG score of a solid eight out of ten.

CARLOS: There you go.

BRAD: You cannot go wrong with Mortal Kombat.

CARLOS: Pretty solid score.

BRAD: Yeah, it definitely is. So good times. And again, for me the high point is the story mode. Lots of laughs, lots of funny moments, lots of cool fights. I just I love their story modes. I live for the Mortal Kombat story mode, so good stuff. Congratulations, Mortal Kombat eight out of ten and once again, please accept my apologies for not getting to it sooner. I am sorry about that.

CARLOS: Check it out.

Score: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by WB Interactive. It is currently available on PC, PS5, XBX/S and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. 1 hour of play was spent in multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language. The official descriptions states: This is a fighting game in which players engage in one-on-one battles against characters from the Mortal Kombat universe. Players punch, kick, throw, and use special attacks (e.g., guns; blasts of fire, ice, or lightning; bladed weapons) to drain opponents’ life meters. Battles are highlighted by screams of pain, realistic gunfire, and exaggerated impact sounds; large blood-splatter effects occur frequently. Some attacks are depicted with slow-motion x-ray views of characters’ bones shattering. Each character can perform various finishing moves (Fatalities, Brutalities) after an opponent is defeated; these over-the-top moves can result in characters being dismembered and graphically mutilated. Some of these moves expose organs (e.g., a character cut in half with visible entrails, a character’s chest torn open with heart visible). The words “f**k,” “sh*t,” and “a*shole” appear in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Subtitles are available for all spoken lines, but the text is not able to be resized or altered. There are several settings relating to the audio including options to make the game accessible to visually impaired players. Overall, I found that the game was quite playable without audio cues, as every special move is accompanied by a visual cue. In my view, this game is fully accessible.