In 1993, Mortal Kombat first came into our homes.  With its slightly mystical presence and the feeling that there was some great back-story to the game, it enthralled players with its tomato ketchup blood splats and gruesomely comic fatality moves.  Nearly twenty years on from its original arcade release, Mortal Kombat is back with a game that realigns a wayward franchise to its roots and creams the best from its other incarnations.  But does Mortal Kombat (2011) have what it takes to impress this long-standing fan?

Hit the jump to find out.


I played the original game a great deal back in the day.  As a hormone-fuelled teenager, I have to admit to being drawn to the shirtless characters Johnny Cage and Liu Kang, as I've expressed here.  But still, that aside, I was pretty addicted.  In the time before age ratings on video games, nobody really thought anything of uppercutting someone's head off or pulling their heart out so graphically on the small screen, much less letting under-18s do the same.  We all grew up well-adjusted, didn't we?  That said there is always evidence to suggest that age ratings on games might be worthwhile. 

Over the years, more and more characters were added to the MK arsenal, some came, some went, some were cherished favourites, some were frankly dull.  Those wondering if Rain and Frost will be back might be pleased to find them nowhere on the player select screen, however I, myself, was slightly disappointed that Stryker and Jade made the cut, given that their roles are largely covered by other characters (Jax and Kitana/Mileena).  The characters that are available to play are largely a diverse selection, focussing on the old faithful favourites, with a few of the quirkier later additions thrown in.  Kabal, Sindel and Sheeva are perhaps the characters that are most overlooked by hardcore fans of the series, despite the fun that can be had with them.

Where Mortal Kombat (2011) goes right is with its attitude of returning to its roots, while still delivering an up-to-date instant classic.  Gone are the awkward switches between fighting styles and fruitless attempts to incorporate a 3D space into the fighting system, we're back on a 2D plane, albeit with fully-rendered 3D characters.  But that's not all, the seeming disregard for the franchise's younger fans comes in with just how gruesome the game is.  The blood is more realistic, the fighters (almost) anatomically correct and there is no shortage of severed limbs and heads scattered about the bottom of the pit.  Mortal Kombat (2011) takes the blood thirst of the original and turns it up to eleven, more than satisfying the thirst of today's avid media consumers, who watched the Saw and Hostel films with perverse glee.

Each character comes with two fatalities, a stage fatality and a babality, which charmingly turns your opponent into an infant, usually in a short cutscene that ends up with the child crying.  The fatalities are all unique to the characters performing them, using their special talents and attributes to fuck up the losing contender in a gruesome and amusing fashion.  There is no shortage of blood, musculoskeletal remains and other bodily bits and pieces that litter the playing area after a fatality, some of which include hangings, burnings, acid being pumped into the body, punches through the heart, shattering of frozen people and much else besides.  Truly gruesome, truly fun and truly adult.

Graphically, at 1080p, it's a sumptuous game to behold, only a few poorly-mapped blood textures and slightly awkward animations of background layers mar the pristine looks of the game.  It's very now and these graphics are at their best during the story mode cutscenes, which tell of Raiden's gathering of fighters against Shao Khan's attempted conquest of Earthrealm from Outworld.  Or the Nether-realm, I've never quite figured that out.  The story's 16 chapters allow you to experience each of the character's part in that story and help familiarise you with their moves, with Goro, Kintaro and Shang Tsung acting as bosses in the mean time.  Tag-team fighting is also a fairly new addition to the game, allowing you - or your opponent - to switch between to predetermined characters.  If it's two-on-one, then the one must defeat the two with only one health bar, which is a challenge during the story mode, imbuing the player with that spark of tenacity that a lot of games lack these days (yes, I'm old) and will encourage you to finish the story.

New to Mortal Kombat (2011) is the challenge tower, which sees you ascending from challenge to challenge that use the game's format in rather innovative ways.  You might be Johnny Cage and Stryker, stationary, having to use your ranged attacks to kill oncoming zombies before they reach you, you might be attacking Sheeva, whom you must defeat, despite the fact her attacks grow stronger every fifteen seconds; you can earn koins to spend in the krypt on unlockable fatalities, costumes, concept art and music, by beating up 'the director' who excretes money every time you hit him.  Perhaps you'll be fighting without arms.  Or a head.  It's all very interesting and all very cleverly done, using the conventions of the game to make fun mini-games.  The tower goes through all the characters and will keep you coming back.

Longevity is also ensured by way of its multiplayer aspects, both online and local.  Fighting games are very much built on the assumption that you'll be playing with your friends and I've had a great deal of fun playing with UFO Gamers' own Xander, though, to be honest, he spams Sheeva's teleport crush move as though it's going out of fashion.  Bastard.

With its easy-to-learn moves (they're all fairly simple variations on a theme) and big payoffs for continued play, there really is only one thing I can fault the game on.  And that's my left thumb.  Yes, my left thumb.  I use it to control the D-pad on the PS3 controller and with a few hours' playing, my thumb becomes sore and when I first got the game, I developed a blister.  On my thumb.  Because of Mortal Kombat (2011).  Those down-back X, down-forward O moves really get to my delicate skin and indeed I had to stop playing for a couple of days while my wee digit recuperated from the punishment dealt by playing.

So, Mortal Kombat (2011) wins.

Thumbality.