As Mortal Kombat celebrates its 30th anniversary, you’d be forgiven for thinking the series might potentially start coasting along as a legacy title. Not many game series make it past 15 years, let alone 30 of them. Fortunately, this was never on NetherRealm Studios’ agenda, as the developer returns with the 12th mainline game in the franchise, Mortal Kombat 1, which includes a host of new systems and features that suggest the best is yet to come for the Mortal Kombat franchise. This isn’t a fighter past its prime; it’s a fighter in its prime.
As the title suggests, Mortal Kombat 1 represents a fresh start in many ways for the series. However, it never strays too far from the series’ roots in terms of continuity and core features. It’s a delicate balance between the fresh and the familiar, which Netherrealm has handled masterfully. The game serves as an excellent entry point for newcomers, featuring a robust practice mode complete with tutorials and kombo challenges, as well as a story mode that allows players to get a feel for many of the different characters on the main roster.
For seasoned players, Mortal Kombat 1 improves upon the gameplay of its predecessor, MK11, in several significant ways. The game’s pace is faster (addressing one of the biggest complaints players had with MK11), and the more traditional 3-bar Super Meter makes a return. The ability to perform air kombos and juggles has also seen substantial improvement. Controversial krushing blows have been entirely removed, and fatal blows are a bit riskier to pull off. As expected, the fatalities are brutal, with all sorts of creative ways to finish off your opponent. The launch roster of fighters offers an excellent selection of characters, both in terms of gameplay and visual style, including some fan favourites from the long-forgotten 3D era returning. Characters like Mileena and Kenshi are the best they’ve ever looked.
The most significant overhaul in terms of gameplay is the Kameo system. Players choose from a secondary roster of characters to support their main fighter. These Kameos have a smaller pool of moves compared to the main roster fighters but still impact gameplay in unique ways. Experimenting with different fighter and Kameo combinations is an extremely rewarding experience, and one that will continue as both the main and Kameo rosters expand throughout the game’s lifecycle. Kameos can be used in various ways, including extending kombos and interrupting opponents’ kombos. Timing the entry of your assist character correctly can turn the tide and help you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Kameos can also perform fatalities and brutalities which is a nice touch. Cyrax’s fatality will be very familiar to long term fans of the series. One minor disappointment is that some Kameos based on main roster fighters are tied exclusively to the story mode. If we’re lucky, Netherrealm may make these characters available in other modes in future updates.
The Kameo system also ensures that fan-favourite characters, who aren’t likely to make it to the main roster, still have a place in the game. While everyone hopes to see their favourite character fully playable, it isn’t feasible given Mortal Kombat’s extensive 30-year history with an abundance of characters. Including a character as a Kameo is a compromise that will please most players. Some of the more unconventional choices, such as Shujinko and Darrius, are great, and hopefully, future Kameos will feature more of these eccentric characters alongside the more beloved ones.
Mortal Kombat 2011’s story mode was groundbreaking, setting the standard for single-player campaigns in fighting games (despite the first appearance of the mode being in Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe in 2008). Mortal Kombat 1 reinforces why NetherRealm is the best in class for this type of single-player experience. Liu Kang’s new timeline follows the kontinuity of previous Mortal Kombat games, providing an engaging narrative for players both new and old. Some characters remain similar to their previous incarnations, with slight tweaks, while others have undergone significant changes. One of the highlights is Johnny Cage, who returns to his movie star origins instead of the military family guy seen in more recent games. Former ‘jobber’ Baraka also gets significant development and feels like a fleshed-out character rather than just ‘the guy with the teeth.’ The new interpretation of scheming Shang Tsung stands out as a strong villain against Earthrealm’s protectors.
Without giving too much away, the final act of the story is likely to be divisive. The promise of a smaller-scale threat to launch Liu Kang’s new era of Mortal Kombat isn’t fully realised. However, given the incredible spectacle of the finale, it’s hard to be too disappointed about it. An end-credit scene teases the future, but leaves enough room that Netherrealm can still go in many different directions in the next story instalment. A welcome surprise is that the classic Tower mode endings serve as an epilogue for each character. This successfully ramps down the chaos from the end of the story mode, allowing focus on each and every character of the MK1 roster.
‘Invasions’ is a brand new mode for the series, blending elements from previous Mortal Kombat single-player modes like ‘The Krypt,’ ‘Konquest,’ ‘Challenge Tower,’ and ‘Towers of Time’ to create a new RPG-lite experience. Players traverse from node to node across different realms, completing challenges, battling enemies, and unlocking loot. It’s a satisfying gameplay loop that aligns with NetherRealm’s goal of offering unlimited player expression. Although the exploration depth is somewhat lacking, especially compared to MK11’s Krypt mode, the tradeoff is that there’s no unbearable grind that brings progression to a standstill. The return of ‘Towers of Time’ ensures that even after the main path is completed, there’s a reason to return to the mode during downtime. Invasions mode is off to a promising start, and with confirmed seasonal updates, it’s sure to evolve. Hopefully, future updates will introduce more variety in encounters and perhaps a bit more exploration.
Speaking of seasons, Mortal Kombat 1 clearly incorporates a live service element. However, unlike in the majority of other games where this might lead to eye-rolling and frustration, it appears that NetherRealm has learned some valuable lessons from MK11 and the reception of other premium games in the industry.
There’s a seasonal shop offering skins, color palettes, and gear for every main roster fighter. Importantly, the seasonal kredits used in this shop are exclusively earned through gameplay—by completing daily and weekly challenges, as well as progressing through Invasions and Kombat League. This means both single-player and online players can unlock seasonal cosmetics simply by playing the game. The ultimate seasonal skin (for Season 1, this is a very cool Scorpion skin) can be obtained by defeating the final Seasonal boss in Invasions Mode or reaching a certain level in Kombat League.
This may not seem like a big deal, but it certainly is. There is a premium store for microtransactions, which will likely include some of the flashiest skins. However, at the moment, it seems to be reasonably priced, and the abundance of cosmetics in the seasonal store makes it feel like more of an additional option rather than the sole way to acquire post-launch cosmetics.
Earn rates currently feel fair, although the amount of time it takes to unlock absolutely everything will likely be revealed in the coming weeks. The ability to choose which cosmetic item you unlock for each character ensures that you can target specific items you desire. NetherRealm also hinted during its recent Kombat Kast that seasonal rewards will eventually return in rotation, although players may need to wait a while.
We’ll have to wait and see if this changes. We suspect Netherrealm will be at the mercy of Warner Bros when it comes to how egregious the seasonal systems are. But in an era where many games of this magnitude are plagued by systems that heavily target players’ wallets and valuable time, MK1’s current model appears to offer a fair system that respects both.
As mentioned earlier, Kombat League returns for players seeking a competitive online experience. Kombatants engage in a series of ‘first to 3’ matches, with the primary fighter locked in before matchmaking. However, there’s still an opportunity to counter an opponent’s character choice and style, as players can change their Kameo between matches. This system works effectively, enabling intense back-and-forth matches between players. Additionally, there are Kasual online modes for those seeking a less competitive experience, including standard online and King of the Hill modes. Private matches also make a return for those who want to play with their friends or in a pre-organised tournament.
There are a few minor pain points with Mortal Kombat 1, though these don’t detract from the overall quality of the game too much. Some bugs related to the UI, progression (particularly quests not tracking correctly), and certain audio/visual aspects have been experienced. None of these issues are game-breaking, and they are likely to be addressed in a patch or two. The game definitely feels like it’s coming in hot.
Customisation in the game is a bit of a mixed bag. Each character features a progression track of 35 levels (Kameos have 15 levels), allowing players to unlock customizable options for their preferred characters in any order they choose. This system is miles better than how MK11 handled cosmetics. However, the skins and palette system can be a bit confusing currently, and there’s no easy way to determine what can potentially be unlocked for each character. Furthermore, the limit of only one piece of gear per character limits the customization possibilities for some characters. While this doesn’t affect every character, it can be a drawback for the more popular ones. For example, Kitana and Mileena’s gear is tied to their weapons, which, while offering some interesting options, restricts the customization of their masks. MK11’s customisation was a tad overwhelming with three pieces of gear for each character, but it would be nice if certain characters had additional gear slots where necessary.
While it’s good you can toggle favourite looks for characters and have them randomised, there is currently no loadout system or a way to change character appearances at the fighter select screen. Customisation is an area that is definitely in need of some additional work to ensure that characters have the same level of freedom and expression visually, that they do when it comes to gameplay.
There’s currently no way to ‘pin’ moves, a feature that proved incredibly useful for casual players in both MKX and MK11. MK co-creator Ed Boon has already confirmed that this is being looked into, so hopefully, it’s just a matter of time until this feature returns. The game also lacks stage fatalities and other fatality types like Friendships or Animalities. These were both added in MK11’s Aftermath Update, so it’s possible we may have a similar situation here.
The future looks very bright for Mortal Kombat 1. The seasonal model ensures the game will continually receive new content, and with at least one Kombat Pack already confirmed, more fighters and Kameos are on the way. A few ‘Aftermath’-like expansions could elevate MK1 to the next level, and hopefully, we’ll see further Kombat Packs down the line that add in some of the most requested characters (Sonya Blade, Jade, and Noob Saibot to name a few!)
Fire God Liu Kang speaks of a ‘new era,’ and we can only surmise that he and NetherRealm are in agreement about what that means. Mortal Kombat 1 is a triumph. It approaches the 30-year-old series with fresh eyes while maintaining a profound love and respect for what has come before. The gameplay is the best it’s ever been, with the Kameo system providing players with a level of creative freedom previously unseen in a Mortal Kombat game. The cinematic story mode is NetherRealm’s most epic yet, breathing new life into classic characters and reintroducing some forgotten ones from the 3D era. Invasions and Kombat League ensure that players on both sides of the single-player and multiplayer divide continue to have reasons to play long after the credits roll. It may have launched out of a Hell Port, but the foundations of MK1 are so strong that it is a game that begs to be supported for years to come.