Mortal Kombat is a title that has been in headlines since it was first released in 1992. At that time, it was making headlines about how graphic the content was and how parents should be careful showing that to their kids. The series is making headlines yet again with its latest release in the franchise “Mortal Kombat 1.”
Developed by Netherrealm Studios, the game stands as the twelfth main installment in the series and is a direct sequel to the previous game “Mortal Kombat 11.” The game picks up with Fire God Liu Kang and his efforts in restarting the timeline after his battle with Kronika in the previous story mode. It is at the beginning of this new timeline that we get to see some familiar faces we haven’t seen in many years.
Characters like Havik, Nitara, Reiko and Li Mei haven’t been playable since 2006. Others, such as Smoke, Reptile and Kenshi are returning as well after fans didn’t get them in the last game.
As a story, it is set up very uniquely as some characters’ backstories have completely changed from what we know. For example, Scorpion is no longer Hanzo Hasashi as he has been since inception. Instead, he is now the younger brother of Sub-Zero, Kuai Liang. Fans of the series would recognize him in the old timeline as the second Sub-Zero.
But that is just one of the many things that have changed with the series this time around. This game is the first in the series to introduce kameo fighters into the main gameplay and pad out the roster with some fan favorite characters who aren’t playable in the base roster. Seeing characters like Sektor, Cyrax, Sonya and Kano come back in some capacity, despite not being controllable, is still really great.
In terms of gameplay, it plays similarly to MK11. Characters do seem to have more combo potential in this game as the Kameo fighters can be used to extend combos and do complete resets to open up other combo strings. Those combos, when pulled off, deal massive numbers in damage and grant the player a sense of accomplishment.
The goriness hasn’t taken a step down either in this installment. Each base character is equipped with plenty of ways to send their opponent to the Netherrealm and they’re all uniquely gory in a classic Mortal Kombat way.
As a base game, I think it is a really good take on the series. As a fan of the franchise who has had time to play the older games, it was really great to see older characters come back in a reimagined timeline where the possibilities seem endless.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this game. As a long time fan of fighting games having a support fighter in a Mortal Kombat game was something foreign. But Ed Boon and everyone at Netherrealm Studios did a fantastic job in creating this installment.
