Street Fighter 6 is out, Tekken 8 is in the starting blocks – and Mortal Kombat 1 is also taking a fierce run-up. Who will take the fighting game crown?
I’ll get straight to the point: Yes, Mortal Kombat 1 is going really, really hard again! Even in the normal brawls, the screen blood spurts in health-threatening doses. If you land a “Fatal Blow”, dozens of broken bones are added to the litres bubbling around.
And the Fatalities? Heavens, the Fatalities!
The Fatalities have always been known for their weirdness – and in the big reboot, which enters the ring almost exactly 31 years after the first appearance of the infamous fighting game series, both the mercilessness and the “Oh God, they can’t be serious!” factor reach new heights!
Sub-Zero, for example, first hurls a pointed ice spear through his opponent’s stomach, which returns like a boomerang and hammers full into the skull. The unfortunate enemy then slithers down the slippery spear – at least its upper part, while the severed lower half remains standing, gushing blood and guts.
Liu Kang summons two dragons, which snatch his enemy and lift him into the air. He leaps upwards, cuts his opponent in half, and races to the ground with his screaming head in his hands, only to flatten the very same there like a pancake.
And Johnny Cage rams the opponent headfirst into the ground with absurd amounts of smack and then pulls on it – leaving the front half of the enemy’s face stuck in the ground while Johnny takes a self-indulgent selfie with the bloody remainder. You have to like this to laugh at it – but the 18-rated releases of this world do have a point.
We’re getting the band back together!
Our play session at gamescom was divided into two parts: On the one hand, we had the opportunity to try out the new game mode “Invasions” for about half an hour. And on the other hand, the single-player campaign, which began under the name “The New Era” and revolved around Raiden and Kung Lao – both still youngsters and without any divine powers at all – waited about the same amount of time. The “1” in the name of Mortal Kombat 1 thus stands for a new beginning to the saga, a fresh interpretation of the familiar narrative.
(The campaign retells the familiar Mortal Kombat story again Raiden and Kung Lao start here as simple farmers.)
We were allowed to experience this new old story from the perspective of seven well-known fighters – names like Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage or Kitana should probably be known in the Mortal Kombat world as “the usual suspects”. The selection boxes promised space for 24 fighters, but of course replenishment packs have already been announced to follow the release on 19 September 2023 (on PC, Xbox Series, PS5 and Switch).
In addition to the well-built main attractions, you’ll also have to opt for so-called “Kameo Fighters”: These are reinforcements that you are allowed to bring into the game every now and then for support or even joint attacks, before they have to recover briefly to be ready for the next mission.
Here, too, we dug deep into the nostalgia box for the play version: Kano, Sonya Blade, Jax, Frost and Cyrax were available for selection, with eleven more waiting in the final version.
The invasion has begun!
The most important new game mode is called “Invasion” and according to the developers of Netherrealm Studios present at gamescom, it is a “massive single player experience”. At its heart, this is an additional solo campaign – but one that is unusually staged.
In the main view, you move through Johnny Cage’s house from a slightly slanted bird’s-eye view (which not only has a fat swimming pool with a huge squeaking duck, a gigantic lounge, its own cinema and an arcade with arcade classics like “Primal Rage” or “Rampage”, but also flaming dimensional portals to the bedroom, the Chinese hinterland or dark outworld dimensions.
Always trotting from checkpoint to checkpoint, which is a little reminiscent of the “Super Mario Party” games – only with fewer dice and considerably more fatalities.
(In (Invasion) mode you traverse various locations from a bird’s eye view, fight battles and improve your squad.)
A new challenge (almost always a battle) awaits at each checkpoint, which, if you successfully complete, will distribute rewards and items: Access cards that open blocked paths, Koins, foregrounds and backgrounds for the “Kombat Kards”, more cameo fighters or experience points with which you may improve the health, strength or agility of your fighters.
Glittering Flower of Skull Split +2
In the shop of the four-armed monster “The Kollector” you can acquire further helpful items. For example, the “Krying Stone”, which transports you back into the ring with 50 percent energy after a knockdown. Or capsules that protect you from fire, ice or acid damage for a short time.
There are also various talismans that you can improve in the game’s own forge before you equip them. These are powerful buffs that strengthen your attacks, heal the fighter or allow you to fire additional projectile weapons – such as a flaming skull.
(Whether it’s normal hits, Fatal Blows or Fatalities, Mortal Kombat 1 doesn’t skimp on on-screen blood and bursting bones.)
In addition to the regular levels, there are also supposed to be time-limited events in the invasion, which are only active for six weeks at a time – but unfortunately there were no further details on this.
Raider, Lung Kao and Freeze Dude
The enemies you encounter in Invasion mode are clearly based on the familiar fighters in terms of fighting style, but are otherwise randomly assembled – they look very different and have names like “Time Construct”, “Hatchling”, “Lady-In-Waiting”, “Junior Monk” or “Chaosmaker”.
And you are not limited to the fighter you chose at the beginning of the invasion: If you feel like a bit of variety at the end of the fist, you can change main and cameo fighters at any time. Strictly speaking, you should do this every now and then so as not to suffer any disadvantages in battle – an ice-based enemy is best defeated with a fire type …
(The Fatalities are once again the macabre crowning glory of a good fight.)
Morning half past nine in China
The actual campaign begins with Shang Tsung – here still a masked swindler who travels the countryside hawking his miracle cures to gullible villagers before meeting a mysterious stranger with glowing eyes who promises him god-like power.
You then meet young friends Raiden and Kung Lao – martial arts-savvy farmers in Fengjian, rural China, who inadvertently clash with the vicious ninjas of the “Lin Kuei” gang, led by Smoke, Scorpion and Sub-Zero.
How this story develops – well, we will know from 19 September. What I can already say is that the plot is excellently staged. The transition from cutscene to battle is remarkably seamless, and the story is presented in a way that is both dramatic and witty.
In general, Mortal Kombat 1 is once again a damn good-looking fighting game: fantastic animations, super-smooth fights at bone-stable 60fps, wonderfully detailed arenas with lighting that changes from fight to fight, as well as gorgeous facial animations of the fighters. In addition, the powerful fights are accompanied by pleasantly discreet effects – except for the fatalities, for which you should better screw a solid windscreen wiper onto your monitor.
Editor’s Verdict
I have to be completely honest: Mortal Kombat 10 and 11 I didn’t think were that awesome. Somehow … I don’t know, it never grabbed me. This one, on the other hand – awesome! The brief hour of playing at Gamescom wasn’t enough for me, my blood-lusting body desperately wanted more! Invasion looks like an arcade time-eater of the first order – and the campaign is so heartbreakingly beautifully staged!
In terms of content, though, you can’t honestly expect any revolutions. The game may be called Mortal Kombat 1 and have set all the course for reboot, but Netherrealm Studios have only touched their tried and tested combat system with the thinnest of silk gloves: Punch, Kick, Grip, Block, special button for cameo fighters, button combinations for Fatal Blows and full-blown Fatalities – there are no surprises waiting.
Sub-Zero does things with ice, Scorpion does things with fire and his patented “Get over here!” throwing rope, Sonya Blade does very artistic things in her 80s aerobic spandex, making many necks crack. And Kung Lao? Well, he has a hat with a razor-sharp brim. What do you think he’ll do with it? You know it, you love it, you want more of it!
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