Trigger Cut Game Reviews

Mortal Kombat 1 is a disappointing entry in the semi reboot formula that started with Mortal Kombat 9.  At the end of Mortal Kombat 11, the timeline essentially ends.  Mortal Kombat 1 picks up the storyline in an alternate timeline with iconic characters that are younger.  This way of alternating and exploring these iconic characters’ origin stories is an interesting concept however, the story ends up being multiverse drivel we have all seen a million times before.  Online play is what I have the biggest gripes with.  It seems like 3D Realms wanted the ranked experience to be tailor made for e sports since instead of one match, it is best out of 3.  This takes way too long and winning one match that doesn’t count is annoying.  After realizing this I chose to ignore the ranked play altogether and stick with the casual mode.  As a fighting game fan, I play these games for the ranked play so to have it be so flawed in design destroyed the experience for me.  The core combo driven gameplay is still fun and well balanced with most characters being viable competitively. I can’t exactly place why I feel this way, but the fatalities here are amongst the most neutered and bland of the entire series.  They are just not that creative and pale in comparison to the previous entries.  The x-ray moves that you get the opportunity to use if you are losing are still annoying since you will see them pretty much every match. They are easier to block than in previous entries however, I wish that they would just remove this mechanic entirely since it gets old fast.  In conclusion Mortal Kombat breaks the streak of great MK games of recent years. It feels half baked at times, predatory with its microtransactions, and boasts a story that has potential but falls on its face.  I hope 3D Realms puts more effort in the next entry and does not take their audience for granted like it seems they have here.  Don’t finish him! (this isn’t an entendre I promise).