I just got my hands on Mortal Kombat 1 a few days ago, so a full review won’t be ready for a little bit, but it’s already making a strong impression.
If there’s one thing you can applaud Netherrealm for with regards to the gameplay system of each new Mortal Kombat game since MK9, it’s that each one plays dramatically different from the last without sacrificing that very distinct Mortal Kombat feel. So it’s not surprising that, even before we get to the crazy Kameo system, Mortal Kombat 1 makes some drastic changes from MK11 that really set it apart. For starters, it returns the meter management to just one meter that governs enhanced special moves, breakers, and now jump cancels out of uppercuts; fatal blows are still around, but are no longer invincible on start up; krushing blows are gone completely; character variations are gone; wake up attacks and wake up rolls are gone; every character is now able to do much more damage without even spending any meter thanks to a new air combo system; and thank the lord, blocked crouching jabs are now punishable with crouching jabs of your own, making them much less spammable than before. These are all good, smart changes that make the action in MK1 feel fresh, yet familiar, while addressing some of the pain points that the fighting game community had developed with MK11.
The biggest new addition, though, is that Kameo system. For the first time in a Mortal Kombat game, you choose a second character that you can call upon as an assist in every fight. Your Kameo is governed by their own meter, and every time you call them in you use up half their meter (or in some cases, like Goro’s powerful unblockable stomp assist, the whole thing). And it’s great that every Kameo has at least three assist moves, which adds multiple new tools to the repertoire of any character you choose to play as.
So for example, let’s say I’m playing as Baraka, who notably does not have any overheads or lows in the middle of any of his combo strings. That would make him a character you can pretty safely just block low against once you block the first hit of a string. Unless… I add Scorpion as my Kameo character, who has an overhead as one of his moves. So now there’s a new, added layer to my offense that I can use to try and open up an opponent in a way that I wouldn’t have been able to before. Or I could pick Frost and use her in neutral to try and catch my opponent with a quick low hitting attack that freezes to start up a damaging combo.
Other Kameos can be used to extend combos that typically would not be extendable, convert respectable damage off of small hits that normally wouldn’t be convertible, and some even have more specialized uses. Maybe you give characters a teleport, or a way to become invulnerable to projectiles, or a way to quickly retreat and return a full-screen distance away. I’m not usually one who enjoys assists in fighting games, since they’re usually accompanied by tag systems and I’m more of a 1v1 fighting game fan, but their implementation here is extremely well thought out and does nothing but improve upon the already solid foundation that MK1 stands on.
That said, Mortal Kombat has always had a very distinct feel to its movement, and the more I play other fighting games, the harder it gets to come back to. There is still some stiffness in the controls, and I’ll never prefer having to hold a block button down as opposed to holding back as far as 2D fighters go. But beyond those minor quirks, Mortal Kombat 1’s actual combat is as strong as it's ever been.
Its Has Begun
Story mode this time around is a true new beginning for the series, and that’s uniquely satisfying. This isn’t just a timeline reset like Mortal Kombat 9 – the entire history of Mortal Kombat has been re-written: familiar characters get brand-new looks, backstories, relationships, and powers. It picks up literal eons after the events of Mortal Kombat 11, in which newly minted Fire God Liu Kang used the Hourglass of Time to reshape the world as he saw fit. Earthrealm is at peace, Outworld is ruled fairly by Queen Sindel, and while the Mortal Kombat tournament between realms still exists, it’s more of a tournament of pride and honor as opposed to a tool for realm invasion. Eventually that peace is threatened by outside forces that I won’t get into, but suffice to say, after a few very chill and lighthearted opening chapters with supportive dad, Fire God Liu Kang, cheering on his plucky new champions in their first martial arts tournament, things get very real very quick and the stakes get raised in all the usual ways.
Above all, I loved seeing these new takes on classic kombatants, especially those who have historically been relegated to minor roles. Baraka and Reptile, for instance, never really got to be anything more than henchmen in previous games, but in Mortal Kombat 1 they’re major players with their own chapters and defining story moments. Plus, the writing is full of plenty of cheeky in-universe references that felt like nice rewards for being a longtime fan of the series.
Netherrealm fighting games have always been the best at delivering story modes that are essentially the video game equivalent of absurd popcorn movies, and Mortal Kombat 1 is no exception to that rule. The campaign has no new gameplay innovations to offer, but its six hours are big, bombastic, well-acted, and ridiculous in all of the right ways. If that sounds familiar, it’s because I said virtually the same thing three years ago in my Mortal Kombat 11 review, speaking of its single-player story mode. And if I had reviewed Mortal Kombat X, Injustice 2, Injustice 1, Mortal Kombat 9, or Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, I could’ve said the same for those as well. There does seem to be an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy at play with Neatherrealm’s designers. So you can take that to mean that if you liked those, as I did, you’ll probably enjoy this one too.
While I wouldn’t say anything needs outright fixing, there’s definitely some room for refinement that still hasn’t been capitalized on. Every chapter just throws you into the shoes of a new character without a hint of guidance of what’s special about them – what their combo strings are, their launchers, or their special moves, for instance. I had to learn on the fly by bringing up the move list, trying things out string by string, special move by special move, and by the time I’m done achieving a base level of competency with a character, the chapter’s over and I’ve moved on to the next. This mode would benefit so greatly from optional, short, developer-led character guides that can get you up to speed on the fundamentals of a character before you have to spend the next 30 minutes playing as them.
Invaders of the Realms
Beyond the cinematic story mode, the big new single-player mode for Mortal Kombat 1 is Invasions, which combines the themed environments and rewards of The Krypt, some light RPG elements from older Konquest modes, and the quick back-to-back gimmicky battles of the Towers of Time, packaged in the form of a virtual game board. It’s a mishmash of ideas that sound good on paper but, unfortunately, tries to be a few too many things all at once.
Here’s how it works: Almost every invasion “board” is made up of a series of spaces that each have a themed fight assigned to them, like a fight against Reptile on a space called “Look to La Luna,” or a fight against a super powered Kung Lao on a space marked “Kung Wow”. You move around the board conducting an exhausting grind of clearing repetitive battles against enemies that – at least for the first several hours – don’t put up much of a fight, collecting a slower-than-usual drip of worthwhile rewards, finding keys to unlock gates, and completing challenges like Test Your Might or survival minigames, until you reach the end. Along the way you might find themed towers where you must fight in a series of battles, with one loss sending you back to the bottom; you might get ambushed in between spaces and have to fight a slightly more challenging opponent with unique modifiers. But even those in my experience have largely been pushovers. For the vast majority of encounters I went into auto pilot mode with Li Mei, doing the same unsafe launching combo, regardless of who I was fighting or what the modifiers were, only occasionally being forced to consider the RPG elements in the chapter-ending boss battles that dramatically power up one of the kombatants in unique ways.
Sure, there’s a lot of extra stuff going on underneath the hood in Invasions mode. Every character and Kameo has a damage type, with a complicated type advantage/disadvantage chart, there are talismans that can be upgraded to provide a variety of different status bonuses, and relics that frequently come with both a positive and a negative bonus to weigh against each other. But that’s all just a lot of complexity that doesn’t really add any value to the actual gameplay. I’m sure later game boards will make engaging with the RPG elements more of a necessity, but honestly, I’m not really looking forward to that either. Mortal Kombat 1’s at its best when there are no gimmicks involved. I’m happy to have the option to play the occasional silly match with wild modifiers and themed challenges, but Invasions strings too many of these fights together and expects you to play through them all in order to unlock many of the best cosmetic unlocks for its characters. That turns it into a chore. The Krypt was far from perfect, but so far I'm not feeling Invasions mode as a replacement for it.
However, one thing that MK1 does get right is that the more you play with a character, the more you unlock for that specific character. And there is a ton to unlock for everybody. There’s new gear, skins, taunts, brutalities, and even fatalities that come with every level up. Granted, you’ll probably be able to find the input command for the locked fatalities before you unlock the in-game instructions if you search online, but nonetheless, you’re rewarded well for maxing out a character’s progression track.
One very strange thing that I feel that I have to point out is that there are now combo challenges for every character, but they're wildly inconsistent. Some characters have a full set of six challenges, others only have one super basic combo, and others still have challenges that are bugged and teach you combos that don't actually work – even the demonstrations of those combos don't land. That said, the general tutorial is extraordinarily comprehensive and is one of the best fighting game tutorials I've seen.
I still need more time with Mortal Kombat 1 before I'll feel comfortable rendering a verdict, mostly to play the full suite of online modes and get some more time playing the game against people rather than bots, but so far, the Kameo system and smart changes to the fighting make MK1 feel fresh and exciting, the story mode is predictably great, even if Invasions seems like more of a grind than I'm willing to put myself through to unlock the best cosmetic items. Check back for more soon, and if you're playing at launch tomorrow let us know how you're enjoying it. If it's fatalities you're after, we've also got a growing list of Mortal Kombat One Fatalities that you can bookmark for later.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit
