So. Mortal Kombat. We all know about the controversy surrounding the Mortal Kombat series. It was after all one of the first games to toss extensive gore in our faces. But that’s what made it so epic. We all have those memories (if we played fighting games) with our friends, yelling at each other about who was a better fighter and of course dueling it out. But enough nostalgia…

OVERVIEW
Mortal Kombat is one of those games that ignores what the conservatives say about how unbelievably violent it is. Suffice to say, the latest installment in the series is no different. With gut-turning fatalities and a special X-Ray camera to see how much internal damage you’re causing, the violence we all know and love is back in a big way.
The story of Mortal Kombat is something I’ve never truly found too intriguing. But I’m going to do my best to explain it. Apparently Earth realm is in danger (big surprise there eh?) from being consumed from some sort of evil realm. In order to give us humans a fighting chance, the Elder Gods started a tournament to produce the best fighter to save us all from the big bad guy. You work your way up the ladder in the normal MK style, at the bottom and getting progressively harder. However, I never feel like I’m climbing up a slow ladder.

GAMEPLAY
As with all fighting games, you’ve got the standard punch, kick, slide, etc. Unlike most fighting games, Mortal Kombat has the system down where you can do moves with ease, and a long memory isn’t required to remember each character’s special moves (i.e. Scorpion’s harpoon… GET OVER HERE.) I find that a plus, because me and my limited attention span would much rather blast the crap out my enemy than remember a bunch of button combos (I’m looking at you, Street Fighter IV.) Despite being easy enough for new guys to play, there’s still plenty of complex combos to really create your own fighting style, and when you land a nice combo with special attacks added in, you have a complete blast making sure you get the advantage over the enemy. The game also discourages button-mashing by making sure each character has some sort of counter to everything if used correctly. There’s no more of Scorpion’s teleport turning you into a ragdoll. You can counter everything. This gives the game a more strategic feel than just pressing X a million times. It’s one of those games where you had a bad day at work or school and you want to beat the crap out of something, you can pick up the game, start playing in the easy to use menus and take out your frustrations on the ever-annoying Johnny Cage.

ENVIRONMENT
Despite the focus of the game taking place in a tournament setting, I never feel like I’m forced to see the same background over and over again. Out of tournament fights, characters battle each other in all different places, from bridges that seem like they’re out of Lord of the Rings or the underworld with fire and lava spitting out of gigantic lava pools. The levels are nice and varied, without straying too far from the original “feel” of the game’s mood. All of the places in this game world are violent and itching to fight, and the game does a good job of making sure you feel this.

GRAPHICS
As I said before, the violence is purely satisfying. The new X-Ray special moves are unique for each character. For instance, Sub-Zero’s X-Ray is him ramming his hand into someone’s torso and freezing their stomach, before crushing it in his fist. He then proceeds to punch them in the face, and you see teeth and bones cracking. Suffice to say, that’s fun to do. They only thing I don’t like is that you have to fill up your little action meter at the bottom to do it, and the other player can block the attack, because these attacks do massive damage, visually and health-wise.
As the battle rages on, the character models (which, by the way are very crisp and clear) take visible damage, from bones showing to blood sprayed across their outfits. This little touch adds a nice effect, because you can actually see your progressive damage you’re adding to the other character. The special abilities look fantastic, from Noob’s cloning to Sub-Zero’s freeze attacks. Each one is visually impressive. The levels don’t fail on graphics either. You don’t feel like you’re playing on a picture, the backgrounds actually change as you play. You feel like you’re in a real world.

WHAT’S GOOD
Mortal Kombat lives up to its reputation with flying colors. The violence is back and bigger than ever, and the combat controls have been streamlined to near perfection. A sizable chunk of unique characters provide a good match for anyone. The fatalities are incredible. Nothing is more satisfying after a long battle than ripping someone in half, right? Thought so. Combat and multiplayer is excellent, and I highly suggest giving this game a try.

WHAT’S CRAP
There’s always a crap side to every game. Mortal Kombat is not perfect. Although it’s the best fighting game I’ve played to date, it has its fair share of problems. Some of the characters seem stronger and faster than others (try fighting Scorpion as Sub-Zero) which led me to some moments where I was like “WHAT.” The thing that got me really annoyed was the fact that in tag team battles, it’s you versus two NPCs who tag each other out often. As a result, you feel like you’re fighting against an enemy that will never die, and you die too much. This led me to some points where I simply quit the game because I felt so cheated. At least let us tag ourselves out with another NPC so we have a better chance. The story also is.. well.. sucky. I know it’s hard to implement a story into a fighting game, but it just doesn’t seem interesting and only takes away from the game’s shining point, fighting.

Despite some of the shortcomings, Mortal Kombat satisfied my need for a good fighting game, and it’s definitely worth a buy, or a very long rent.