Going back a couple of titles in the Mortal Kombat series we can see that the franchise is going downhill in terms of story, gameplay and graphics. The iconic characters and popular arcade-ish gameplay was being experimented on; much to the disappointment of fans. Mortal Kombat 2011 however, stands to correct all of this. Ed Boon and NetherRealm Studios have taken the game back to it’s roots; expect no less from the new Mortal Kombat title.
Story
Mortal Kombat 2011 takes place after the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon but at the same time does not. The story involves Raiden from Armageddon giving his past self a sign in order to prevent the set of events that led to Armageddon. This is good news because now the cheesy goofy storyline of the first few MKs can be replaced with the seriously good and absorbing storyline that MK 2011 has to offer. In fact I have never played any fighting game with a better story.
Mortal Kombat is all about a tournament the “Elder Gods” have set up to prevent Shao Kahn’s invasion of Earth (actually mainly due to the bickering of Earth’s Guardian Demigod Raiden). Instead of allowing the invasion, the Elder Gods wish to use the tournament to decide Earth’s fate as a more civil… ahem… approach to resolve the conflict. This way Earth will actually have a chance of winning and thus can protect itself from the unstoppable Shao Kahn and his massive invasion force.
In the story mode you will see such events unfold as you play every character (who is not Shao Kahn’s enforcer, subordinate or ally) and see what part they play in this very deep storyline. Most of the perspective is from Raiden since he is the one who received the vision from his future self but you will physically play everyone equally and most of the characters will play significant roles. There is also an arcade ladder which features endings for each character you beat it with, however such endings are not canon.
Each character in the game has a different personality and each is lovable in his/her own way I say. I have grown to like each one of them for their unique personalities, costumes and the way they develop or act. This is the first time I feel like this in a fighting game because there are usually characters that spout out cheesy taunts, look stupid and just annoy the crap out of you (Hi Rufus). Though each character may not be annoying in terms of personality, they sure may be some that will piss you off in a fight (Hi Kung Lao).
One flaw in the storyline though, is that some characters (especially non playable characters like Reptile) get their ass whooped too many times thus showing them as weaklings. Well this may be understandable since there are not that many iconic enforcers of Shao Kahn that need to be your playable character’s victim though you won’t always go up against minions of Shao Kahn. Well you should know that because the story mode obviously contains the inevitable scorpion vs subzero battle.
Graphics
Mortal Kombat 2011 looks beautiful and has excellent artwork going for it. The characters look solid, are detailed and show demeanor; none of them feel generic even after 20 years. The game’s stages and background design is what stands out the most in the game. One shows a giant fire breathing dragon holding his ground atop a skyscraper and another adding a more gloomy and mystical feel with a giant beam of souls shooting out to the sky in the middle of a graveyard. It’s all excellent to see in the 2D stages of Mortal Kombat.
Though this game is no Super smash brothers, each stage may play a part in your fight. Mostly they play aesthetic roles like for example one stage has a fountain spouting blood directly onto the field and off course anyone underneath the flow of blood will be covered in blood. Some stages allow you to perform stage fatalities; examples include the good ol’ dead pool level where you can perform a stage fatality and send your foe straight into the pool of corrosive acid.
As you should be able to tell so far, the game is well designed and deserves a medal in the field of detail and aesthetics. Each character will also receive battle damage so you can literally peel off a part of your enemy’s face. Other examples include tearing a part of scorpion’s mask, revealing his ghastly skull face, and blowing apart Kabal’s mask to show his burnt visage. Character combos and special attacks almost all look great and really feel they have some kick in it, though the sound certainly aids in that. What looks even more sick, are the X-ray combos which clearly shows your character doing some big damage to his/her unfortunate enemy.
The menu, interface, character select screen, krypt and gallery all look great enough and the game shows no performance issues as far as I know. The game seems fluid and smooth to me and even has pretty short loading times. However what this game does not have are epic cut-scenes despite the great finesse and grace the design crew have shown in the game.
Sound
I don’t have anything special to say about the music, except that it usually sets the right feel but it doesn’t really stand out. I like it but most other people won’t notice it. But what everyone will truly notice, is the great sound effects and voice acting this game has. Every attack that you make will be accompanied with very suitable sound, and will usually feel just right with the visible damage shown on the victim. There are a lot of different sound effects in the game and each one is very well done, even the simple blocked attack sound. A strong attack will be accompanied by bone crunching sounds and jabs will sound swift and solid, making the fights seem real and intense just the way it should be.
The story mode is accompanied with some real good voice acting surprisingly, I really couldn’t ask for more. Sometimes it’s a little cheesy or over the top but it never distracted me from the immersive storyline.
Pages: 1 2
