Review: Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition

More than 2 years after its release in other countries, the wait for the latest Mortal Kombat title is finally over for Australians. So what was it about this game that caused the censors to deny classification in the past, and why is there such high demand for its release following the changes to our classification scheme? Read on to find out.

Being the ninth game in the MK series and following on from Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (which didn’t exactly continue the existing MK storyline), developers NetherRealm Studios chose to revisit and revise their original story with this new title, making MK9 more of a retcon than a continuation. Spanning the storylines of the first 3 MK titles, MK9 implements a similar Story mode to that used in MKvDCU, whereby the plot is communicated from the perspective of each playable character in turn, allowing players to experience all characters during the course of the game. What this means is the story mode is long for a fighting game, and at times it is a bit silly (I mean, it can be hard to bring EVERY character from three titles into a single cohesive storyline), but for the most part, it works. And with the glorious (and at times gruesome) cutscenes that perforate the story mode? This was the first fighter in a long time that I put MANY hours into.

Before I continue, I need to confess — I am a hopeless Mortal Kombat fan. I do have a modest MK collection (or is that Kollection?), which is growing, and I’m sure that will influence my experience in some way, but I will try to maintain control.

This is, by far, one of the best fighters I’ve ever played. From the extremely detailed backdrops, to the painful-looking X-Ray moves (more on this shortly), the game exudes attention to detail. More than just a remake, NetherRealm has gone out of their way to make some really meaningful changes — some of which are not easy to notice without have a good grasp of the series itself (look for a “refresher” feature on the MK series in the coming weeks). For one, the game has returned to its 2D roots — all titles since MK4 have been on a 3D plane. On top of that, there are “Test Your Might” and other such sequences that were a staple of the original arcade titles (but not in story mode).

The big changes, though (beyond the simply wonderful story mode), lie in the fighting mechanics. Throughout the course of a match, players gain energy in the form of a “super meter”. More than just a charge to perform extra special moves, there are three levels of charge — the first level enables an extra special move (naturally), the second allows for a combo breaker (a much-underused powerup, in my opinion), while the third allows for the aforementioned X-Ray move.

Attempting to pull off an X-Ray move will use up the entire super meter — regardless of whether or not the move hits. If it does, though, players are treated (or should I say subjected?) to a short series of brutal attacks – the camera closes in on the attack region, and the character models change to show the internal organs breaking and stretching as the attacks hit home. Oh — and these moves often take up to a third of a target’s hit points. An interesting addition, and one that allows for players to choose an option that suits them best — should I use an extra special move potentially several times in a match, or save up my super meter to unleash what may potentially be a bout-winning X-Ray move?

Apart from the Story and Online modes, there’s also a more MK-standard Tower mode, for traditionalists, but even better than this is the new “Challenge Tower” with up to 300 individual challenges (in the Komplete Edition) of increasing difficulty. It could be something as simple as defeating multiple opponents in a single round, to something as strange as having to fight through a round with no arms, or no special moves, or… well, the list goes on and on.

I guess it’s safe to say that I truly loved this new addition to the MK series. A few simple – but truly genius – ideas really give it a strong identity of its own, even given that it is essentially a remake. In fact, it was probably the right time to clean up the backstory, as things were just getting a little too confusing.

But is it all perfect? Well, no, of course not. In true MK fashion, the difficulty scales unfairly, with cheap bosses that have all-too-powerful attacks. They’re not entirely unbeatable, but it really breaks up the gameplay — at 12 or so hours, the story mode is long enough (which to some may be a negative point on its own). Online modes allow players to join huge chat rooms in order to select an opponent; however, once a request is sent, there is no way to retract the offer, meaning you have to wait until that person accepts or rejects. Not really an optimal solution.

Still, for me, that about sums up the problems with the game. If you want to, take a half-point off my overall score as a “fanboy equaliser,” but I’d have to say, if you have any interest in the series, you’d be pretty silly to miss this — especially as it’s just hit our shores at the insane price of $40 RRP. Get it now.

And if you’re like me, you’ll be excited for what NetherRealm has in store for us next — will they continue the retcon move, and release a game that covers the next three or four titles in the series? If they do, will this next game be a 3D title? Will there be weapons and multiple fighting styles? What about Konquest mode? Keeping in mind what NetherRealm have been able to achieve with the original titles, consider me intrigued.