Mortal Kombat 9

Introduction

Mortal Kombat has been famous not just for its controversial fatalies, but also for being one of the more successful games from the West. By now, any gamers should know the term “Finish Him” and the blood and glory the game presents.

With the newest installation in the series, which is simply known as Mortal Kombat, it offers nothing short of the original experience of beating your opponent into scraps, but also reboot the entire franchise totally.

Graphics:

Mortal Kombat is simply amazing in terms of graphics; from the details of each and every characters, up to the newly-implemented X-Ray moves, and of course, the Fatalities, the game offers smooth and polished animations and graphics.

Every character is given a graphical rework from the olden days, giving each character a unique look, instead of recoloring their palates.  The game do away with the 3D-modelling that were used in previous games, and replaces the models with CG graphics, giving each match a more integrated and immersive feel.

However, on a side note, some characters tend to have rather quirky animations, such as Cyrax’s dreadlocks flying all over and defying gravity at certain times. And also, too much blood and gory covering your character’s body might be a slight hindrance, but offers a better visual nonetheless.

Gameplay:

Gameplay in Mortal Kombat bears similarity to any other fighting games such as Street Fighter, but is also tweaked in different manners. Some moves, such as Reptile’s Acid Spit, uses the same input as Ryu’s Hadoken, but many other moves are tweaked.

Every character has their own unique way of fighting, and different inputs can have vastly different results. Pressing back and heavy punch will allows Stryker to use his baton spin, but at the same time, it may result in a punch for Liu Kang instead. Players will have to get used to the feel and familiarization with different characters, but will in return, be offered a different play experience with each one.

Like any fighting games, combos (or kombos, as the game prefer to call it) are an integral part.  As players uses different attack moves, they can hit certain buttons to formed combos.  Some combos are simply putting different punches and kicks together, while others, such as Scorpion’s Torment, offer  a different and unique combo, with a special attack or animation to boot.

What’s new in Mortal Kombat 2011, is the introduction of the Attack meter. The meter, which is shown on the bottom, functions as a method to allow players to counter or enhance their attacks.  By getting hit or using special moves, the meter slowly fills, and gives player access to either Enhanced moves, which uses one-third of the bar and increases their damage or change the properties of their unique moves; or Breakers, used to counter and immediately break away from a combo set-up your opponent is preparing, or if the meter is full, an X-Ray move, which offers a powerful, and visually appealing attack, showing you breaking and cracking different bones in your opponents.

Audio

Audio is well done for the game, from the grunts and battlecrys to the spinning sound of Kung Lao teleporting and extending to the sounds of bones breaking from X-Ray, every sound enhances the game.

However , voice acting is somewhat lacking, which is a turn-off, during the story mode. Listening to the members of Lin Kuei, such as Sub-Zero or Smoke, gives you the opinion of a choppy voice, which slightly reduces the design of the character.

Replayability

The game offers much of a replay value, with a story mode that extends up to about 4 hours, and a tower of challenge which includes missions, mini-games and practice, and an extensive krpyt, where players could spend their Kombat Koins to unlock alternate costumes, concept art, sound clips and of course, hidden fatalities.

If that’s not enough, this game offer a 4 player tag team match, so bring your buddies over, rev up the disc, and prepare for a good match of blood, gore and glory, all in the name of friendship, of course.

Overview

Mortal Kombat had been a well-known title in the games world, but with this newest version of Mortal Kombat, things are getting even better.

New graphics, smooth animation, enchanting gameplay and high replay value, makes this Mortal Kombat another milestone, in the history of video games.

Be sure to grab a copy, get some friends together, and shouts cheers and laugh as you bask in the severed appendages of your opponents.

What else can I say? FINISH HIM!

Graphics: 8/10

Smooth and detailed, but choppy animations at time

Gameplay 9/10

A much deeper fighting game as compared to other of the genres.

Audio 6/10

The game offers good sound effects, but lacks when it comes to the voice acting

Replayability 8/10

Many things to keep a player playing, mostly unlockables from the Krypt.