Was having a discussion about games with a friend yesterday.
“You finished Bloodborne yet,” I asked.
“Nah, too busy playing the new Mortal Kombat,” he replied.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that game.
I haven’t had the chance to play Mortal Kombat X and I don’t know why. I really liked the last one and by all accounts Mortal Kombat X is pretty great. I have another friend who is legitimately obsessed with the ‘Krypt’, an old school tacked-on RPG thing that’s actually really well designed.
But of course it’s all about the core of the game itself, which most people are saying is sound. In the last couple of games Mortal Kombat really seems to have hit its stride again.
How are you all finding it so far?
Comments
37 responses to “Community Review: Mortal Kombat X”
I love the game. I main Ferra/Torr.
It’s good, finished the story, but I want to wait until I get an arcade stick before I play any more.
Unlike Street Fighter, you really don’t need a stick to be competitive. I’m finding the PS4 pad is more than sufficient to pull off what’s required, even for high level combos with run cancels and strict juggle timings. MK has never asked for QCF/DQCF motions which is largely what sticks are useful for.
MK has used QC moves since 1992 dude…
Really? I’m yet to see a diagonal input required anywhere in MKX… Maybe I’m wrong with other MK games, but I don’t recall any from MK9 either. There are certainly Back Down Forwards which can be input like Half Circle Forward but it’s not necessary (and actually less practical).
Well, diagonals no, but I’ve certainly always input the back down forwards/down forwards type moves more like half or quarter circles.
You do use diagonals when jumping and blocking however (in the 2D MK games you can throw block by holding down back diagonal while blocking).
While it’s not necessary I can certainly see why players would prefer fight sticks. I used to play Soul Calibur II competitively and I actually preferred the gamepad. Some of the more “hardcore” players with expensive fight sticks would laugh when I opted for a standard gamepad, but they shut up pretty quickly after I beat them, haha.
I’ll grant you diagonals for jump ins… And yes you can input QCF for a Down Forward motion. But strictly speaking these are not necessary and a lot of competitive MK players use pads instead of sticks, even though there are pros with sticks in the tournament scene.
I guess what I’m saying is that MK is far, far easier to play at a competitive level with a pad than SF will ever be simply based on their input requirements.
I’ve always found I could pull moves far more reliably with Mortal Kombat than with Street Fighter. And that has always been why I’ve preferred Motral Kombat over Street Fighter. The blood is nice but it’s far better to be able to do exactly what you want in the game.
I have always preferred MK from the first one as I prefer the look, style and gameplay and it has never changed.
Eh, can be fun local with friends but I can’t play it for more than 5 minutes without getting bored. Just doesn’t feel right after playing Street Fighter for years.
I am loving it. It’s not without its flaws but they are greatly outweighed by the good stuff.
What I like:
– Distinct characters and variations, even if some of the variations seem a bit weak compared to others (though it’s early days yet, people are finding new ways to take advantage of particular variations everyday)
– Combo and juggle system. I’d argue MKX has a much easier to learn combo system than SF4 and many other fighting games, and this allows people new to fighting games to focus on the mind games and psychology, which to me is the best part
– At the moment, it seems quite well balanced. Sure you have people complaining about Kung Jin’s brain dead meterless 35%+ combos and Scorpion’s Inferno variant being OP (it’s not), but when you take the time to learn how to handle them they are entirely beatable
– Graphics are fantastic and 60fps, although I’ll admit some character’s faces lack a bit of detail
What I didn’t like:
– The Krypt. At first I though it was a cool way to go about unlocking new stuff. However, after a time, you realise that a) you earn Koins far too slowly and unlocking everything in the Krypt takes aaaaaages and b) actually travelling around the Krypt takes time, especially when you’ve unlocked everything in the starting section and have to leg it to the area where you actually have stuff to unlock. This was clearly designed to frustrate players into purchasing the ‘Unlock all Krypt’ option in the store\
– Story mode, while ok, has nothing on MK9 or Injustice’s story modes. It was a bit blah, I didn’t really care about the characters especially the 4 ‘kids’ which was a lot of the focus (seriously how did Kung Jin beat up Kotal Kahn?!). Still s***s on any other fighting game’s story but felt they could have done better here
– Online Ranked matchmaking is a joke. My first 10 games online were against people with 300/40 wins vs losses and I stood no chance whatsoever. Oddly enough, now that I’ve put more time in and have a respectable win loss record myself, I’m facing people with terrible win loss records and I’m finding I hardly lose anymore. It’s really inconsistent. Also, WHY DO I HAVE TO CONNECT ONLINE AGAIN AFTER EVERY RANKED MATCH?!
Overall I see myself dedicating plenty of time to this game, particularly to online where I’m aiming to master Raiden my main. It actually got me to stop playing Bloodborne…
Connecting again after the match finishes – I thought that was just me! The biggest turn off I have to playing online
Oh and should have the option to block players who spam Scorpion
Pro’s:
Graphics: The best example of a ‘current gen’ fighting game (it’s not next gen any more) and how good it can look…
Inspired special characters: Predator, Jason and Carl Weathers skin for Jax? Oh hell yes.
Multiple fighting styles: Expands the roster from 25 to around 75 theoretically. A very welcome addition.
Interactive stages: A beatiful thing. Beating the shit out of someone using the body of a geriatric has never been so much fun!
Towers: They’re fun, they keep things interesting at least.
Character design: Some great redesigns on characters. From Sub Zero and Scorpion all the way to a world weary, battle hardened Jax, it all looks fantastic. So good its worth mentioning twice!
Controls: Smooth, like butter. It’s beautiful. The ease at which you pull off moves can make anyone feel like a pro.
Skins!: Multiple skins for each fighter keeps it feeling fresh. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
Online (console): Not too shabby, haven’t experienced any bad lag so far at all?
Cons:
3 hour storyline: MK9’s storyline was twice as long. MkX’s storyline is half the length and a quarter as interesting centering on the Cage/Blade family issues. It’s not bad as per se, it’s just not very good alas and needed far more fleshing out and more chapters.
Disc locked characters/Day 1 DLC: Goro for sure. Possibly Rain, Tanya and Baraka too going by assets that are present in the actual game itself and what PC modders have unlocked.
Fatalities and brutalities. That’s it. It’s a little too serious for its own good. Some stage fatalities would’ve been good, some variation with animalities or friendships for a giggle. The game is too ‘grimdark’ at times.
Paid fatalities: 30 for 5 dollars. What a joke. Moneygrabbing at its worst.
Krypt coins: Unlock the Krypt for 29.95. As Angry Joe himself said, the coins you earnt were at one stage much higher for reviewers. The reviewers, a few of them, have commented on this. It’s been toned down so they could sell this ‘unlock’ pack.
Online (PC): Let’s not talk about how bad the PC lag can get for some bloody reason… ergh.
Graphics (PC): A hearty WTF? They told us the PC version wouldn’t be half arsed and here it is sans left buttock. Completely half arsed. It’s terrible. Hopefully it’s fixed soon.
Kombat pack price: 44.95 on XBL, 38.95 on PS4 and 29.95 on PC…. what the hell WB? Netherrealm? Make a goddamn decision. Are you gouging us? Giving us price parity? Or giving us a good deal? MAKE A DECISION.
So overall imho, great game but very flawed in a few areas, especially when it comes to DLC. I recommend purchasing, but seriously consider reading a lot of reviews first, check some videos and if it’s on PC that you’re considering, check up the latest patch notes and community feedback first.
I thought every real copy came with a Goro code, to help encourage people to buy their own copy.
The DLC price is ridiculous, more than an extra 50% price on top of the game purchase for no extra levels a a few extra characters.
I loved the Mario Kart DLC – approx 25% extra cost for 50% extra tracks and a few extra karts, kart accesories and characters, and I’m not going to buy MK X DLC.
I love it. My problem is that my partner is a sore loser and rage quits after 2 fights. I really should get PS+…
I haven’t played a MK game since PS2 era (deadly alliance was the last one I owned…), and I must say I am liking all the faction stuff and other things to do. I miss the training mode where you can play through all the moves of every character though. I also like that the fatalities are relatively easy to do, but I kind of feel like they should be harder.
People try getting non-gamers to play games like Journey to sway them into playing video games. I always get them to play MK. And they always have tons of fun.
I loved Deadly Alliance and Deception, still my favourites.
Got it on the PS4, great game. More solid offering competitively than MK9, while building on features like the Story mode and the Krypt to draw in new players. Giving each character three different variations mixes a little variety into the game, creating more of a match-up based metagame as opposed to other fighting games dominated by a single character or two.
The new Faction War social hook is a good draw to keep players interested, as are the other live aspects like Tower Challenges and Living Towers. Particularly the weekly Premier Tower is a nice addition, which serves as a test-drive for upcoming DLC characters. This week for instance is going to give us Jason Voorhees’ Premier Tower.
It’s kind of sad how many of the complaints I’m seeing are based on misinformation, or are just sour grapes. Seeing a lot of confusion about the monetization efforts, so to clear the air:
– the Easy Fatality tokens sold in PSN/XBL are for fatality shortcuts; you don’t need to buy these to perform fatalities. Fatalities are still listed in characters’ movelists, and you can still perform the inputs without needing to buy tokens. The tokens are a tax on being lazy, which as a form of DLC I’m completely okay with.
– yes, you can pay money to unlock everything in the Krypt, but why would you? Again, this is a tax on being lazy.
– Goro was offered free to people that pre-ordered the game; that I put in a whole different basket than straight up DLC.
– Tanya, Rain, and other characters that appear in story mode are incomplete; even the PC modders that get access to these characters still only get one variation with half a movelist, the rest pulled directly from other characters. We also know that future DLC characters will be getting new models, animations and voice performances.
On a side note I’m happy to see it’s getting the positive coverage it deserves, here and elsewhere. Fighting game fans often find themselves sort of alienated by the major sites, so it’s good to see MKX getting some recognition.
Yeah the presence of microtransations for stuff like unlock all krypt and easy fatalities doesn’t bother me…I’m never going to pay that money. And the unplayable characters from the story don’t bother me either…the game comes with 25 characters out of the box with 3 variations each, that’s plenty.
Just one thing, Goros day 1 dlc on disc content, so I don’t see how he’s any different? He’s not available to those who didn’t preorder? If its on disc already, it’s dodgy.
I dunno. I mean yeah, he’s there on the disc, but he’s there as an unplayable boss character, and that’s really no different to most other games in the MK series…the boss characters are usually not selectable (compilations like MK Trilogy and MK Armageddon being the notable exceptions). The code allows him to be selectable.
While it’s kinda creeping towards the dodgy end, I don’t think it’s the same as DLC being on the disc already and then making you pay for it. Goro was never advertised as DLC, and those that preordered got him for free. He was never hidden either…you always knew he was there, he was even there on the character select screen. It’s not like you purchased him and only downloaded a 60KB updated and there he was, unlike some other games we won’t mention.
You purchased him and got a 1.1mb update 😛 lol
But yeah it is a tiny bit different when you’re still able to fight him and still actually able to use him on a challenge tower I’ll give it that.
Well what I was meaning about the size of the update was that some games, you weren’t aware that the content was on the disc, then you purchased it and it turns out to be an unexpected tiny download because the content was already there.
You knew Goro was already there, he wasn’t hidden away, so the small download would be expected. And those that preordered the game didn’t need to purchase him, they got him for free. In fact many people that didn’t preorder the game still found the download codes in the case when they opened it 😛
I bought MKX on disc (no pre-order or anything) and got Goro as free DLC, there was just a code in the box…
Hey if you did, thats awesome, but just going by how it was advertised. If its changed since then, thats brilliant. I have no issue with them doing that to recoup from 2nd hand sales.
I don’t see a moral difference between first-print bonuses and pre-order bonuses. You pay the same retail sticker price, and get something additional for free.
I’m enjoying it. It hasn’t hooked me though but I like picking it up now and then and playing a tower or more of the story.
It’s awesome, love it. Mechanically it’s not much different to MK9, but the 3 different variations for each character certainly mixes things up so even in a mirror match you may not get a perfect mirror. And the variations actually do change up most of their playstyles too, in most cases it’s not just a simple different set of special moves. The new fatalities are cool and the reintroduction of brutalities is cool too, even though they aren’t the same brutalities from UMK3/MKT and some of them have pretty ridiculous requirements to pull them off.
The rate you gather koins could be accelerated I guess, as I’m still working my way through unlocking everything in the krypt and some of that stuff is really expensive. Stuff like that double koins weekend for playing the living towers was good, they should do more of that. As you unlock more stuff you can continue to edit your kombat kard to give you more koins for each win or for performing certain actions in game, but it’s still a slow process.
Overall, I’m really enjoying my time with MKX, I’ll probably be playing it for quite a while.
Also this isn’t the game’s fault, but I really dislike how you need to sign up for PS+ now to play online on the PS4. The PS3 didn’t need this and you could play online for free but with the PS4, you need to pay money to play online. That’s really lame. So the only online experience I had with the game was when I signed up for the 48 hour free PS+ trial.
Started off not liking it as much as MK9 but once I settled in im loving it graphics are amazing and it plays really well. Played a bit online with mixed success is always hard when you get matched up with someone who is an absolute legend on it and you hardly get a punch in but that’s part and parcel of fighting games.
Would defo recommend buying to anyone on the fence
I haven’t played it….
But I like watching YouTube videos of all the fatalities and secret fatalities. Very entertaining and hilariously gruesome.
10/10!
Playing it on PC and it as an amazing game however I’d recommend people to wait for a few patches before purchasing.
Day one issues aside, there’s occasional fps slowdown, online is too laggy and lots of disconnects and there is a bug on the pc version causing people to lose their save games with all their krypt unlocks, including costumes, brutalities and fatalities.
There seems to be a lot of paid dlc for the game which sucks but that’s the way the industry seems to be going by paying for a full priced product and half that much again to unlock what should already be in the game.
As for the game itself, it is awesome! I’m really enjoying it and have sunk many hours into it. They did a great job. Combat is fun, combos are great when you pull them off well. Overall it’s a great game.
Probably the best Mortal Kombat game mechanically.
The game just feels way less janky than all the other mortal kombats, i liked 9, but it still felt weird.
MKX is great purely from a fighting game player’s perspective.
I really enjoyed it, but I hate having that cheap ass Shinnok battle at the end of the towers.
I was an enormous fan of these games as a kid, but this is the first Mortal Kombat game I’ve played properly/owned since MK3 on the SNES. Weirdly enough, I continued to follow the lore with each new game, and loved watching the characters’ evolution as time went by. I would have jumped back on board with MK9 had the game not been originally banned in Aus, and by the time it was released under an R rating I had already watched all of the storymode and fatalities on YouTube. So, this was my first foray back into the series for damn near 20 years.
I freaking love it. I’m hardly what you’d call someone who is ‘good’ at fighting games, but the mechanics of the gameplay sit really easily with me, so I’m having a blast. I bought it largely for the nostalgia-factor, and I’m truly surprised at how much fun I’m having.
MK has turned into the ‘entry level’ fighting game series. Now I don’t say that to take away from its level of depth – MK9 & MKX have depth enough to be considered competition worthy, and in fact both have/will be part of the EVO lineup. The reason I think it’s fantastic that MK is an entry level fighter is that it’s much easier to pull off combos and punish strings, allowing you to focus on mix-ups, mind games and baiting opponents, which is where the real fun lies.
This differs from SF where effectively comboing and punishing requires the dexterity and digital aptitude of a sexually accomplished ten armed alien whose life depends on the climax of three female partners with four sets of genitalia.
Great game, but am massively let down by the finishing moves. Some fatalities are ok, but the rest are a joke. I remember the brutalities used to be just that… brutal. Now they are just like an extended combo. Plus it feels like its a whole lot easier then any other I’ve played, back in the day, you’d couldn’t get the fatality combo wrong, or that would be it, now you can enter it four to five times before the time runs out, and I won’t even go into the one button fatalities….
In the end, its a good game and I am enjoying it, I was just expecting a whole lot more for this game on the new gen of consoles. Still prefer the old ones to be honest, they were just so much more challenging
Brutalities were always extended combos…the only difference with Brutalities in the earlier games (UMK3 and MKT specifically) is that the combo kept going until the opponent exploded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsREi-dJik0
I have to disagree about Brutalities. I love them more now than I do the standard Fatalities. I love the variety and the satisfaction of pulling one off, particularly against an online opponent. I never had much interest in the original Brutalities, especially since they all ended the exact same way – a geyser of blood and way too many ribcages.