Mortal Kombat 1

Geezus. This game is horrible.

The tutorials have to be the single worst gaming's experience I've ever encountered. Before its release, we were assured that the tutorials wouldn't be as millimetre precise as 11 and X were - and they were right. It's far more precise. 99% of the combos don't actually come out and on the very very very very rare occasion they do, they don't hit the target because you were standing just a little too close or just a little too far from your opponent.

Secondly, playing that game on anything other than VERY EASY mode requires you to be an absolute expert of the game and genre, even though this game promised a reboot to draw in new fans. I've been an MK fan since the beginning, and the last great MK game was Armageddon, because that was challenging and difficult but not impossible. Every iteration of MK in the last decade has been designed for hardcore fighter players, and guess what? There are some of us that like a number of genres rather than just sticking to one style of gameplay. Another lie from MK producers.

Thirdly, the game essentially requires players to buy extra content to advance (unless you've got the skills to defeat the game over and over again on the hardest levels to get more koins). In-game purchases should be limited to things like extra skins or whatnot, but this one requires koins just to unlock new moves or characters, which are core features of a fighting game.

The framerate during some of the fatalities and even regular combos leaves a lot to be desired.

And I'm tired of the same old graphics engine used in EVERY MK game lately. The original MK games felt more solid, more brutal. These look far too 'shiny' and clean to be taken anything more seriously than a DC live action movie - everything looks fake. The fire/ice effects, all the glowing symbols when you attack/block/dash/air combo/combo, etc just look cheap and overdone. It's highly unimpressive and, for a game that was supposed to be a reboot, it's just another MK11 and X all over again. But worse.

This is what happens when you have Asian game players producing a game for Asian players - you have to be super fast with your reflexes, hit buttons at the exact precise moments and only when your opponent is at the exact precise location on screen AND at a time when you know they aren't blocking, moving, ducking, jumping or doing their own move (which is nigh on impossible)...and then, if you happen to land the beginning of a combo, you have to hope that your AI powered opponent doesn't have the world's greatest Asian MK players reflexes to block or counter your attacks.

I am now 100% done with all MK titles. Shaolin Monks needs to be remade, but other than that I cannot and will not trust another MK game for the rest of time. These Asian game developers need to go back to what made these kinds of combat games great, and it wasn't the button-bashing crap that they've pushed down our throats. MK used to be challenging for other reasons, namely the opponents were stronger and faster, but if you were fast enough you could still beat the game even on the hardest level. Now, anyone that is anything less than an expert combat game player cannot get any enjoyment out of this frustrating, button-bashing, expert precision timing MK games that are being produced lately - and it's clear that casual gamers who used to enjoy the series are now relegated to watching demos and read Reddit posts just to get through the most basic levels.

What a joke. I hope MK either dies completely after this game, or the game is actually rebooted properly for real fans and not the Asian world cup holding gamers.

If your here wondering if you should pick up this game at your local store so you can see what the newest edition of mortal kombat looks like you might want to get 11, mk1 is single handedly the worst game and I mean absolutely devastating blow to the mortal kombat franchise, the whole game is based around transactions so you can play it, and dont get me started on the roster, it doesn't even have a tenth as many characters to play with then 11 had, the customization is terrible the only way to be good is spend countless hours or just button mash like an idiot, this whole game had so much hype and basically died out as soon as it actually came out. Seriously dont waste your money/time in this piece of garbage. Some people arnt gonna like what I said but its the truth.

Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) has exceeded expectations for me and hopefully for many others, as it has a unique story, classic characters, and stunning graphics.

Story: The story is a six-hour journey through the newly developed world created by Fire God Lu Kang. Uniquely developed, the story introduces you to many characters that have been re-created to have newly formed relationships. The story seems to put a lot of effort into characters that are much more minor, and that haven't gotten the attention they deserve in prior games. The mid-credit scene leaves you on the edge of your seat with its amazing ability to make you keep wanting more.

Lag: Although stunning, the game seems to have an issue (mostly in online gameplay) of lagging to such a degree it is almost impossible to play. As this is a newly released game, I am sure that the creators will jump into action and fix this issue immediately.

Invasion: Although not the Krypt, it is still a very interesting and unique new take on separate modes of gameplay. Set up in an almost board like way, you go through many small battles that allow you to earn new gear, accessories, and patterns for the twenty three amazing characters within the game. For me, it is an amazing new experience that I am sure people will love.

Kameo's: A newly adapted way to add other characters that have less popularity, these characters are people you can summon into battle. I think this is very good, as it is allowing us to see characters that haven't been adapted in many years. It also allows for a new look on battles as a whole.

This new Mortal Kombat game has exceeded all expectations for me, and all though there is much needed corrections with lag, the game has an overall great gameplay and beautifully adapted characters and story's. This is a must needed game for every single Mortal Kombat lover.

This game has been out for almost 2 years, here are some of the hundreds of facts you should know to demonstrate that it is objectively the worst fighting game ever made.

Tl:dr : Nobody is playing, nobody is competing, nobody is watching, it's been so poorly received and has so few players future dlc has been taken off the table, pro competition might not even make it to a second season and the one and only single player mode with any content at all, invasions, nrs declared within 4 months of release they won't be adding any new seasons to it. It died faster than any fighting game ever released, WB gave NRS a blank cheque and the longest development period they've ever had, nrs squandered all of it, released an unfinished, untested pile of crap and have done literally nothing to salvage it post release.

Casual Scene:

• Almost every single day since launch has had fewer players than mk11
• All time peak player count is barely half of sf or tekken
• 1/20th the daily viewers of sf or tekken
• The game is so objectively dead that the one time it had more than 100 consecutive players online ed boon tweeted about it
• There is no content at all, it got no invasions seasons beyond those included in the launch build and the kombat packs were so poorly received that any potential future dlc were instantly taken off the table
• The gameplay is the most one dimensional it's ever been, each charcters has 1 string , 1 combo route and 1 combo, that's it, almost 2 years since release and there are zero combos that you didn't see on day 1
• Slower than mk11, people whine about 11 being "slow", mk1 has had more time outs in pro comp, r1ps arena and casual play in 1 year than mk11 had in 5
• Worse graphics than 11
• Worse fatalities and brutalities than 11
• More unbalanced roster than any fighting game ever
• Less customization than 11
• Worse story than 11
• Characters like quan and shang who have been unviable since their respective launch dates have got zero improvements, meanwhile characters so easy they basically play themselves, mileena, kitana, shao, kenshi, sub have all had buffs
• The game is so bad that in year 1 it went on sale with over 70% discounts and still it was unable to get any player base whatsoever
• The game is such an objectively bad product that steam have presumably taken a pay day to falsely advertise it, there are games from 2013 ( when steam first introduced the "community" tab) that have threads from 2013 that are still active, mk1 which released end of 2023 has people censoring the community tab locking then deleting any and all critique with the blatant lie of an excuse as " the thread was old before the latest post was made"
• The games only form of anti cheat is denuvo, a tool originally sold under the pretense of fighting piracy, something it categorically failed at, so it re-branded and claimed to stop cheating, which it also categorically fails at, meaning this game has no anti cheat. There are videos on youtube of people playing their match replays, proving beyond any doubt their opponents were cheating, but since denuvo can't detect cheating and nrs don't care, it is simply a common part of this game and that won't change

QOL:

• Had the biggest budget and longest development cycle of any mk ever yet launched in a clearly untested state with massive, unmissable bugs like black screens, descyncs, player 1 advantage to name a few
• Worst netcode in gaming
• PC was outsourced to the same company who made such a hash of 11 that nrs were forced to bring in a second company to salvage the project, but this time a second company was not brought in, pc gets the sloppy, dirt cheap port and nothing else
• No wi fi filter
• No ability to practice while it searches for matches
• Krypt has been replaced by a literal loading screen

-Towers of time have been replaced by a slower, more tedious mode that takes 10x more time to complete yet has almost nothing to unlock

• ^This is made even worse by nrs declaring in year 1 they would not be adding new "seasons" meaning zero new content
• Tekken 8 launched with internet issues, bandai namco released a day 1 patch that fixed 100% of them, almost 2 years down the line mk1 still has bugs that were present on launch

-^ In this same vein, every single patch, update and "hotfix" has introduced more bugs

• Every single dlc character released has launched with bugs proven yet again zero testing was done, infinite flight, broken hitboxes, broken scaling, broken combo gravity, one button infinites, super speed just to name a few

Competitive Scene:

• In year 1 was deemed so irrelevant it wasn't even included in FGC offline events
• VSF the UK's biggest offline venue, on the ground floor had thousands watching hundreds play tekken and sf, mk1 was not included, but 2 uk streamers volunteered to do everything, send invites, bring hardware, handle prizes, so a major stage in the "pro komp" scene had 40 people in an upstairs office sharing 1 console to compete for a scorpion funko pop
• Fewer than 300 registrations in US pro comp
• A community ran mario kart booth at a fighting game venue had more attendees than the mortal kombat prize pool competition.

Over the last few years I have become a fan of Mortal Kombat, the first few trailers for the new game Mortal Kombat 1 had me super excited for this sequel/reboot and I have now played enough of it to review it, so here is my review for Mortal Kombat 1. The premise of the game is set after the events of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. Liu Kang has created a new timeline which sees legendary characters reimagined and able to make their own decisions in the new era.

Characters After the events of the previous game Lord Liu Kang is now the protector of Earthrealm and I really like his character progression. He is now the god in this universe and he plays the role really well, he has clearly tried to help as many characters get a fresh start and his new timeline is interesting.

There are some iconic characters who are changed up such as Raiden, Kung Lao, Scorpion & Sub-Zero. They are all so different from the previous timeline and I like how the game really doubled down on it and gave them the attention that they deserve.

But some of the lesser known characters also got time to shine with Reptile, Baraka & Mileena all having way more to do then they have in previous titles. It makes this game feel fresh and new to fans of the franchise and I give the game real credit for that.

Pretty much every character is great (apart from Nitara) and I really give credit for to the developers for fleshing them out and making them more interesting then they have ever been.

Story The story is a reboot/sequel and it does a brilliant job changing up establish characters and setting this up as a new but exciting timeline. It gives lesser characters important roles and is a fresh story that kept me guessing throughout. However, I do have a complaint and it is one I had in Mortal Kombat X. There are 2 characters here who play major roles in the story but are paid DLC, it means they are complete and Neatherealm are making us pay extra for characters that should already be a part of the roster. Also I am used to having dialogue between the characters in the other modes but it isn't here and it makes the game feel a bit lifeless.

Side Activities The game adds a new mode called invasions. It is basically a board game type simulation where you go between short fights with modifiers and gaining unlocks. I actually enjoyed it and switching between characters for tactical advantages. I mean, I couldn't play it for long spells because it becomes repetitive and dull but in short doses its pretty fun. I also had quite a lot of fun with multiplayer, I am not great at the game but for the most part I managed to hold my own and get some wins. Towers is the same as usual and does a decent job in keeping me interested with some good character endings. However, it just feels like something is missing. The lack of creativity in the customisation and the lack of a Krypt this time does make certain aspects feel a little under developed.

Gameplay The one thing that hasn't let Mortal Kombat games down is the gameplay. The game is a lot of fun and flows really nicely. All the characters feel unique and that time has really been taken to craft them and make them play really well. This game introduces Kameo Fighters, they assist you in battle and all feel different, its a fantastic addition to the game and adds more layers to the gameplay. Fatalities are brutal as always and violence is definitely still here in the bucketloads.

Graphics The game looks fanatastic and continues the great graphics from the previous game. It looks incredibly life like and full of colour. The Stages that the battles take place on are so in depth and it is clear that care has been put in to make it all unique. As I mentioned Fatalities and Brutalities are over the top and the violence is still at the forefront of the franchise.

Overall Overall, Mortal Kombat 1 is a great game that I thoroughly enjoyed, It feels like a great fresh start for the franchise and though I still think improvements can be made this is a great step in the right direction.

Rating - 8/10.