Mortal Kombat

“What I liked: - Graphically, it's amazing in every way a fighter game could be. The fights are immensely cinematic, which can really make each fight more exciting than the last. - The fatalities are over-the-top and visceral; attention to detail...”

“What I liked:
- Graphically, it's amazing in every way a fighter game could be. The fights are immensely cinematic, which can really make each fight more exciting than the last.
- The fatalities are over-the-top and visceral; attention to detail in the area that every Mortal Kombat focuses on.
- Good fighter roster, including a cameo appearance from the God of War himself, Kratos. Every fighter has a host of unique moves and weapons that really identify them - Kratos even has his own themed Quick-Time-Event moves and the use of several of his known weapons. There are also at least 2 - if not 3 - alternate skins for each fighter, for the aesthetical player.
- Maps are varied and interesting, and many have 'stage fatalities' to mix things up a bit. You can feed the trees in the Living Forest for the second time in MK history! :-)
- There's lots to unlock and lots to do - from classic arcade mode to a ladder of 300 challenges, many of which - difficulty aside - are actually pretty fun and innovative.
- Interesting approach to tag-team play.
- New X-Ray moves are a welcome addition.
- The unlock system ("The Krypt") is really cool; I guarantee that out of all of the games you unlock things in, this one will be the most memorable.
- The game is only roughly $40 upon its release in Australia given we have an R-rating now. I have since release been playing a UK copy, but regardless, I think this is a really cool move by Warner Bros. They respect that whilst it's only now being released here, it's not a new title, and I really hope they shift more sales as a result, because it's also the Komplete edition (comes with current DLC).

What I didn't like:
- Online matchmaking was awful (for the PS3, anyway), unpopulated, and poor. Looks like this one's strictly for local multiplayer.
- Later bosses on the Arcade ladder being given ridiculous modifiers such as being impervious to knock-ups. I'm not complaining about the difficulty; it's just that I would much rather an immensely difficult but fair brick wall than an enemy being impervious to many attacks.
- A friend of mine who is a fighter-game enthusiast said that the combos were too simplistic and spanned all characters. Agreed, there is a preset of combos (back, forward, square) which grant each character a typical ability, and a distinct lack of individualised combos; and the combos are rather simple (often involving only a 1-3 stage button press), so perhaps this one might lose points for the hardcore fighter crowd. That being said, it's the most cinematic fighter I've seen, so whilst it may not gain points for core fighter mechanics, it certainly bests other fighters in the visual department.
- The story is quite terrible; this isn't surprising in the slightest, though.”