PROS
best iteration
of Mortal Kombat
fighting mechanics
to date
easy and intuitive
to pick up, play,
and learn the new
mechanics
Story mode
still just as fun and
enjoyable to watch
and play as ever
well-balanced
roster with more than
enough fighter variety
Variations feature
offers lots of fighter
customization optionsCONS
random chests in
Krypt make it
harder to find and
unlock what you want
lots of grinding
needed to unlock
every character gear
and cosmetics
takes an
unnecessarily
long time to find
a match online,
especially on ranked
online needed to
save unlockables
progress, going
offline can lock you
out of contentJULY 2019 63SPEED SAYS
If solely on its merits as a fighting game, Mortal Kombat 11 should be in every fighting gamer’s library. But
given its gory ultraviolence, I’ll reserve my recommendation for the adults-only crowd. Even so, the grind-
heavy gameplay loop for unlocking extras and items for character customization really makes Mortal
Kombat 11 a hard sell, especially at this price level. I say wait for a discount or some kind of inevitable
bundle, unless you’re heavily invested in competing online or really need to see the story to its end.
the game’s tutorial mode deserves
some applause, as it does a good job of
introducing players new and old to every
nuance of MK11’s overhauled system.Blow your mind
That said, MK11 also retains the series’
penchant of wrapping its gameplay in a
gushing ball of blood, guts, and mashed
brains. I’ve said it before for previous
games in the series, and I’ll say it again
for this one: MK11 is not for the faint of
stomach. Just pointing it out: it got a Mature 17+ ESRB
rating for a good reason, and it’s not because it has a
lovable personality.Strength in numbers
Naturally, the series’ famous single-player story campaign
returns. For players who’ve been around since the
narrative’s beginnings, MK11’s plot finally brings closure
to the entire series, all while tossing in some unexpected
twists that finally see our motley cast of characters get the
endings they deserve.Speaking of characters, the initial roster of 25 fighters
is a notch better than what we got initially in Mortal
Kombat X, although that saw a lot of improvement once
its DLC fighters dropped. MK11 looks to up the ante in
similar fashion with six additional DLC combatants as
of writing, with even more to come in the pipeline. But
whether or not you buy in, just know that the roster on
hand is one of the series’ best overall and shouldn’t be a
concern for completists.Buyers beware
Moving on to the other single-player offerings: the
series’ infamous Towers return, this time in several
flavors sure to keep you locked in for some time to
come. It has its focus on earning in-game currencies
and unlockable rewards that tie in to one of MK11’s
more prominent features, Variations. Variations let
you create custom versions (or variations—get it?)
of each fighter, with manageable options ranging
from augmentation gear, which you can level up, to
assigning movesets, skill, and the usual cosmetics.Unlocking new equipment is done by exploring the
Krypt, spending your hard-earned in-game coins
to open chests for loot. The thing is, the chests
are excessively random, opening each one a costly
gamble. This is in contrast to previous installments
where each chest contained a predefined reward for
a commensurate cost. Further to that, MK11 has a
staggering list of possible rewards when opening
chests. Between hundreds of gear pieces and
cosmetics, tons of concept art, among others, the
odds of getting what you want are, for all intents and
purposes, virtually nil. On the bright side, that’s a lot
of content to unlock, which should take up tons of
time. All in all, It could’ve been better.Another thing is that your console of choice should
always be online as you can’t save any of your
purchases or unlocks without connecting to MK11’s
servers. Switch owners probably have the worst of it,
as going offline locks them out of a huge amount of
standard content.