PICTURESWARNERBROS.
INTERACTIVEENTERTAINMENTTESTAs a ghting game,
Mortal Kombat 11 is
immense fun. Arenas are
eye-catchingly detailed and
vibrant, tting the standard
NetherRealm Studios
have set with Injustice 2.
The controls are tight and
deliberate, though combat
can still feel a little janky as
combos and abilities can
be awkward to pull off.
If this sounds daunting,
a comprehensive tutorial
mode goes through basics
such as combo executions
and abilities, to learning
character-speci c Fatalities
and other advancedMortal Kombat 11
By Tim Augustin (GameAxis)Krazy
Kombat
techniques. I applaud
NetherRealm for adding
such a deep and extensive
tutorial mode, probably
the biggest I’ve played in a
game yet. The game even
encourages players to
complete these tutorials by
rewarding them with some
of the best character skins
in the game.
It didn’t take long for me
to fall in love with�Mortal
Kombat 11’s roster of
characters. How couldn’t
you? It’s such a diverse,
colorful group of Elder
Gods, Shaolin monks,
cowboys, movie stars andsentient insects.
Plus, they all have
distinctive personalities and
playstyles. If you’re like me,
you’re going to nd yourself
falling in love with Johnny
Cage almost instantly for
his goo ness and general
A-holery.
With these quirky
characters come an almost
overwhelming amount of
customization options. Even
character speci c abilities
can be swapped out as you
see t, along with skins and
intro/victory cinematics.
NetherRealm have clearly
put a lot of thought andpolish into these cosmetics,
because they’re all fantastic.
Having gotten acquainted
with the cast over the
course of the story’s
roughly 10-hour runtime,
I can safely say that�Mortal
Kombat 11’s story mode
is enthralling. It revolves
around the villainous
Kronika. She believes
that all the Realms have
collapsed into chaos, and so
wants to rewrite all of time
and history. Predictably, her
meddling doesn’t end well.
Past and present timelines
clash, bringing many of the
main cast face-to-face74 HWM | JUNE 2019