Review by: Michael Barnes

I don’t know if there is a tackier, more tasteless, or unabashedly ridiculous game on the market than Nether Realm’s reboot of the of the storied and infrequently great Mortal Kombat franchise. The brand is pure 1990s kitsch, a reminder of an era when “mature” games were anything but. It is the gaming equivalent of a worn-out death metal album cover, once shocking and lurid but now ironic and laughable. In a modern media environment where players of online shooters rack up kills in the millions and mixed martial artists beat each other into submission live on pay-per-view, the idea of ripping some video game character’s spine out with bloody letters spelling out “fatality” on the screen is almost quaint.

This means that the challenge Nether Realm faces with this nearly 20 year old franchise is not only in making Mortal Kombat relevant in 2011, but also in producing a fighting game that can compete with best-in-class, revisionist examples like Super Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue. And then there’s the matter of undoing all of the post-Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 damage done to the line by terrible spin-offs, bad 3D versions, and those unwatchable feature films. To be completely honest, I didn’t think they could pull it off, even with original creator Ed Boon on board to steer the ship. I smirked at the announcement, but I was willing to give it a shot, figuring it would be worth a laugh if nothing else.

It’s definitely a trip back to the well, and it turns out that it is fruitful one at that. After messing around in 3D space for several editions with shabby results, the game returns to a 2D plane. Also returning are big, detailed character models performing simple direction-button press combos and of course, extremely graphic and brutal special moves including the game’s signature Fatalities. A new power meter adds a strategic layer and pleasing depth. Pressing the block button in conjunction with core moves and combos increases their power, but if you save the meter for later you can execute one of the awesome X-ray attacks for tremendous amounts damage and Grand Guignol thrills as bones crack and tendons rip in lurid detail.

The gore might be off-putting to some, but it’s much more of a pick-up-and-play game than SSFIV or other recent fighting games. Easy move sets and fluid animations are immediately, viscerally satisfying. This is a game where even a novice can get into a groove and find deadly chains, juggles, and cheap shots but the characters are superbly balanced. Don’t worry, your favorites are here. All of them.

This is also a game packed to the rafters with content and ways to play, including a surprisingly robust suite of single-player options. A lengthy story mode recaps the events of the first three games with tons of high camp dialogue delivered by competent voice actors. A great seamless presentation style transitions between Raiden and co. prattling on about prophecies, Earthrealm, and whatnot straight into fights and then right back into the costume drama. It’s also a great way to check out all of the fighters in the game as each battle features set kombatants.

Beyond the story mode, the standard arcade ladder and multiple difficulties across all options ensures a lot of replayability for the solo gamer. But sometimes, this replayabilty comes with some frustration. If there is any glaring issue with the game, it’s that the difficulty level is all over the place on any setting. This is exacerbated by incredibly cheap boss fights as well as the poor AI that often allow you to hone in on a couple of easily spammable attacks to nickel-and-dime your way to victory. It’s not very satisfying to fight Shao Khan for thirty minutes and then realize that a couple of jump kicks and leg sweeps were all it would have taken to win.