Impressions of Mortal Kombat 1 after online stress-testing
The developers at NetherRealms have been playing around with time travel and have decided to do a soft relaunch of the Mortal Kombat series, almost completely resetting old and new characters.
Before diving into the new story, journalists and bloggers were given the chance to test the server side of the game. Those who pre-ordered the game were also in luck. Here are our impressions of playing Mortal Kombat 1.
A new beginning
The Tower and Online Battles were available for testing. Tower is a classic mode in the series and fighting games in general. You have to climb up a mountain and pass through your opponents. As there were only four fighters in the game, The Tower only had four floors and several difficulty modes. I will come back to the online mode later.
The developers only prepared two arenas, each in two versions: day and night. The first thing you notice is that the game has become brighter and, strange as it may sound, there are moments, especially in the main menu, that evoke a sense of calm.
The closest analogue is the autumnal Japanese locations of Ghost of Tsushima, and one arena (Johnny Cage’s Hollywood estate) even has a nod to Dead Island 2.
As the time of day changes, so does the setting. The Tea Restaurant, the second available arena, is crowded during the day, with someone watching the fight with glee. At night, the lights are switched on and there are only a few drunken people filming the fight on their mobile phones and even trying to get closer, either to get a better camera angle from the centre of the action or to break into the fight themselves.
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All the small items and objects do not survive the fight, and the floor is covered with gallons of blood and remains scorched after the x-ray of Liu Keng, who has recently become the God of Fire.
The graphics in Mortal Kombat 11 were already stunning, but the new game has even better graphics, and the new visual style is a perfect update to the game’s traditional gritty look.
Invite a friend
There were only four characters to choose from: Sub-Zero, Kitana, Liu Kang and the returning Kenshi. The latter is perhaps the most interesting of the four, thanks to his astral double. In some of his moves, Kenshi resembles Virgil from DMC, with his clones repeating the hero’s moves and sometimes working in pairs like Noob Saibot’s doppelgangers.
Maybe I’m wrong, but Kenshi seemed to deal the least damage per hit of the four characters, even when going through the tower. It was as if he was dealing a lot of blows to the enemy, but only taking half of their health bar. Sub-Zero would have finished them off with the same number of hits, but again, these are just my personal observations and may not be the case.
I played Kitana and Liu Kang the least, but they do not change the tradition of their old versions. I would just like to point out that the developers have removed specialisations, but if you look at the list of moves, you will never say that there are fewer of them.
The traditional Fatal Blow (also known as X-Ray) and the range of Technique Boosts have moved to the new section, but the use of environmental objects has disappeared, and now this button has a new mechanic – Cameo.
To be clear, Cameo is not a replacement for throwing a chair at your opponent. It is a separate mechanic with its own set of combinations. You have to learn it and use it carefully, because it is very easy to miss the right moment to call your partner.
There were only three cameo characters: Sonia Blade, Jax and Kano. Each of them has their own unique attacks as well as common ones.
For example, Jax has a powerful punch on the ground that causes an earthquake and stuns the enemy, while Sonya can perform a powerful shot by holding down the button.
It’s simple: when you want to perform a combo, you simply press R1 (I played on PS5), our assistant appears from behind the screen and executes the specified command, of which there are four (simply press or hold R1 and R1+ forward/backward). In the hands of a skilled player, the combination of the main character’s and the assistant’s punches becomes a real combat ballet, leaving no chance for the enemy.
However, as I wrote above, cameos are not a panacea and all traditional counter moves work against them, such as the Combo Breaker, which this time is also performed by a cameo character but uses all three scales of reinforcement.
The helper is a physical unit that is subject to all combat rules. Therefore, their attack can be stopped by a simple blow to the Guest or the main character. Some Cameo moves, such as the Kano Laser Beam, immobilise the main character for the duration of the move.
However, it cannot be blocked, so the character is not completely defenceless. I strongly advise against using it in close proximity to the enemy, as the fact that it cannot be blocked does not mean that the enemy cannot jump up and hit you from above.
All in all, the Cameo mechanic looks interesting and to some extent borrows from or replaces the two character simultaneous play mode of the old MK games. I’m sure that many fans of the series will want to switch off the Cameo fighters and take control of the situation in the arena themselves, rather than trusting the AI, which doesn’t always work the way you want it to.
Sometimes it would happen that the assistant would appear, do nothing, and then disappear. It’s not because I’ve been hit, it’s just that when I was doing my combo, I called the assistant’s hit that wasn’t relevant at the time, so he didn’t use it.
In such cases, the Cameo bar won’t return, but will gradually fill up regardless of the hits you’ve dealt, although it can go to zero if you get a hard kick from your opponent. Cameos also have their own fatality and participate in the Fatal Blow.
Wait, I’ll try something
As for the online experience, which is what this is all about. It’s presented in a very stylish and cinematic way. Both fighters come out of the woods into the centre of the screen, the camera zooms in on them, they strike the canonical face-to-face pose, and after the players have chosen an arena, they exchange a few words and the fight begins.
I should note that the lines are not just any lines, but contextually dependent on the opponent. If it’s two identical fighters, one will say that the other is his copy from a parallel dimension, and the other will confirm with a statement that he has come to take his place. There are several such exchanges of compliments for each pair, and they are not always intended to offend the opponent, some are, on the contrary, expressions of respect.
When searching for an opponent online, the type of connection (Wi-Fi or LAN) and the ping were displayed. This allowed players to assess the connection and accept or decline the match. As for the connection itself, there were no dropouts or delays, everything worked perfectly.
Except for player matchmaking, which was turned off online, so a non-hardcore player like me could easily run into an opponent with a much higher skill level without a personal life.
If your ego is unwilling to endure 30 seconds of abuse, the time it takes for a skilled player to lose all their health, you can leave the match by pressing Quit.
If you like the opponent or you are on the same level, you can continue playing with the same characters or choose new ones. I came across one such opponent at the end of the test, he was clearly a more skilled fighter, but I managed to win several times.
Mortal Kombat 1 runs perfectly, the FPS is smooth and there are no bugs.
Apart from the limited number of fighters, the test was essentially a release version of the game, at least in technical terms. Another test will be held in August for those who have pre-ordered the game, but only on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
As a result, Mortal Kombat 1 feels closer to Mortal Kombat (2011) and MK 10. The new game is a bit more dynamic, with specializations gone and new mechanics that bring the series up to date. Personally, though, I’m more interested in the game’s plot, which has reached blockbuster levels in recent installments. I wonder how the developers will refresh the stories and characters of familiar characters.