When I first saw Mortal Kombat in the Google Play Store, I thought it would be amazing to be able to play on the mobile. Then, I also thought if it was even possible to capture the original franchise in mobile format. The answer to the latter is a resounding "so-so".
In a Nutshell
Overall thoughts: Really average. Not great, but not bad
Pros:
- Relatively nice visuals
- Soundtrack is true to the franchise
Cons:
- Very limited gameplay
- Currencies are relatively difficult to acquire
Aesthetics and Graphics
This is something this mobile game does correctly: it is really in line with the franchise's overall visual theme. Starting from the buttons and menus, the graphic designers and artists did well to capture a visceral, oriental feel. In the actual game itself, the models do a fine job representing the characters. Cassie Cage, for example, is immediately recognizable, despite her many costumes (or variants - more on that later.)
There are also fatalities, and they are as gruesome as their franchise's reputation has called for. Blood and guts are fairly in detail. The 3D models do look a bit aged, however, but that doesn't play a factor in my view of the game seeing as the app has been around for quite a while. The models look like they were from the early Playstation 3 era, which I don't find all too surprising as it was released in 2015.
Sound
The sound is very minimalistic. Background music is very bare bones, really setting the tone of Outworld. The music conveys the classic grimness of the Mortal Kombat title. For sound effects though, the game ups the intensity for the most part.
Hits sound really strong, and slashes really make you feel the cold steel of a blade. Blood squirts are fairly intense as well. Despite the plethora of sounds happening in game, it still manages to keep itself from overwhelming the player.
Still, I have two complaints about the audio of the game. Gun sounds feel very standard. There isn't much that can be helped, but whenever someone whips out a firearm and uses it, a fist to the face still sounds way more powerful. The random lines that the characters speak during their special moves can also get really repetitive, as they talk way too often for my taste.
Gameplay
The meat of every article writing about a game: the gameplay. This is where this title fails to perform, at least for me. The core mechanics of the game uses very basic functions. There are no virtual joysticks or traditional buttons used at any time. Attacks are done either by tapping on the screen or swiping, and blocks are done by holding a tap.
I'm not sure how I feel about this, as what I personally enjoy about fighting games is the mechanical challenge of doing a string of combination attacks. However, I do understand that there are limitations to the platform, and a virtual controller would clutter the screen. The most challenging aspect of the combat is when a special attack is activated and the player needs to follow commands on the screen.
Fatalities are also in the game, and they do call for specific inputs from the player. That said, the fatalities are few and depend on your character in the game. To start with, none of your characters will have fatalities. It seems that fatalities only trigger in certain conditions controlled by the developers. For example, even if you have Cassie on your team in a specific tower that has the condition where Sonya needs to survive, you're going to be watching Sonya's fatality.
As a result, the single player campaign can get really dull really fast. There's no over-arcing narrative in this mode and you're just randomly jumping through hoops. There is also an idle mission mode where you send some of your cards to do some quests for upwards of an hour each mission, as well as a faction battle mode which puts you against teams created by other players. You get points for each victory in the faction battle, and get rewards at the end of the season depending on how much you have done for the faction. Despite the rewards, none of these modes are all that entertaining, thanks to the core mechanics.
Speaking of rewards, the game also has loot box mechanics. You buy a pack from the store for a chance to get a rare character card or equipment. There are also free ones that are awarded at certain intervals, but getting anything good from them is almost hopeless. The guaranteed cards are quite expensive in terms of in game-currency as well.This is expected though. It wouldn't be so bad and tedious if it weren't for the fact that the currency rewards that are handed out in any method are quite paltry. It becomes a massive grind just to be able to buy a pack that is just above the free tier.
Final Thoughts
I have the most middling opinion of Mortal Kombat. It could have been good had it had better mechanics, but the shallow game play left a lot to be desired. I got bored of the game within a day or two, and playing it for a couple of weeks so that I could form a more educated opinion was a massive chore. The areas where it did good weren't enough to outshine the negative points, and it shows that core mechanics are of the utmost importance in gaming.
Thanks for reading!
If you'd like to read about some games that I actually enjoyed, here's some links for my posts about Call of Duty and Hungry Hearts. I also write about my experiences outside of Canada, like that time I went hiking in Taipei.
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