From bloody selfies to thumb-busting challenges, there’s something for every fighting game fan with NetherRealm Studios’ next-gen Mortal Kombat installment.
By Nadia Oxford | @nadiaoxford | 4-13-2015 | 10:30AM
The countdown to the release of Mortal Kombat X has begun in earnest. On April 14, we’ll be able to return to the battlefield to fight against friends, foes, and execute over-the-top fatalities.
Mortal Kombat X is by far the best-looking Mortal Kombat title to date, and it looks like it’s as much fun to play as it is to look at. Here are a few reasons why the latest entry in this iconic franchise is worth your time.
Heavily modified Unreal 3 tech brings high-end graphical effects to NetherRealm Studios’ next-gen bloodbath.
Unreal Engine 3 is Pushed to its Limits
Mortal Kombat X runs at a consistent and attractive 60 frames-per-second thanks to Unreal Engine 3. As series co-creator Ed Boon points out in an interview on Unreal Engine’s official blog, the NetherRealm team has enough experience with the engine to get whatever they need out of it.
“We’ve actually been modifying the Unreal Engine for a few years now,” Boon said. “It’s almost become our own kind of proprietary engine at this point.
“We had to do a lot of modifications because we have two big characters on the screen, we’re running 60 frames-per-second and our environments are a lot more enclosed. It’s a lot different from a first-person shooter or something like that. We have requirements that are specifically tailored to our needs that we’ve spent years working on. So we’re very comfortable with this engine at this point.”
Given the team’s mastery of the engine, Mortal Kombat X on a decent gaming rig should run without hitching, stuttering, or any other pesky problems that are poison for a fighting game.
It has a Very Meaty Single-Player Campaign
It’s good to keep a few friends around for companionship, or when something heavy needs lifting. But it can be just as satisfying and healing to spend a bit of time alone, especially when there’s NetherRealm-style brooding to be done.
Thankfully, Mortal Kombat X comes with a substantial single-player campaign for your loner days. Its “Living Towers” challenges feature fights arranged under certain rule sets, like taking on computer-controlled opponents while dodging traps. The towers’ challenges change up several times a day, ensuring there’s always a fresh rotation of fights.
It’s Engineered for Gut-Punching Good Times with Pals
Okay, but you can only stay in your dark, lonely little corner for so long, right? Eventually you’re going to want to get out there and slaughter your way to the top of Mount Bodies. Needless to say, Mortal Kombat X is attentive to your lust for conquest.
Aside from the usual option to slug it out with pals locally or with players online, you can engage in the cross-platform Faction War mode. When you first begin playing Mortal Kombat X, you’ll be asked to ally yourself with one of five factions tied into the game’s story. From there, you can participate in team fights against other factions for the chance to win points. Rewards are doled out weekly to teams with the highest point counts.
Squirting Blood and Shattered Bone, Rendered Flawlessly
Here’s a contender for understatement of the year: “Mortal Kombat X is bloody.”
The game’s trailers have already made it clear that some of X’s fatalities and movesets make Mortal Kombat 9‘s goriest moments look like a kindergarten playdate.
We see bones crack. We see guts slip out of fighters’ stomachs like masses of slimy rope. And, of course, we see blood. Lots of it.
If you’re squeamish about violence, Mortal Kombat X might put you off dinner for a while. If you can swallow some graphic fractures lovingly presented to you via X-ray vision, you’re in for a gore-fest that’s brutal—but also teeters on the edge of self-parody.
God of Thunder and protector of Earthrealm, Raiden, returns in MK X.
Classic Characters and Some New Faces, Too
Mortal Kombat isn’t just about brutal beat-downs. There’s a pretty complex backstory driving its events. What’s more, every time we play a new game, we get to re-unite with old favorites—and newcomers.
For instance, Mortal Kombat X debuts Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade. One of Cassie’s fatalities has her slicing off her opponent’s lower jaw, then taking a selfie with the gristly remains, which immediately goes up on a Facebook clone called “Friendship.” People say millennials are naturally narcissistic, but in Cassie’s case, she just takes after her pop.
Mortal Kombat X is slated to hit PC on Tuesday, April 14. You can already pre-purchase the game on Steam.
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