In the wheelhouse of fighting games, Mortal Kombat has garnered a reputation through the years. Since the original game back in 1992, the series holds a special place in the industry for its absolute brutality and unrestrained use of blood, gore, and guts. While some people might be disgusted and disturbed, many of us find it unique and entertaining. Personally, I do not encourage mindless killing, but, given the stereotypes of this game, I am admittedly interested in many aspects of Mortal Kombat and the controversy that the game stirs.
Besides being a traditional 2D sidescrolling fighting game with copious amounts of blood, Mortal Kombat has several unique identifying features. There’s the “Fatality” – an extra move the victorious player can perform to brutally kill or maim the losing opponent. It’s a brutally over-the-top finishing move. On the other end, the game features fairly realistic martial arts styles (with some magical and technological exceptions) and fluid movements with fists, feet, and weapons alike, which players will need mastery over their controllers to perform.
All opinions aside, there were many factors that made Mortal Kombat deserving of its fame today. First and foremost, besides the ever popular characters of the series like Sub Zero, Scorpion, and Quan Chi, a plethora of new cast kept each generations of the game connected. Along with changes in the roster, the series features fairly balanced and ever evolving game mechanics. Unlike cliché annual sports games, each Mortal Kombat game brought some brand new changes to fighting styles and systems, which often pleased the fans. Notable examples include an introduction of weapons in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance or the use of different energy systems since Mortal Kombat: 2011. Mortal Kombat competitions are particularly exciting to watch, something the series shares with other AAA fighting games. The game’s tournaments often become a competition of skill, reflexes, strategy, and even player psychology.
Other than stirring up a myriad of controversies, Mortal Kombat has plenty of issues. Storylines with many spontaneous revivals, dimensional and temporal inconsistencies, unnecessarily complicated and confusing backstories, and plots with more holes than a beehive make me cringe. While the story has never been the selling point of fighting games like this, I wanted more effort put into it. The occasional overly excessive gore can also be the game’s downfall, despite being one of the main selling points. Sometimes, watching a particularly painful fatality move can easily make me irresistibly twitch, but that might be what the developers wanted after all, despite the fact that I hate it. Last but not least, deviations from the 2d fighter genre, spinoffs like “Mortal Kombat: Special Forces” and “Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero” have never ended well.
Surviving bans in several countries and further reputation concerns, Mortal Kombat will be releasing it tenth title in 2015, dubbed “Mortal Kombat X”. Instead of the pixelated bloody messes of yesteryear, the new game will be on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in high-def glory. The mechanics have also been largely revamped, with new and exciting forms of combat and customizable characters. The game also features much more interactive environments, avoiding the “corner tactics” of traditional fighting games and rewarding players for exploiting split-second opportunities. Overall, the system will be seen as a robust improvement to the already amazing title/reboot in 2011.
In an interview at E3 2014, Ed Boon, NetherRealm’s creative director, said “We have these meetings and everyone comes up with ideas for Fatalities. The ones that people say ‘there’s no way we can do that’ –they’re the first ones we work on.” Sometimes I truly wonder what kind of people has the creativity for so much dismemberment. After all, this game is largely responsible for the formation of Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Needless to say, while many other contemporary fighting games often feature cartoon-like or downplayed violence, Mortal Kombat series like to take blood and gore up to eleven. Some people are truly concerned with how the violent natures of the game can affect our minds, but, in my opinion, since not everyone who played these games had become violent psychological maniac, it is safe to say that we should largely be fine. Controversies will likely continue, but I am looking forward to the next installment and all of the changes it might bring to fighting games.
Be First to Comment