Good graphics and totally awesome game play. But terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE Story Mode.
Stupid. The End.
GAME PLAY
This is what made the game. Netherrealm Studios was able to take everything that was good in MK2 and UMK3, combine it, and create a near flawless gaming experience. It's very easy to use the pre-coded combos and also create your own using your imagination. Tag team is finally available and just makes the combos more awesome. Words cannot describe how fun this game is so you can honestly stop reading here and go buy the game if you haven't already. Though, If you insist then read on.
GRAPHICS
Same Unreal Engine as Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, but I'd say somehow improved. Maybe because this game was taken more seriously in an MK-sense compared to MKvsDC. The colors are definitely more "dark" which brings you back to the style of Mortal Kombat II. It is obvious the artists took more time into creating detail and great environments (the stages you fight in).
GAME MODES
Test Your Might and Sight are back from MK1 and MK Deadly Alliance but with an improvement: failure will cost you your life. Even though you're the one getting killed, it's still quite entertaining to see how it will happen. New to MK is test your strike. If you've ever seen Bloodsport (one of many films that inspired Mortal Kombat) this feature game mode is VERY familiar. In Bloodsport, Frank Dux (played by Jean Claude Van Damme) had to prove that he mastered the death-touch by breaking a specific brick in an entire pile of bricks. Similarly in Mortal Kombat, you have to raise your power meter to a specific spot and keep it there long enough to break the required object.
FEATURES
Enhanced moves return from MKvsDC but are restricted to your power meter. This I like. No more spamming of enhanced specials. Combo breakers return but you have to earn it as well through your power meter. I saved the best for last; X-Ray moves is one of the coolest additions to this game. Just watching all the brutal destruction you land on your opponents is almost as satisfying as watching a fatality.
DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT
I loved the downloadable content up until the release of Freddy Krueger. Sure, the guy is violent, but does he deserve a place in Mortal Kombat? I truly think not. There is an entire handful of MK characters that did not make it in this game that they could have chosen from. If Quan Chi is in the roster, then why not another post-MK3 character that is more deserving that a slasher film villain? The multitude of classic skins for the ninjas was an okay DLC, but other characters could have used a make-over too (like Sonya). The fact that there were quite a few stages left out of the game from the MK1-MK3 era and never made it to DLC was pretty disappointing. Not one new or classic stage for DLC. Sad. To make sure fans were even more dissapointed, they provide even more (and better) alternate costume available for PS Vita. That's just as stupid as MK Gold exclusively for Dream Cast. If they don't plan on releasing more DLC at some point after PS Vita sales have flattened out, I'll lose a lot of respect for the MK Team.
STORY MODE
This has to be the biggest let down of the entire game. Everything you thought you knew about Mortal Kombat and its characters was just pooped on. John Tobais probably had a seizure after seeing what Netherrealm Studios had done to Mortal Kombat's beloved history. This game was supposed to be a reboot. Instead, they made it a continuation of Armageddon and totally screwed up the story line all fans fell in love with. They set themselves up for even more failure with the cliffhanger ending.
SPOILER ALERT. Do not read below this line if you do not wish to know the end of story mode.
Quan Chi, who didn't belong in this game, unites with his master Shinnok and here comes a reboot of Mortal Kombat 4. Shang Tsung is a complete powerless toolbag in story mode and all the credit is given to Quan Chi. Don't get me wrong, I love Quan Chi, but not when he's in a place he doesn't belong!
OVERALL
This game would have gotten a 10 from me. But story mode knocked it down. Story is part of what made Mortal Kombat. And good job Netherrealm Studios, you just destroyed part of my childhood.