A game made for the completionist as well as the hardcore gamer. Be prepared to drop countless hours into this one.
Don't get me wrong, I love Scorpion. Easily my favourite character in the Mortal Kombat franchise. But I can't help but feel bad for the Sub-Zero fans who had to watch their beloved Lin Kuei warrior get his ass handed to him repeatedly. In order to prevent further Story Mode spoilers, I will prevent myself from going on about this note other than mentioning what I find to be one of the most blatantly biased game menues I have ever seen in Scorpion breaking Sub-Zero's jaw. It's official, Scorpion is to MK as Wolverine is to X-Men.
Besides the menu, the first thing you will notice as you play on is the MK trademark voice-over. As you select a character in the character selection screen, the voice which has graced the franchise for years intimidatingly says the names of each character as you select them. Before even playing, I made sure to select my way through the impressive roster as I was in awe of how he made ridiculous names so completely awesome. If I hadn't listened to his voice-over of "Ermac" I would still think it was the name of a promotional burger at McD's. This audio carries throughout the game flawlessly. From voice-over performances in Story Mode, to the outstanding soundtrack, it just makes you want to play tug-of-war with a helpless body.
Of course, the majority of people will buy this game to watch their friend's faces as they rip them limb from limb, and this is fine, but when their friend decides they can't play on as they must scrub their eyes with a loofa they will be thrilled to know Story Mode is as good as it gets. It is true MK at its very best. A great story and script that makes you feel for each character, excellent variety of useable characters, difficult challenges paced perfectly from fight to fight, and Scorpion. Lots of Scorpion. It's difficult to ask for a better Story Mode in a fighting game, but in an attempt to play devil's advocate, I really wish you could play as more Outworld and Nether Realm characters, because as much as I like bagging someone with Johnny Cage, I really would have liked to crush some skulls with Sheeva's brute strength.
Other game modes include, varied Ladder types, a Challenge Ladder that places you in a variety of situations, and several mini games that will be familiar to MK vets. These modes provide nice variety from the story mode and will keep you busy for hours. I found myself attempting to unlock the ending stories for each character, curious to hear the stories for each of the numerous characters. Of course I played as Kratos first as I couldn't contain my excitement of the God of War's inclusion in the roster, and found myself pleased with the way he was written into the universe.
The gameplay and level design are fantastic. You must string combos and special attacks together as you best your foe. Levels are gorgeous. Backgrounds are incredibly animated as living trees breath and move, or an excutioner sharpens his axe. Many levels have their own custom fatalities, and it is worth discovering each one, because they are jaw-dropping. Pin-point timing will be the key to truly mastering the controls. Sometimes I found myself string a combo just slightly out of time as my character locked up and was fed a barriage of special attacks as punishment. It can be frustrating, but when you time it perfectly there is no better feeling. And when you hear "FINISH HIM" it is time to unleash a Fatality, and there are many of them. It is one of the many pleasures to unlock and use each one. The mini games are simple yet challenging as you climb each ladder, and they provide an alternate way of collecting koins (the in-game (k)urrency). These koins can be spent in the Krypt which is a massive variety of hidden collectibles. Here you can find anything from alternate costumes to new fatalities. True diehards and completionists will be in heaven.... or hell in this scenario.
It's not a perfect game, but in my opinion this is the best fighting game I have ever played. It is an experience that needs to be owned to appreciate everything, and I am glad it is my first review. It is deserving of that milestone, and definitely deserving of your investment. Please Sub-Zero fans, forgive.
FINISH HIM!
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