Mortal Kombat 1 Review (AngelStyle_FGC)
TLDR: Gameplay is solid. Kameo system and other gameplay mechanics are unique and cool (IMO). Rest of the game is lackluster and lacking severely compared to similar games in the genre. Strongly recommend not purchasing or at least waiting for it to go on sale for a very reduced price.
Yeah so..... Game released unfinished and took over a year to make the game an actual product worth purchasing. Please keep this in mind when reading the review. This is a product they offered for upwards of $110 USD at launch, which literally was just a pre-order of the DLC and a Jean Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny . That in an of itself is reason enough to recommend not purchasing, but there is actually so much more to discuss.
PROS:
- Gameplay: The gameplay is actually really solid. I really appreciated NRS going back to their old meter system, where you earn you meter throughout the match and brought back the breaker system, while keeping the flawless block mechanic, while also introducing new mechanics like the 'up block' and 'uppercut jump cancel'. The Kameo system (IMO) is actually pretty cool. Although its not perfect, I still like how kameos add a unique way to approach certain match ups and offers different tech and setups for the main fighters.
CONS:
- Lack of single player content: Story mode, Towers, or Invasions (which is Towers, BUT DIFFERENT!). That is your MK 1 single player experience. Story mode can be finished in like 2-3 sessions. First half of story was promising but second half was utter trash. It read like they consulted ChatGPT on how to finish the script. Towers is, well, towers and Invasions... *SIGH* If you know, you know.
- Lack of customization: I'm not big on customizing characters or whatever. But for people who do value it, it is a big step down from what you had in MK 11. Most of the content has to be earned by grinding invasions for hours and hours (ew) or is hidden behind micro transactions. MK 1 is the Overwatch 2 of fighting games. But even OW 2 is free to play.
- Lack of online features: There are two subcategories here. 1) Features that were missing at launch and have since been added (at least in some part), and 2) Features that are still not available that reasonably should be.
1) Cross-play between PC and Console, a way to deny playing against wireless players in ranked, a way to pin moves from the movelist in training mode.
2) An *actual* matchmaking filter system for both ranked and player matches, KOTH room matchmaking, Player room matchmaking, online training mode, an ability to choose a KOTH lobby.
All the features above are present in ALL other big name fighting game titles. I recently purchased Under Night In-Birth 2, which is a small anime fighter produced from a significantly smaller company with way less resources and even that game has more comprehensive matchmaking features than MK1.
- Constant bugs and connectivity issues: Matchmaking in this game was absolutely horrible on PC only until very recently. There was a period of time (MONTHS of time) where basically every other ranked set you played ended in desynchronization and forced players back into the online main menu, which meant the matches you just played didn't count. During this time you'd be lucky to get one complete set every five/six sets played. The game also launched with 'Player 1 advantage', which basically meant certain combos could only be performed on player 1 side. This advantage hasn't occurred since MK 9. Even in current day, the overall online experience is underwhelming. Even in games that are listed at >50ms, I still run into lag spikes and latency issues, almost every single game. I run wired 700ms down / 50ms up consistently. For a game that runs a funded series for competitive players, they sure seem to be lacking the resources to add sufficient servers for online play (which is where 99.9% of the players actually play).
CONCLUSION: Although the game play is a huge step up from MK 11 and is fun to play most of the time, the rest of the game is just lacking in so many ways. I've run the cycle of: Uninstall because game is uninteresting atm --> see new DLC and update announced --> reinstall and play for about 3 days --> get bored and repeat step 1. Given NRS's recent track record with MK 11 and now MK 1, its safe to say I would not recommend buying the base game nor buying the upcoming expansion DLC ($50 USD, LMAO). I would recommend you try another fighting game instead or just purchase any of the other previous NRS titles.