There's a reason Mortal Kombat is a well-known franchise and a true pop culture icon, and that's because it's all about the violence. Other games like Street Fighter or BlazBlue have a more cartoony approach, but Mortal Kombat 11 has impressive and very detailed graphics... and let's not forget they have never spared in gallons of blood.

If you can deal with hemorrhages, broken bones, dismemberment, and other gory scenarios, then Mortal Kombat 11 has what you're looking for. If not, you'll definitely have a hard time trying to save the universe from a space-time catastrophe, one Fatality at a time.

With almost 3 decades of history, it would be quite illogical (and stupid) to drastically change the formula that led Mortal Kombat to success. Although there are a few new faces and other popular fighters are missed in action, Mortal Kombat 11 brings our favorite characters from different timelines now fighting for or against Kronika, a powerful titan who can control the flow of time.

Fatalities, special moves… it’s all there. However, this new entry focuses not only in the gameplay but also in the story, tying up several loose ends and preparing the ground for whatever comes next. If you ever played a Mortal Kombat game, you won't feel disappointed with Mortal Kombat 11, while also finding some innovative things here and there to make things more interesting.

Mortal Kombat 11 is visually stunning, and that's great because in a game that relies so heavily on the violence, that touch of "realism" is what finally shapes a game like this. All characters are perfectly detailed, and every stage has a lot of elements that bring the game to life in the most subtle ways. Another area where MK11 shines is when it comes to the cutscenes, making you feel like you're actually watching a CGI movie with some playable parts for more interaction. In terms of the animation, we have to say that some movements and special moves are on point, while some other animations feel kinda fake. Maybe that's the only visual downside to Mortal Kombat 11, a game that takes 3D fighting to the next level.

Not every fighting game can brag about an awesome soundtrack, but Mortal Kombat 11 is everything you're looking for in terms of both epicness and hype material. No matter if you're playing through the story or just having some fun in the other modes the game has to offer, you'll be always accompanied by great music. There's some dubstep, there's some rap, and there's also "Techno Syndrome"! A Mortal Kombat game is not a Mortal Kombat game without it's most iconic song, right?

Aside from those songs that get you in the mood of killing, and the ones that give you chills during the cutscenes, we need to mention Mortal Kombat 11's sound effects, which really are the cherry on top of the cake. Sorry, the REAL cherry on top of the cake is the voice acting (including Ronda Rousey as Sonya Blade), full of cheesy lines but so perfectly delivered that you can't help but enjoy them and praise the talented actors behind the warriors. Oh, and by the way, you can even find a reference to Dan Forden's "Toasty"!

The story is better enjoyed if you know a thing or two about the previous games. If you're new to Mortal Kombat or the last time you played any MK game was back in the '90s, then you perhaps don't know why some major characters like Liu Kang or Kitana are dead... and evil. Maybe you also don't know how important was Shinnok's defeat or why Raiden became corrupted, something that motivates the arrival of Kronika, MK11's main antagonist and the first female final boss in a Mortal Kombat game.

So who's this Kronika after all? Well, she's Shinnok and Cetrion's mother, a tremendously powerful titan who wants to use her time-bending powers in order to start existence over yet banishing Raiden forever. By merging different timelines, Kronika recruits an army of warriors who all have been defeated or betrayed by the God of Thunder, but at the same time, other warriors like Liu Kang, Kitana, Kung Lao, and the pre-madness Raiden himself join Cassie Cage and the Special Forces to try and stop the universe's collapse. In the end, the plot lends itself to a retcon or whatever Ed Boon and his people have in mind for future editions. Anything is possible if you can rewrite history!

If you know how Mortal Kombat goes, then there's not much to say in regards to the gameplay. There are a lot of new moves, but in the end, it's just like any other fighting game, where you need to use your brute force to defeat your enemy before the time runs out. But hey, there are some new mechanics that you definitely want to know and master!

X-Ray moves are better integrated now, so you have these new Fatal Blows that will come very handy when you're about to die. When on low health, you can press L2+R2 for a spectacular combo, something that won't really do much damage but will undoubtedly look very cool and help to take some pressure off. The downside here is that you can only perform 1 Fatal Blow per match, so being patient and waiting for the optimal moment is a must. Another new mechanic, or rather another rework from a previous mechanic, is that now you'll find 2 meters in the bottom corner of your screen. You must be so used to a Special bar just like in every other fighting game, but this time your attack and defense options are independent of each other. Learning to master both your offensive and defensive options will take you some time, but we can guarantee you this is crucial when you go online against the top players. That kinda covers the basics, because you probably know that Fatalities are still a thing and you better go discover them yourself! Some are more clever than others, but they're all as brutal as you want them to be.

Another thing to mention about the gameplay is that you need internet access if you want to play the main modes, such as the Story Mode or the Krypt, for example. This is because you earn Koins, Hearts, and Time Krystals by playing, in-game currencies that you can later use to buy new stuff to customize your character. The problem is that, being the most valuable currency in the game, Time Krystals are so hard to get that you probably will drop the grind after a few hours, knowing that only the best skins are worthy of your time. If you want to speed up the process, then you'll notice that most items in the Premium Shop have scandalous prices when translated into real money... thus the outrage in the community. While it kinda makes sense, the need for an internet connection just for playing what otherwise would be an offline mode is not the best idea either, so those are two big no-no’s in our book.

All in all, Mortal Kombat 11 is a great game that will make every fan of the franchise very happy, unless they main one of the characters that were excluded, like Mileena, Shang Tsung or Goro, to name a few.

Like we stated earlier, no Mortal Kombat fan will regret buying MK11, and every newcomer will enjoy the opportunity of a fabulous starting point too. MK11's story will definitely give you the urge to go back and do some research about some significant plot points in the past games, but the gameplay will prove to be one of the best so far. In addition, the competitive scene and the grind for cosmetics give Mortal Kombat 11 a lot of replay value, with some already confirmed DLC packs in the near future to further improve the gameplay.

So that concludes our Mortal Kombat 11 review! For obvious reasons, we didn't want to spoil some things that are better when you're the one discovering them, so we strongly encourage you to go buy or borrow a copy of MK11 and play the hell out of it. You won't regret all the blood-spilling!

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