Mortal Kombat X Review: Good to play in 2020?

Updated:

11 Dec 2023

Get Over Here!!

See above: Beautiful illustration of one of the franchises man characters Scorpion (Hanzo Hasashi)

The battle continues..

As most fans know, the Mortal Kombat series is now on its 11th installment and is even be said to be one of the best combat games of its time. Not many people realize the amount of replayability each installment brings after that first nostalgic, “FINISH HIM” or the , “duh duh duh” backdrop after successfully entering a fatality combo. With that being said, there’s one installment that changed Mortal Kombat as we knew it, since the reboot in 2011. This being Mortal Kombat X, the fastest selling title in this series. The question is, are people still playing it today in 2020, 5 years after the initial release? Let’s find out!

What is Mortal Kombat X?

“Mortal Kombat X” is the second to latest installment (10th) in the Mortal Kombat franchise created by NetherRealm Studios followed up by its sequel “Mortal Kombat 11” which was released April 2019. It is a fighting game in which two characters fight against each other using a surplus of attacks and combos such as, special moves, combo breakers, stage interactions/fatalities, fatalities, quitalities and faction kills. Players are allowed to face each other in various ways such as online or local play or, a single player against the CPU.

Game’s release

Mortal Kombat X was officially released by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment in 2015 on all major platforms(IOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) and later in May on Android. When the game was released on consoleit received amazing reception and anticipation due to controls, gameplay, story and characters as shown in various reviews by IGN, Metacritic and more. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the mobile and PC releases. Obvious reasons for mobile being lack of feel in controls, easy fights and gameplay complications. In all there wasn't much backlash.

PC however received a more mixed reception because of data tech issues, various frame rate bugs and even porting issues. These issues were later resolved after various patches and updates from NetherRealm, and thus since remained very positive in terms of player reviews(Over 20,000). In all, Mortal Kombat X became the fastest selling game in the history of the Mortal Kombat franchise and won, “Best Fighting Game Of The Year (2015)”.

Commercial Performance

Although the game itself wonBest Fighting Game (2015) and was in the top 10 for its genre upon release, there isn’t official sales information for console/pc sales/streams. However, it is said to have sold the most copies in franchise history with 11 million copies sold since its release in 2015 says Ed Boon, creator of the series, in an interview with GameInformer. As for development, the games budget has yet to be revealed. With that being said, the game was in production for at least 3 years; beginning hiring for actors in April of 2012 and officially announced development July 2015.

Story

See above: One of Mortal Kombat X’s many characters Scorpion performing his iconic, “Get over here!!” Spear move

The story takes place 25 years after Mortal Kombat also known as, “Mortal Kombat 9”. In which, Earthrealm fighters are in charge of fixing affairs between Earthrealm and NetherRealm because Kano (human) gave Shinok’s Amulet to Mileena(NetherRealm clone of Kitana, Daughter of Shao Khan), which she plans to use to rule over Outworld alongside the new warlord of the NetherRealm Kotal Khan, resulting from the death of Shang Tsung. As for in game story, there’s single player story mode combat versus the CPUwhich is plot driven and has cutscenes between fights.

Gameplay

See below: A devastating nut-shot blow trademark of Johnny Cage, from Cassie Cage( Daughter of Johnny Cage) against opponent Devorah

Now here’s the fun stuff. The game includes 25 playable characters and a number of additional dlc. Aside that there are also 5 factions which a player can register under to receive points toward their faction, player account exp/card customizations and exclusive combos or “faction kills” only unlockable after your faction wins at the end of the week. A player can choose no faction but it slightly limits gameplay like participation in Faction Wars. As far as game modes go, offline there is single player story mode, living towers and 1 vs 1.

Online you can choose between 1 vs 1 (ranked or random), King of the hill, test your luck and faction wars. There are 17 maps called Kombat zones for players to choose from and play on, with some even having unplayable npc’s in the background and stage interactions much like a previous installment by NetherRealm Studios,“Injustice Gods Among Us”.

Since the release the game has been neglected in a few areas in terms of game experience and content like over priced skin packs and character roster emissions like Rain and Sindel. As far as replaying the game the main focus is to fight people online thus being never ending in replayabilty due to roster updates and special combos. If you’re looking for a replayable story, this might not be the game for you seeing as if it’s repetitive fights back to back, though the enemies you fight and the order may vary Yet still, endless hours of entertainment remain never knowing how the battle may end.

Combat

The best part of Mortal Kombat is the realistic combat. Whether it’s the intense blow for blow fight, amazing stage fatalities, an X- Ray finisher or a gruesome fatality, there is never a dull moment with it’s fast paced combat. A player creates a player card which earns exp or coins for in game skins /card customizations. Players can keep track of their wins/losses against their opponents online as well.

When talking characters themselves each character comes with 3 different weapon variations that include different movesets. Not to mention the amazing audio feedback with horrific screams and leaking blood is right where it should be when fighting. This allows for amazing combat strategies and gameplay to spice up the PvP, local being the quicker more efficient of the two, while modes like ranked take longer to find players especially now thanks to the release of MK 11.

Graphics

Since the reboot and evolution of consoles, when Mortal Kombat X was released it actually had to cancel its versions for current gen systems at the time (PS3 and Xbox 360) because the graphics and frame rate of the game were too significant for the systems processing. But this in turn created a more realistic feel to the game with advanced graphics and more graphic content.

See above: Side by side analytics between graphics from the previewed release at E3(2014) vs the actual release in 2015

Developer

Mortal Kombat X was developed by NetherRealm Studios and distributed by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. As stated earlier,upon release the game received a mixed reception from critics due to the PC version being buggy. Along with that, a delay in skin packs available for PC players also disturbed the community. At first it seemed the developers were ignoring the community while promising patches to fix glitches that in turn did nothing, but overtime more frequent patches and fixes, as well as dlc were added to all versions of the game first releasing as Mortal Kombat XL on consoles a year later, as well as a Kombat Pack 1 and 2 later in May for PC.

Price

Mortal Kombat X costs about $6-22 depending on the system/console and the deals available at the time,for the standard edition on all platforms(IOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Android), and is free to play on mobile devices with additional in game purchases like coins or Kombat Packs either containing characters or skins. The “Kollector Edition” on the other hand still ranges from $60-$100 due to bonus character customization. Is MK X pay to win you might be wondering. Well no worries because it’s not! Character customization is purely cosmetic and doesn’t alter the experience one bit.

Conclusion

Well what do you think? Is Mortal Kombat X good to play in 2020? I would say better than ever and on a scale out of 1-10 (10 being really good), I’d give it an 8. With frequent patch updates, a still active community with thousands still playing, amazing graphics and gameplay, I don’t see why you wouldn’t play MK X(unless you have MK 11). Here’s a list of pros and cons for the title to decide for yourself:

Pros: