Published on July 30th, 2013 | by Gaurav Dutta

Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition reviewed

Get over here!

So I finally got my hands on the PC release of Mortal Kombat 9 or Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition.
Boy, is it full of wonders and for a $30 game, you get a ridiculous amount of content. From collectibles, hidden fatalities, alternate costumes to DLC and hidden characters, are all pre-unlocked in this release.
Now onto the detailed review.

Gameplay

Pretty straightforward, controls are smooth and never feel like you’re lagging behind. I just tested the keyboard controls for 10-15 minutes and this game is almost unplayable on a keyboard on account of the weird button placement. I switched to a gamepad and that’s when the real fun started.
The four buttons on the gamepad each correspond to the four limb of a characters making it much easier to execute hits.
Combos are very easy to execute although it depends on the different characters. Fatalities have been simplified to the point that there is even a tutorial on how to execute the different fatalities for each of the characters.
Babalities make a return too, and the fatalities are gruesome as ever. Tearing someone apart in half, cutting off someone’s head, they all feel very satisfying to watch and execute.
Now, for the best part of this game IMO, is the addition of X-ray moves. Each successful execution of a combo or getting hit by your opponent fills up a bar on the bottom of the screen(called “super meter”), which is divided into three parts.
Fill up part one and you get to execute an “enhanced” version of a special attack, fill up part two and you can block in between combos, and finally filling up part three allows you to execute an X-ray move which is basically a power move of sorts but gives you X-ray view of the opponent’s body as his/her internal bones are broken, organs being slashed. Cool, huh?
The game difficulty is a different matter though, at first I thought the game was pretty easy but suddenly the AI became too aggressive to the point it would only repeat the same move the whole fight giving no chance to stand back up. Sounds like cheating right? Read on.
Then again the AI became very easy, I can only say that the difficulty was a bit neglected giving me a feeling of an unbalanced game. The fight against Shao Kahn was the most frustrating as most of his attacks were unblockable and he either flung you into the air or stunned you with his hammer. As a boss, I can understand he is meant to be tough and all that but spamming the same attack over and again sounds like cheating to me.
This forced me to adopt the same technique against him and I didn’t like it at all. The game lacks a lot in this part.

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt!

Game Modes

There are a variety of different game modes in MK:KE.
Story mode lets you play different characters divided into 16 chapters and finally defeat the big boss Shao Kahn in the end. Story is propelled by in game cut scenes, but the fight that takes place after each scene feels quite rushed and awkward.
Typical example of a cut-scene followed by a fight:

A: What are you doing here?
B: I won’t let you through.
A: (takes fighting stance)
FIGHT!!

The story takes off after MK:Armageddon where Raiden, in his final moments against Shao Kahn sends a message to his past self which is the present in this game.
Pretty decent storyline in all.

Then there is the normal ladder mode where you fight 10 opponents to face Shao Kahn as the final opponent.
A “Challenge tower” which has 300 challenges to test your skills and push them to the max. Four different challenges in the form of Test your might, Test your sight, Test your strike and Test your Luck offer you different exercises to hone your skills upon.

Test your luck was the most fun out of these. Fighting without arms, while the screen blacks out every few seconds was awesome.
There is training mode to try out different characters and their moves as you will and a new Fatality tutorial which teaches you how to land fatalities by showing you the combo on the screen as well as where you need to stand in order to execute it.

Burn, Baby Burn!

Although it’s not a game mode, but there is a Nekropolis and a Krypt where you can unlock alternate costumes, fatalities, sketches, speed arts and other collectibles of the game by spending your Koins.
What are Koins? Well this is the game currency which you earn in all the game modes, the better your performance the greater amount of Koins you are able to earn.

Multiplayer

The multiplayer aspect of MK:KE is nothing new or anything to go ooh-aah about. Pretty standard although I experienced lags which put me off quite a bit. I mean, trying to pull off a combo only to be stuck can get frustrating.

I didn’t play online very much so my review will lack in this bit, my apologies.

Graphics

Even the ladies pack quite a punch….errr, elbow.

Split Ends, anyone?

I was able to fully max out the game on my system and the graphics are beautiful indeed. I’m sure it will run on older machines quite smoothly, the game being quite light on system demands.
You won’t be needing a uber-machine to run this game.
My only beef with the graphical aspect was the cut scenes in between the chapters which were poorly rendered and quite painful to watch. I’m not an elitist when it comes to game graphics but the in-engine renders were so beautiful that the cut-scenes put me off immediately.

Conclusion

The game is very tightly packed with a LOT of content which will make every penny of out $30 worth it. The characters are fun and each of them are unique in their own style. No two characters will feel the same while playing, this I guarantee you.
The graphics are very smooth and will run easily on older machines, which in turn will reach out to a wider audience.
Except for a few minor issues here and there which can be easily overlooked by the amount of sheer content and fun in this game, I give this game a solid 8/10.

Verdict: 8/10
Go get it ASAP!

Tags: gaming, mortal kombat, review

About the Author

Gaurav Dutta An undead zombie from the future, here to warn the planet about the inevitable future and save the planet. He likes black metal and drinks beer with Satan on weekends.