Usually, when a developer chooses to straight-up reboot a prized franchise, something has gone horribly awry, and wiping the slate clean feels like the only path forward. That was certainly the case when NetherRealm Studios did that to Mortal Kombat for the first time in 2011, wisely pretending that the lamentable Mortal Kombat: Armageddon never happened. But Mortal Kombat 1 is narratively starting from scratch coming off of Mortal Kombat 11, which, despicable microtransactions aside, was a fine game that was met with fan adoration. So, why pull an Etch A Sketch on a series when it’s firing on all cylinders?
For one, narrative reasons. Liu Kang defeated time-goddess Kronika in MK11 and, having been gifted complete dominion over time and space, decides to reboot the universe, but with a few key changes—namely, series baddies Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Shao Kahn being kept on a leash with menial jobs, and ex-Thunder God Raiden taking Liu Kang’s place as a Shaolin temple farmboy. Everything’s going swimmingly—hell, even the Mortal Kombat tournament between Earthrealm and Outworld feels less like a life-or-death battle for dominion than the Coachella of martial arts. Until someone who resembles Kronika starts filling in our main villains on who they used to be, and things from the before-fore times start sliding into place again.
That’s not the worst premise as a jumping-off point, but the idea of Mortal Kombat’s realms being at peace makes for an odd fit with the things that make the series stand out in the first place. There’s always been an undercurrent of bloodthirsty meanness to the experience of playing one of these games that only really flashes itself in MK1 during Fatal Blows and Fatalities. No, the blood and guts aren’t the entire reason the series endures, but it’s certainly the thing that’s made it stand out in an increasingly crowded field. The story modes of the last few games aren’t exactly Shakespeare, but there’s typically a careful ratio of B-tier wuxia fantasy to Grand Guignol brutality—a ratio that’s now too far askew in favor of the former.
There’s still a goofy charm to the game’s story mode, and finding out how different all of our old heroes’ fates are in this new world does goose things up a bit. But aside from a bonkers multiversal climax, the campaign isn’t offering anything that can’t be provided with much more conviction and cinematic oomph à la Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro, or even Baldur’s Gate 3.
The same can be said for the combat in general, though at least a couple of things feel fresh in that regard. There are now proper aerial combos built into every character’s moveset, the Kameo fighter system lets the old versions of these character we know and love share a tiny bit of the spotlight, and a new quirky RPG mode, Invasions, is a cool—and blessedly better balanced—twist on MK11’s Towers, allowing players to earn bonuses and cosmetics just by playing a weird, oddball, top-down RPG with random elements and obstacles thrown into the mix.
Compared to just how expansive MK11 felt even at launch, MK1 feels a bit like Street Fighter V at launch. At least this game has a full-fledged campaign and Arcade style modes with fully voiced endings, but there’s a similar feeling of emptiness about it. That’s a bad vibe to get, especially for the first major fighting game to launch in Street Fighter 6’s shadow. There’s plenty of room for MK1 to expand, but as it stands, Mortal Kombat just tested its might on another reboot and may have broken something unnecessarily in the process.
This game was reviewed using a retail copy purchased by the reviewer.
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