Mortal Kombat 9 Review

Graphics: 9

Gameplay: 8

Replay Value: 8

This is Rumor Control, here are the facts. Over the years Mortal Kombat has changed

a lot: It's become more and more violent with each passing game, new characters have

been added and new ways to fight have been introduced (i.e. different fighting

styles. Weapons, breakers, etc.) With the release of Mortal Kombat 4 back in 1997

the classic side to side arenas were ditched in favor of a 360 arena, and ever since

that has remained the same… Until now, with the release of Mortal Kombat (or to make

it easier Mortal Kombat 9) going back to it's roots with a re-imagining of the first

three games. Personally, I always preferred the Deadly Alliance trilogy over the

original games, being that I wasn't too good with the originals, so the side to side

gameplay worried me for a bit. Thankfully I had nothing to worry about since every

character has his/her own fighting styles, combos and special attacks, all of which

are easy to learn and perform thanks to a guide in the pause menu. This makes

bringing the pain to the forces of Outworld easier and more fun, and the learning

curve is simple. New gamers will just start off mashing buttons and using the

simplest combos (like square, square, square and such) and special attacks. However

after a while the harder combos come easier and easier and long with those new

tactics come into play, making you think what you should do rather then just mash

away until you win. Along with the new fighting style is the introduction of the

X-Ray moves. The X-Ray move involves your character attacking your opponent, all the

while showing the shear damage inflicted upon him/her through x-rays, showing skulls

being broken, femurs snapped, guts busted, rib cages crumbled, knee caps smashed,

jaws unhinged, necks broken, backs smashed, pelvises shattered and so on. It's a

real nice spectacle and it causes a lot of damage to your opponent, giving an edge

in the fight. But you have to remember to use them when the time is right, because

your opponent can dodge and block your x-ray move and if that happens you're going

to have to fill up your X bar all over again, and that can be a big problem is your

losing. Despite the fact that I had just praised the X-Ray move, I also want to

criticize it. Like I had said, many major bones and organs are severely damaged

during the x-ray, however it does nothing critical to your opponent other then

making them lose a lot of health. What I mean by this is despite the fact that the

person in question's neck is broken and back busted, they can still get about and

keep fighting like nothing has happened. Personally I would like the x-ray move to

do more to the opponents way of fighting, like making them gradually lose health,

make their attacks weaker and their movements sluggish. Unfortunately none of that

happens, which really makes me wish the game designers worked on the x-ray moves a

little more. But for what it's worth they're still cool attacks and add new flavor

to the old fighting game. One thing I love about MK9 is that I can easily kill a few

hours with the multiple varieties of play that are offered. The most obvious is

Ladder, which is your basic single player mode. As always you start off at the

bottom and work your way to the top. It's simple, but as always is the best way to

play Mortal Kombat. Another thing I like about the fights is the stages. They are so

beautifully made and are really cool to look at, to the point where they're become a

big distraction. Sometimes I just want to look at the stages and backgrounds rather

then fight. Hell sometimes I find new things that I never saw before. The fatalities

are also better then ever, with them being incredibly violent. They're really fun to

watch with some characters (like Stryker) having flat out awesome fatalities. At

first the fatalities come off as shocking, hell my first reaction was "Holy shit

stop it! He's already dead!" But after a while you get used to them and they lose

their edge. Still, they're great and it's wonderful to see the old violence back

once more.  However, there is just one thing that I cannot stand with Ladder mode,

but more on that later. The second mode is Challenge Tower, which contains about 300

matches! Now sometimes they're regular fights, but many other times it's either more

complicated then that or just something rather silly. For complicated we have things

such as no blocking, attack with only special moves, and other handicaps. The silly

things are… silly. For one thing there is a mode where you play as Stryker and

Johnny Cage. How does this play out you say? Is it a fight? No, it involves you

having to stay at one side of the stage shooting at zombies. Not only that, but you

have to constantly reload. It's actually really interesting and quite fun. Just get

comfortable, because the challenge tower will take you quite a long time… and I also

hope you like disappointments. Lastly there is story mode, which for me is bitter

sweet. It's sweet for a whole bunch of reasons. For one it involves just fighting

other characters. Now that may sound repetitive, however compared to the other games

Konquest modes, it's a breath of fresh air, not to mention there are one on two

fights here and there adding more challenge. Another addition to it is voice acting,

and a lot of it. The characters all speak in full complete sentences rather then

just text, which adds a certain level of humanity to him/her, making that character

even more likeable. The actors are just great and you can tell that a lot of work

went into their dialogue. The story itself is good, but here's where my problems

with it start. The story starts at the end of Armageddon, with all of the fighters

dead, except for Raiden and Shao Kahn. However, Shao Kahn is victorious, ready to

bring about the end of Earthrealm. However, before killing him, Raiden sends back

visions of all the tournaments to his past self with the message "He Must Win!"

After receiving the visions and  message, Raiden spends the rest of the story mode

trying to stop the events that lead to Armageddon. And herein lays the problem:

Raiden is a fucking idiot! He constantly makes stupid decisions, and these decisions

keep getting characters killed! He drives one character to complete insanity, he

flat out refuses to save a character despite the fact that he saved another from the

save exact fate with ease I might add, he tries to sell the souls of the dead

Earthrealm warriors to Quan Chi, and it goes on and on and on! What's worse is the

fact that he doesn't even know what the message "He Must Win!" Means, with him

repeatedly making bad mistakes. Hell there was one part where the Elder Gods

themselves actually gave him the fucking answer! However, Raiden is too stupid to

realize it! All in all I like the alternate history storyline, it gives us new

characters from old characters and is really creative. The cut scenes themselves are

really great to watch and this actually could be made into a pretty good movie. It's

just… God, Raiden is an idiot! Oh well. My other complaint is the female characters.

Why? Well they wear barley any clothes and they have huge breast. That really pisses

me off! Why? Well for one thing it's sexist and two it isn't necessary! For those of

you who know me, remember how I used to complain about the way Sonya looked in

Mortal Kombat Legacy? Yeah, I'm over that now because she looks far, far worse in

Mortal Kombat 9. I can't stand it, this is very demeaning and insulting and the

developers should be ashamed! My only other real gripe is with Shao Kahn in Ladder

mode. He's a cheat, plain and simple. I don't think I have ever fought such a cheap,

cheating boss in a fighting game in all my life. What's wrong with him? Well for one

thing his attacks are stronger then yours, he constantly uses his special moves

which deals out twice the damage yours can, his unnecessary X-Ray move cause you to

loose half your life, your regular attacks don't do a lot of damage, your special

attacks don't do a lot of damage, your x-ray move does very little and to top it all

off if he gets you stuck in one en of the arena, well just get yourself a shovel

because now you're in deep shit! Trust me, there is no way out, not to mention you

cannot block any of his attacks! I think one of the worst things about him is his

victory pose: Kahn starts off laughing at you while a half naked woman spends a

whole minute crawling over to him. When she gets to him she sighs and moans happily.

That is just annoying, flat out annoying because it takes so long and you can't skip

it! Oh, and the moan is the worst! To me it's the sound that you lost, and goes

right through my head like a knife! But get used to this image because it will take

you three or four tries before you finally beat him! However, Kahn has one thing

going for him: His taunts. They involve him saying "You weak pathetic fool!" "You

are nothing!" "Fear the wrath of Shao Kahn!" "It's official! You Suck!" and "Is that

your best?" For me they're really funny. Why? Because he says them like Hulk Hogan.

I am not kidding. Hell whenver he says them I half expect Andre the Giant and

Captain Lou Albano to come out of nowhere and fight with Kahn. Other then that Kahn

is a cheat. All in all, Mortal Kombat 9 is a great game. Sure it has some things I

don't like, but they're not really big enough to change my opinion. There's lots of

fun to be had in it and plenty of hours to kill. This has to be the best Mortal

Kombat game in a long, long time!





Verdict: 8/10

That was Rumor Control and those were the facts! Now if you'll excuse me, I want to go for a walk.

(HttC goes for a walk. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, children laugh and play and everyone is at peace. Soon enough, HttC meets up with his fellow critics.

HttC: Hey guys, whats up?

KJ: The sky!

HttC: (Laughs) Very funny James!

Volts: I'm doing really good.

Burnout: Yeah, I don't think I've felt this good in a while.

(Suddenly the sky turns black and thunder claps!)

KJ: What is that?
HttC:… The Emperor!

(A building is destroyed and Shao Kahn appears.)

Kahn: You weak, pathetic fools! I have come for your souls!

(Electricity appears in HttC's eyes.)

HttC: I don't think so!

(The critics get into a fighting stance and that's the end of that!)