Let me get this out there before I say\nanything else. This is not a review\nabout graphics, outfits, story modes, krypts or any of those extras. This is a\nreview about mortal kombat as a fighting game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
MK11 is the best MK game to date in my\nopinion and there are quite a few reasons for this. On top of that, I would\neven dare to say it\u2019s the best modern fighting game available, but my reasons\nto feel this way are definitely the same reasons why some people hate MK11.\nMK11 is a game that favors neutral gameplay, with proper defensive mechanisms\nand it ditches the long combo and high pressure style that most modern games\nhave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s be honest about new games, they are\nflashy, they are pretty, but they have been designed to give everyone a winning\nchance. The problem is that this is mostly done through the use of coin\nflipping mechanics. Before I go on, it\u2019s\nimportant to define that allowing a game to have good pressure mechanics is not\na bad thing at all. The problem comes when games emphasizes those mechanics and\nthey give the defending player very little in terms of options to escape that\npressure. This turns the game into a constant oki 50\/50 nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In my opinion, and the opinion of many other\nplayers, a good fighting game needs to have a strong neutral game. There is no\nneed for 30 hit combos, or dizzy bars that allow you to perform a 50\/50\nsequence and go for the kill. To me, a good player is one that is able to\noutsmart you and bait you to make mistakes in the neutral game and a good fighting\ngame is one that allows for that scenario to play out several times per round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It seems to me like many players are now\ntoo used to the \u201cblender\u201d mechanics. Meaning that they expect a fighting game\nto be all about fishing for that one neutral poke that allows them to start a never-ending\ncombo, some 50\/50 pressure and win. In my opinion, the more a game resets back\nto neutral per round, the more value your win is going to have over your\nopponent. On the contrary, the more the game pushes the 50\/50 scenarios, the\nleast value your win is going to have over your opponent. I have never heard\nanyone bragging about being good at rock, paper, scissors, and it makes sense\nbecause skill has nothing to do with winning such a game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before anyone jumps off their chair, I know\nthat ALL fighting games have 50\/50 mechanics, there is no question about that\nat all. The thing that separates good games from bad games is the amount of\ntools that are available to reset the neutral and avoid endless 50\/50\u2019s. The\nreason why MK11 stands out so much, is that it offers many tools for the\nneutral to be reset and for the guessing game to be kept to a minimum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mortal Kombat 11 is everything I have been\nexpecting to see in a modern Fighting game. This is definitely NOT a game for\ncasual players. The neutral heavy style and the complex defensive and offensive\nmechanics make it a very technical game. It requires quality footsies and\nknowledge of your character\u2019s buttons to properly space your attacks and punish\nyour opponent for their whiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most modern fighting games are heavily\nfocused on the offense and on the blender style of gameplay. Everyone gets to\nhave their Daigo moment now because comebacks are incredibly easy and it only\ntakes a couple of 50\/50 scenarios to dizzy your opponent and go for a final\nkilling combo. A similar thing happens with MKX, with an emphasis on pressure\nand 50\/50 scenarios. If you are expecting that type of gameplay with this game,\nyou are definitely barking up the wrong tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MK11 is a game that favors strategy and\nproper spacing over endless combos and guessing. As I said before, I know that\nall fighting games have 50\/50 situations, but MK11 has a very large arsenal of\ndefensive options to allow you to reset the neutral. This is something that\nrewards skilled players and works against those who rely on the guessing game\ninstead of relying on their actual skills to play mind games with their\nopponent and get the upper hand in a match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the best things about MK11 is that\nyou don\u2019t need to build meter in order to make use of the most powerful defensive\nmechanisms. Every fight starts with two full bars for defense and two full bars\nfor offense, but the beauty of the system is that those bars will regenerate\neven if you stand idle and they take less than 15 seconds to regenerate. This\ntakes the game into a direction where nothing can be abused excessively and\nTHAT is what makes MK11 such an amazing fighting game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The zoning complaint<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most common things I have seen\nlately is that people are complaining about the zoning in the game. They are\nsaying that this is going to be Injustice 2 all over again, but they say this\nbecause they haven\u2019t even bothered to understand the mechanics of MK11. Zoning\nin MK11 is actually not easy to abuse. Most characters have a fast move that\ncan punish most projectiles if they fail to connect, not to mention that a good\nnumber of characters have teleports, but the true icing on the cake are the\ndifferent loadouts that players can use for their characters. Let\u2019s take Kano\nas a perfect example. Kano\u2019s main loadout is not ideal for zoners, but he does\nhave a rolling attack that is very good to close in on zoning characters like\nScarlet. With that said, Kano has an even deadliner move that can be used with\na different load out, this move allows him to supercharge his kano ball attack\nand this gives the move armor against projectiles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Loadouts in this game are all about giving\ncharacters ideal tools depending on their matchup. This increases the\npossibility of maining only one character, as long as you are able to learn to\nuse all of their loadouts. Zoning was indeed a huge issue with a game like\nInjustice, but MK11 developers where quite aware of that issue, and they made\nsure that all characters had an effective way to move in on zoners. This game\nis as balanced as it gets when it comes to the tools you have at your disposal.\nThis means that all players need to learn how to maneuver the 3 main\ningredients of a good layer in fighting games, and those are the zoning game,\nthe neutral game and the pressure game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember I heard some guy complaining\nthat rounds take forever to end. Why would this be an issue at all. It seems to\nbe like many newcomers in the fighting community are too used to the endless\ncombos and the endless juggles that are used in many modern titles. A good\nplayer should be able to handle the neutral game as many times as needed in\norder to win. If you are only able to win by putting your opponent through the\n50\/50 blender, you are a weak and very one-dimensional player. MK11 forces\nevery player to learn to handle the neutral, the zoning game and the pressure\ngame at equal measures and that is a brilliant move by the NRS team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are obviously some great pressure\ntools. One thing I really like is the way that amplification works. This brings\na surprise element to certain moves that are extended when you amplify them, so\nthis can keep your opponent on their toes when they are looking to punish\nmoves. There is also the fatal blow, which has been designed to be a very powerful\ncomeback mechanic, but never so powerful that it unfairly steals the round from\nsomeone who is dominating. That is the kind of balance that fighting games have\nbeen missing for a long time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So to sum it up, if you are the type of\nplayer who capitalizes on a single opportunity in the neutral to do an endless\ncombo, and win by 50\/50\u2019s alone, you are going to find yourself in the losing\nend of most matches in MK11. On the other hand, if you can stand the test of\nplaying a match that resets the neutral quite often, and you are able to\noutsmart your opponent with proper spacing, optimal whiff punishing, and\ncareful though, you are going to do very well in MK11. I want to clarify that a\ngood 50\/50 mixup is always a nice thing to do in a match, but any player that\nrelies exclusively on 50\/50\u2019s to win fights is not going to be happy with MK11,\nand I for once, as well as many other players who come from the old school\ncould not be happier about that. MK11 is a thinking man\u2019s game. they may need\nto patch up some abusive strategies and moves, but this is a very normal\nprocess in any modern fighting game. I\u2019m taking about the core of the MK11\ngameplay, and that core is incredibly rewarding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Story, graphics, extras<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I appreciate the fact that they made this\nstory quite fun and the humor is surprisingly good, but I did not spend $99 on\nthis game for a story that I will watch a couple of times and never replay\nagain. Fighting games are played for the gameplay and the story is extremely\nirrelevant. If you bought mk11 for the story, good for you, but to me it holds\nno meaning and no weight to even consider it important for the review process.\nMK11 could have no story at all or the best story in gaming history and it\nwould have very little influence in my score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just a quick review on the graphics. I\nthink these are the best graphics and character models in mortal kombat to\ndate. I guess people find their species quite ugly if they prefer looks in\ncharacters that are not realistic. The truth is that mk11 features very\nrealistic faces and I like this. It makes the characters feel more like actual\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, to all of those people complaining\nabout mk11 having no sexual appeal. Just go jerk off to something else. This is\nthe dumbest complaint that anyone could ever have. I appreciate the female\nfigure in drawings, in 3d models just as much as I do in real women, but I have\nno problem with MK11 not being a sexual parade. Everyone can get their fix\nanywhere else. End of story with that particular and idiotic subject. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is all I have to say about this game\nand that is all that truly matters. The story mode, the extra customization for\nthe looks of each character and the fatalities are all great, but they will\nnever stand the test of time. You can only do a fatality or watch the single\nplayer story so many times and then you get bored, but a game that offers an\nexcellent fighting experience is always something worth coming back to, and in\nmy opinion, MK11 delivers in that department better than any other modern\nfighting game has been able to deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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