Hands on MK11

Brutal yet beautiful Mortal Kombat 11 deals out bone-snapping, wince-inducing strikes with the speed and ferocity of a shark.

The detail (and sheer inventiveness) of the fatalities will cause you to flinch, but equally you’ll feel the conviction of a fighter’s intent in their facial expressions alone. Take Sub-Zero’s ice-cold fury at meeting old foe Scorpion in their match-up intro, for example. Even with the mask covering half his face, it had us catching our breath.

MK11 is a continuation to the 2011 series’ reboot. There, the story told across the 1992 original and its two sequels was changed due to a warning sent back through time to Raiden. The message came from a future version of himself, in the hope that foreknowledge would alter events and prevent his defeat at a later date. Subsequently characters, events and more were changed — but not all for the better.

The altercate of that intervention will be dealt directly in MK11, with the reveal of new big bad, Kronica. She’s “the boss of bosses,” director Ed Boon explains. “She’s been rendering all the events since MK1 to MKX.”

As for special moves, Scorpion’s yo-yo-like spear twirling, Sub-Zero’s ice shuriken and axe are early highlights. From a purely visual standpoint, the creativity behind Skarlet’s weaponized blood and the fearsome, new-gen look to returning fan-favourite Baraka promise plenty of new showstopper combos. Even the classics get an overhaul: Raiden’s famous ‘superman’ can be stalled on deployment.

Character customization is a major new advancement seemingly influenced by Injustice 2, fusing aesthetic preference with moveset partiality to better tailor your MK main to your preferred fight style.

So all in all Mortal Kombat 11 seems eager to bring something different to a genre it’s helped define over two decades. “Change… I always feel like changing the game up is important,” says Ed Boon when asked about the franchise’s longevity, suggesting it is a careful balance of the old and new. Of taking a fresh approach to the best history has to offer.