Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)
Mortal Kombat is a 2011 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the ninth main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a soft reboot of the series. The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems in April 2011, and a PlayStation Vita port was released in May 2012. An expanded version of the game, titled Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition, was released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in February 2012 and for Microsoft Windows in July 2013.
Although beginning during the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the plot is a retroactive continuity to the earliest period in the Mortal Kombat series: the events of the first three games. The storyline involves the divine protector of Earth, Raiden, attempting to change the aftermath of the events of Armageddon by contacting his past self as he faces defeat at the hands of the evil emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. While having characters and levels rendered in three-dimensions, the gameplay distances itself from the 3D graphics style seen in the last five games, bearing closer resemblance to that of the 2D era of the series, using a camera that is perpendicular to the two-dimensional playing field. Colloquially this is called 2.5D.
Upon release, Mortal Kombat received very positive reviews and won several awards for fighting game of the year. It was also a commercial success, selling one million copies in the first month alone. Due to its extremely violent content, the game was banned in Australia due to the lack of an appropriate ratings category, as well as in South Korea; it has also reportedly been indexed in Germany. The Australian ban was later lifted due to the introduction of an R18 classification, and the game was released along with many other R-rated games in May 2013. A sequel, Mortal Kombat X was released in 2015.
Gameplay
Principal gameplay involves one-on-one 2.5D-style fighting. Mortal Kombat uses a single two-dimensional fighting plane, although characters are rendered in three-dimensional fashion, intended to give depth and range to portrayals of various projectiles. Unlike previous Mortal Kombat games, four buttons on the game controller represent attacks and are each linked to a corresponding limb.A new feature is the "super meter", which can be charged by various actions during battle such as performing special moves, getting blocked by the opponent, or getting hit by them. The super meter can be charged to three levels, each of them enabling a different action to be performed. At the first level, it can be used to deliver an enhanced version of one of the character's special attacks; two levels can be used to interrupt a combo attack, and the full three levels allow for the delivery of a special attack called an "X-ray move". The X-ray move unleashes a series of attacks during which the game provides an internal view of the character being attacked, which shows their bones and organs being broken or ruptured.
Extra features include a story mode during which the player plays as multiple characters, a Fatality training mode, the Challenge Tower, tag team fighting, and an online mode. The Challenge Tower mode is a single-player option that includes 300 specific challenges of various difficulties providing currency rewards upon completion; players have the option of using in-game currency to bypass other difficult challenges, completing them later. Among the various challenges are "Test Your Might", "Test Your Sight", "Test Your Strike" and "Test Your Luck". The four-player tag-team feature is an original feature, allowing two players to play together. During tag gameplay, two new types of attacks become available. The first of them is the "tag assist" attack, in which the off-screen character temporarily jumps in and performs certain attacks during the active character's combo. The other is the "tag kombo", in which the active character performs a combo that is finished by the off-screen character as they enter the fight.
The online mode includes a "King of the Hill" option, where up to eight players can act as spectators and play the winner of a fight. Spectators may also rate the fights and use the "forum" to determine how to perform various combos or moves observed during a fight. A single-use online pass is also included with the game which is mandatory to access the online components. Online passes are also available from the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace. There is also a PlayStation 3-exclusive 3D display mode, for which 3D glasses are not necessary.
Story
Setting
The game's director, Ed Boon, described it as an altered re-telling of the events of the first three Mortal Kombat games :This game also retcons the ending of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, where Taven defeats Blaze, to have Shao Kahn the one who defeats him instead.
Plot
During the Armageddon war, all warriors from the realms have been killed, leaving only Raiden and Shao Kahn. Having defeated Blaze, Shao Kahn is imbued with godlike power and easily overpowers Raiden. In a final attempt to stop Shao Kahn, Raiden casts one last spell to send a message to his past self through his shattered amulet, with the vague message "He must win" before Shao Kahn delivers a killing blow on him.Back to the events of the first tournament, the past Raiden sees visions of the future due to the message he received and notices his amulet has been damaged. Raiden concludes that Liu Kang must win the tournament to save Earthrealm. During the tournament, Raiden pleads with Scorpion to spare Bi-Han, better known as Sub-Zero, in exchange for asking the Elder Gods to resurrect Scorpion's clan, which had been supposedly assaulted by Sub-Zero. Scorpion reluctantly agrees, but Quan Chi produces false visions in Scorpion's mind, illustrating Sub-Zero's massacre of Shirai Ryu clan including Scorpion's wife and infant son some years earlier. An enraged Scorpion slays Sub-Zero as he did in the original timeline.
Liu Kang becomes the only remaining Earthrealm contender. He successfully defeats the Shokan Prince Goro, as well as the crafty sorcerer Shang Tsung. Raiden's amulet, however, cracks further, a sign that future events remain unchanged. Disappointed with the sorcerer's failure, emperor Shao Kahn orders Shang Tsung's execution, but is convinced otherwise when the sorcerer suggests holding a second tournament in Outworld with different stakes: if Earthrealm wins, Outworld will leave them alone forever, but if Outworld wins, they will be allowed to invade Earthrealm uninhibited. Though he initially refuses, Raiden relents when Tarkatans invade Earthrealm as part of Shang Tsung's blackmail against Earthrealm.
During the second tournament, Bi-Han's younger brother Kuai Liang decides to become the new Sub-Zero, and he and his friend Smoke arrive to avenge his brother. They are followed by Lin Kuei cyber assassins Sektor and Cyrax who are tasked with retrieving the rogue warriors for cybernetic conversion. Raiden changes the timeline by rescuing Smoke from being converted, at the cost of Kuai Liang being taken away. Kitana, the adopted daughter of Shao Kahn, chooses to join Earthrealm's fight after learning of the existence of her half-Tarkatan clone Mileena, created by Shang Tsung on Shao Kahn's orders, with Kitana's childhood friend Jade joining her later. In a bid to save Earth, Raiden substitutes Kung Lao in place of Liu Kang during the tournament. Following his victory over Shang Tsung, the ruler of Netherrealm, Quan Chi, and the fire-breathing Kintaro, Kung Lao's neck is snapped by Shao Kahn while his back was turned, killing him, with Liu Kang retaliating and mortally wounding the emperor in a fit of rage. Raiden's amulet continues to deteriorate and he becomes increasingly concerned.
Shao Kahn is healed by Quan Chi, at which point the two realms enter into an alliance. Quan Chi also revives and brainwashes Shao Kahn's long-dead wife, Sindel. In doing so, the ward that prevents Shao Kahn's physical access to Earthrealm is nullified and a full-scale invasion is now possible. Raiden saves Johnny Cage from certain death by slaying the centaurian Motaro. Joined by police officers Stryker and former Black Dragon member Kabal, the Earthrealm fighters attempt to stop Kahn's invasion. Kintaro severely burns Kabal but he is revived by Kano, which greatly increases Kabal's speed. Kahn dramatically enhances Sindel's power by sacrificing Tsung, taking the souls he has stolen for centuries and infusing them into Sindel.
Raiden and Liu Kang travel to appeal to the Elder Gods, requesting they stop Shao Kahn's invasion. The Elder Gods refuse, saying that Kahn's invasion does not violate their laws, and that only attempting to merge Earthrealm into Outworld would be a violation.
While Raiden and Liu Kang are away, Sindel leads an Outworlder attack on the heroes. During the ensuing battle, Jax, Jade, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Stryker and Smoke are easily defeated and killed by Sindel, and Kitana is brutally beaten. Before Sindel can kill Kitana, Nightwolf intervenes and sacrifices himself in order to kill Sindel. Raiden and Liu Kang return soon after, and Kitana dies of her wounds after sharing her final words with Liu Kang, leaving Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade as the only survivors, but both of them are too injured to continue fighting.
Raiden attempts to ally with Quan Chi, offering the souls of the deceased heroes as payment. Quan Chi declines, and reveals he already has possession of the heroes' souls, promised to him by Shao Kahn in exchange for his allegiance to the emperor, and has turned them into undead "revenants". Quan Chi's words make the dismayed Raiden realize that "He must win" refers to Shao Kahn himself; should Kahn conquer Earthrealm without victory in Mortal Kombat, the Elder Gods will punish him. Liu Kang, angered by the seemingly pointless deaths of their allies, blames Raiden and goes to attack Shao Kahn alone. Raiden tries to stop Liu Kang, but accidentally kills him when Liu Kang's fire mixes with Raiden's lightning, burning Liu Kang alive. Overcome with guilt, Raiden surrenders to Shao Kahn, at which point, the Elder Gods intervene, imbuing Raiden with their power, which he then uses to defeat and kill Shao Kahn for violating the Mortal Kombat code.
After Shao Kahn's death, Raiden vows to rebuild Earthrealm with Cage and Blade. Quan Chi, now shown to be an agent of Shinnok, the exiled Elder God of darkness, reveals that the destruction of Shao Kahn and the weakening of Earthrealm by the death of their fighters was part of their plan to conquer all the realms for their own bidding.