I got almost five hours with the Mortal Kombat 1 beta that was available to those who pre-ordered the game this past weekend. About half of it was playing online matches and the other half was either doing tower playthroughs or using the tower and the restart match option to learn characters. I also managed to get into the stress test earlier in the year and spent around two hours with that. So I have a good amount of time with the game, but not as much as some professional players or streamers. I’ve also played a lot of the previous three games, Mortal Kombat 2011, Mortal Kombat X, and Mortal Kombat 11, with me having well over 100 hours in Mortal Kombat 11.
With that context in mind, the game feels much improved from the stress test. One of my biggest complaints with the stress test that severely hindered the game’s enjoyment was how slow it was. It was so slow and plodding in fact that combined with the release check option (which activates attacks when you release a button rather than when you press it) being on by default made the game feel unresponsive, as if there was caked in input delay programmed into the controls. This has been fixed with the game roughly 10 to 15 percent faster and release check being an option to turn off in the menu.
In addition, a lot of things in combat (kombat?) have been sped up. Animations feel quicker, some animations have been removed for the sake of speed (such as Kano’s throw), forward and back dashes actually feel useful now as they cover more ground than before (although that amount depends on the character), and everything just feels much more responsive. Fatalities and Fatal Blows are also shorter and more to the point than before, although I miss the more cinematic camerawork from Mortal Kombat 11.
That said, the combat still feels a bit on the slower side. It’s not at the speed of Mortal Kombat 2011 or Mortal Kombat X; this game still feels more like Mortal Kombat 11. In fact, it’s still slower than Mortal Kombat 11. This game can feel a bit sluggish, especially if you’re used to play the recently released Street Fighter 6. I was constantly running into an issue where basic combo strings wouldn’t come out, and I think it was because I was inputting them faster than I needed to. The cadence of the game is slower than you think, despite the game being sped up. I think this is so those new or unfamiliar to fighting games have ample time to input commands. This way, you don’t need to worry about not getting a move or combo or special attack out simply because you were not fast enough. It’s just something I think veteran players or those used to other fighting games will just have to get used to.
Something that hasn’t really changed since the stress test is my feelings towards the Kameo fighters, which are the characters you choose as a partner for you main fighter. This is essentially the mechanic that’s replacing the interactable stages, and variation system, which I wish would return in some fashion. Specifically, I would like to be able to switch between them during combat, similar to the different fighting styles in the 3D Mortal Kombat games, but I digress. You can use them to extend combos make certain moves safe from counter attacks, create mix ups and unblockable situations, and more. My opinion seems to be against what is the current consensus. However, I still feel this way after reusing Sonya and Kano as Kameo fighters as well as trying out the newly available character Frost. I think the Kameo fighters don’t add a lot to the combat.
Now that doesn’t apply to the entire game across the board. Some characters like Sub-Zero I think benefit greatly from having a compatible Kameo. However, characters like Kenshi, Li Mei, and Kitana have so many tools on their own that aside from adding 5% or so damage to a combo are widely unneeded. Even characters like Johnny Cage that can get some cool combos with the help of Kano can do just fine on their own even without Kano or some other Kameo fighter. To me, Kameos feel like a buff rather than a necessary component to the gameplay you need to utilize. Perhaps some fighters will need to use Kameos to be good and it will most likely be very important at the pro level but otherwise, it feels like an added option you could use if you want to.
The roster that was available was Sub-Zero, Kitana, Kenshi, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Li Mei, with the Kameo fighter roster comprising of Kano, Sonya, Jax, and Frost. I didn’t spend any time with Kenshi or Jax, although I had used them in the stress test. I mostly focused on the newer characters Johnny Cage, Li Mei, and Frost, as well as Kitana whom I didn’t use at all in the stress test. I found Johnny Cage to be the most interesting with him having a lot of his moves from previous games with the notable exception of his projectiles, and having a new dash mechanic and star meter, which allows him to chain moves together with next to no recovery. It essentially rewards you for being flashy with tangible benefits. It’s not the most accessible mechanic however.
A simple character to use and a great choice for beginners is Li Mei, who has a small arsenal of combo strings and special moves that are just damn good and get the job done. I was wrecking people with her because her attacks are just so good and simple to do. The most complicated she gets is setting traps and combos up with her lantern attack. It’s for that reason that I actually found her to be a bit too simple and ultimately uninteresting. Kitana is essentially the same as Li Mei, with simple but powerful combo strings and special attacks except she has a bit more complexity thanks to the variety of fan moves she has and her own trap move that’s a bit more tricky to use effectively.
I didn’t spend a lot of time with Liu Kang to really give a detailed opinion on him but I did spend enough time with Sub-Zero to say that he feels like the worst character in the beta. He is the slowest, his animations take forever to come out and recover, and I think some of the hit boxes on his ice attacks and dive kick are bugged. Oddly enough, he feels like he got nerfed since the stress test. Perhaps it’s me, a skill issue if you will, and I’m not very good with Sub-Zero, but I did pretty well with him in the stress test and that was just not the case with the beta. I’m hoping this maybe gets fixed or changed close to if not by the game’s release.
Speaking of fixing things, a big part of the beta is testing the online and the game itself for improvements and I’m happy to report that I didn’t see anything that really needed fixing. Most of my online matches ran great with no perceivable input lag. I did run into a couple of matches that had a really high ping and those were noticeably jittery. It’s also possible that maybe I had input lag when playing as Sub-Zero but again, with that character, maybe it’s just me. I did see a couple of glitches watching other people’s matches, including the lights going out in Johhny Cage’s mansion and a player getting knocked into the background permanently when both characters are frozen. However, I didn’t experience this myself.
To wrap things up, the game graphically looks real good, with more detail and color than the previous title. However, to me the game doesn’t look that much better than Mortal Kombat 11. It is better, but it’s only a minor improvement, compared to the difference between Mortal Kombat 2011 to Mortal Kombat X to Mortal Kombat 11. Animations seem similar to Mortal Kombat 11 as well. If anything, it’s the brighter color palette and art design that really improves the visuals. Sonically, the music sounds more varied than in previous titles but it still isn’t anywhere near the quality of the classics and nothing here is as memorable or ear wormy. Still, an improvement is an improvement and I’ll take it.
This game is shaping up to be a fun time. The increase in speed has effectively fixed the biggest issue with the game. However, one thing that does worry me is when you compare the game to Mortal Kombat 11, although there are some improvements, there’s even more areas where this entry seems to come up short. The game is still slower, fatalities lack cinematic flair, Kameo fighters still don’t seem very interesting to me, and the presentation isn’t much of an upgrade from before. I think the game is fun and I will be getting it day one, but Mortal Kombat 11 was ultimately a contentious title amongst fans and I have a feeling this will ultimately be even more contentious and will straight up disappoint others. However, we all have to wait to see when the full game releases in less than a month.
Hey Colorwind! 