By EVAN MILLAR
After releasing arguably the best game in the lengthy gore-soaked series last year, NetherRealm Studios is back for a Flawless Victory with their first story expansion in the franchise’s history. Featuring three new characters, several additional stages and the return of Friendships, MORTAL KOMBAT 11: AFTERMATH breathes new life into the already robust fighting game – though at a fairly steep price.
Following his ascension to the status of Fire God concluding the game’s main story, AFTERMATH begins with Liu Kang and the newly-mortal Raiden seeking to reshape and correct history with the fallen Keeper of Time’s Hourglass. But when sorcerer Shang Tsung shows up with newcomer Fujin and Nightwolf – all of whom had been trapped in the Void during MK11 for opposing Kronika – it becomes clear that to truly get things back to normal, they’ll need to reacquire the Titan’s destroyed crown.
Though the story portion of AFTERMATH is exciting and matches the exceedingly high production values of the main game, its length is significantly shorter at just 5 chapters. Still, seeing Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa reprise his role as Shang Tsung, however, is almost worth the price of admission alone. As the first DLC character to be added in MK11’s Kombat Pack, having him feature here so prominently in the connecting cinematic mayhem between fights is an absolute joy to watch for longtime fans of the series.
Along with Fujin, the expansion’s new characters consist of the multi-armed Queen of the Shokan herself, Sheeva, as well as one more surprise addition: RoboCop, played by none other than the great Peter Weller. It’s a big get considering the Kombat Pack’s Terminator was only Schwarzenegger’s likeness and sadly didn’t use his signature voice. Great smaller details such as RoboCop’s oil instead of blood and fatalities using ED-209 are also sure to please fans, and pre-fight banter is once again clever and entertaining to discover in every new match.
Available to all existing MK11 owners, the new stages include returning classics such as the Dead Pool and Soul Chamber along with new stage Fatalities, though most impressive is the RetroKade, an ever-changing and fun mashup of old MK sprites and moments. While it’s fantastic that a lot of this new content is available to all players for free, this doesn’t help with AFTERMATH’s asking price being nearly half as much as a full-length game.
Despite this hefty cost, MORTAL KOMBAT 11: AFTERMATH is a good addition to one of the best fighters of this console generation. Though it’ll undoubtedly appeal more to diehard fans of the series, its satisfying story conclusion and fantastic roster additions only help to make an already great game even better.
3.5/5
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is available now for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and Google Stadia. Review code provided by the publisher.
