Like Mortal Kombat, Injustice and Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive 5, Mortal Kombat X eschews the traditional opening cut-scene, series of bouts, climactic fight, end cut-scene effort in favour of a richer, multi-layered plot that gives you a chance to get to grips with multiple characters in a range of different locations. Mortal Kombat X keeps you coming back across all modes it’s as much fun to dip in and out of on your own as it is to play winner stays on in a room full of mates.

All too often fighting games are a flash in the pan, where you spend a weekend working through the solo modes then rely on versus and multiplayer for long-term depth. Mortal Kombat X is all about giving players reason to keep coming back, and whether you want to play single-player, online or versus against friends, it’s extremely compelling. Sure, it’s standing on groundwork laid down by the reboot and 2013’s Injustice: Gods Among Us, but we’re struggling to think of another beat-em-up that puts so much work not just into the core mechanics, but into the way its one-on-one bouts are structured. Mortal Kombat X actually wants to move the fighting game forwards. While it could have got away with a heady mixture of gore, neck-snapping violence and cheesy ‘Get over here’ one liners, the team at NeverRealm has been more ambitious. If 2011’s reboot put the series back on the map, Mortal Kombat X puts it right back in the pantheon of triple A fighters. Available on Xbox One (version tested), PS4, PCĪnd so the Mortal Kombat renaissance continues.

Mortal kombat xl vs x