Mortal Kombat 1 is the newest addition to the Mortal Kombat game series, releasing on September 19, 2023 on all consoles and PC.

Mortal Kombat 1 is a traditional 2D fighting game. These games have the player utilize combos to deal damage to their opponent and require the player to have an understanding of their characters strengths and weaknesses.

Although the game is titled Mortal Kombat 1, it is actually the 12th addition to the series. The reason behind the game being called Mortal Kombat 1 and not Mortal Kombat 12 is because this game is a reboot of the original story. Ed Boon, co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series, further explained this in an interview. “The main reason we’re is Mortal Kombat 1 is… we’re resetting the story basically, and we really feel like the title Mortal Kombat 1 really kind of communicates that one is always the beginning of something.”

A main difference in MK1 is the inclusion of Kameos. Kameos are characters that the player can choose to assist their primary character in a fight. When a player presses the Kameo button, depending on the direction they are holding, the assist character will do one of three assists.

The addition on Kameos lets the player be more creative in how they play the game, letting them perform different combos, and helping the player with landing a hit on the opponent.

The Kameo that a player chooses would depend on the main character that they play with. Different Kameos help complement the strengths and/or combat the weaknesses of different main characters.

This game has five major game modes: Story, Invasions, Towers, Local Versus, and Online Versus.

The story mode is a reboot of the original Mortal Kombat story, while also connecting to the story of the previous games. The story has the player play as most of the characters in the game and lets the player experience the story through the eyes of many different characters. Altogether, there is about six and a half hours of content in the story mode.

Invasions is a game mode that has never been seen in any previous Mortal Kombat title. This game mode allows the player to explore different areas of the Mortal Kombat world. While exploring these areas, the player must complete different tasks, such as fights, mini games, and towers.

The towers game mode has the player go through a series of different fights in rapid succession. There are five different types of towers in MK1: novice, warrior, champion, endless, and survivor. Each of these towers get harder and harder depending on which tower a player picks.

Local Versus and Online Versus are essentially the same thing, the only difference being who one plays with. Local Versus lets a player play with a friend in person on the same console, while online play allows one play with friends and random people that may be either a mile away from them or across the world.

The online play has two different modes within it, Kasual Play, and Kombat League. Kasual Play allows the player to play the game with nothing on the line. Kombat League puts the player in a ranked setting where the player starts with a certain amount of ranking points.

Overall, the game offers an expedience that differs enough from every other Mortal Kombat game to make the $70 purchase worth the money. Especially out of all Mortal Kombat games, the previous game, Mortal Kombat 11, is considered the worst modern Mortal Kombat game in the series. Mortal Kombat 1 provides a much better experience.

My final score of Mortal Kombat 1 is a 7.5/10, as although the game is extremely promising in its future, it is too early into the game’s lifetime to truly judge it. The future for the game is already looking bright, as the first DLC season for the game has been announced, with guest characters such as Omni-Man from “Invincibles,” Homelander from “The Boys,” and Peacemaker from the “Suicide Squad” as future playable characters.