Mortal Kombat might be over two years old now, given that the series reboot was first released in 2011. It even got a release on the PS Vita a year later, and now it's finally coming to PC players. Since we already know mostly everything there is to know about the game by now, the real question is, how is it on the PC, and should PC owners bother picking up this port of an otherwise fantastic game?
If you really want to get into the specifics, the version PC gamers are getting is the Komplete Edition, which means it comes with everything that you could possibly want in terms of extras. We're talking all of the DLC characters like Skarlet, Kenshi, Rain and Freddy Krueger. Not to mention, you also get access to 15 Klassic Mortal Kombat Skins and three Klassic Fatalities for Scorpion, Sub-Zero and Reptile.
Combine that with the slew of unlockables in the Krypt, the hefty single-player story mode and the challenge tower, and you got yourself a fighting game worth investing a lot of hours into.
For those that might have somehow missed Mortal Kombat up until now, the Story Mode alone is one of the game's biggest draws. As far as the fighting genre is concerned, stories usually take a backseat to the one-on-one action. NetherRealm went above and beyond to provide an extremely entertaining story, which shifts from character to character, keeping things fresh while pulling all sorts of twists and turns. It plays out mostly like a movie with fight scenes sprinkled in between. Some of the fights like the one between Luke and Sonya — where he wants to take her on a date but she refuses — are a bit nonsensical, but fun to watch (and play) nonetheless. Let it be known though, the fights where it's yourself against two characters are still completely unfair.
The transition to PC seems like a smooth one. The framerate is fluid and the character models look exceptionally good. As any good fighting game fan knows, the only way to 'truly' play a fighting game is with a fight stick, which means the keyboard layout will be rather awkward, unless you have said stick or at the very least a gamepad. There is something incredibly awkward about doing a quarter-circle move with the arrow buttons. Nevertheless, the option is there, just don't expect it to be as enjoyable without a gamepad or fight stick. It important to note that the Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition Fight Stick is compatible with the PC version, so if you want to stay super authentic, that's the way to go.
The game also self optimizes itself depending on the current setup you have, auto-setting your graphics to make sure you're getting the smoothest gameplay possible.
The online front is a little barren, though I can't really discredit the game for this. Blame it on the timing of release, or the fact that just not enough gamers have bought it yet, but right now there are only a handful of people online, and connecting to them is something of a nightmare. Hopefully, once the pool of players opens up, playing online will be much more enjoyable.
Like I've stated, all the previous content from the Komplete Edition which came out previously on consoles and Vita is there, though don't expect to see Kratos on your PC version, he is a Sony exclusive after all.
For $29.99, you're getting an amazing deal for an amazing fighting game. The amount of content offered is staggering. Though some may argue that the game is a little too late on the PC, I disagree. Mortal Kombat certainly withstands the test of time. Now hopefully enough people will buy into it so the online is a little more robust.
