Mortal Kombat 1 Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
2. The Violence Is Glorious
Because Mortal Kombat 1 has so many great offerings, it's easy to forget about the feature that made the franchise a household name in the first place - the violence.
Heart-pulling and spine-ripping has been package and parcel in MK since its inception (with the exception of the DC Universe crossover). Over the last 30+ years, the blood-soaked saga has devised countless finishers. (MK11 alone boasted over 160 Fatalities and Brutalities.) At a certain point, you'd think the series would run out of ideas or the excessive bloodshed would stop having the same impact.
But with MK1's photorealistic visuals, pulverising organs, gouging out eyes, and melting skulls has never looked this magnificent or disgusting. For this entry, it feels like the creators bent over backwards to ensure every Fatality isn't just gross, but memorable, agonising, and nightmare-inducing.
Some moves that deserve special mention are Johnny Cage's hit-and-run, Baraka spit-roasting, and Shang Tsung's autopsy. (Also, Geras' time-loop kill is probably the cleverest Fatality in Mortal Kombat history.)
If one had to nitpick, the gore looks too good! The gooey entrails and exploding brains appear so authentic, a lot of players will struggle not to wince and gag while watching these finishers.