Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate overview: Bigger, better and next-gen

With Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, now is the best time to jump into NetherRealm’s critically acclaimed fighting game of 2019.

Mortal Kombat 11 started off strong, sporting a cast of new and returning characters, a full-fledged and cinematic story mode, variations in the way you play, and a very reliable netcode for online play. It was primed to be the best fighting game NetherRealm Studios delivered in quite some time— and it was for a while. Some things held it back like the Towers of Time difficulty controversy, the game always having to be online for any progression to be saved, and the grind to get new character costumes and equipment.

Luckily early on in the game’s life, the Towers’ difficulties were drastically balanced to not be so artificially difficult and reward players for their troubles. The game, sadly, still does need to be mostly online, so Switch players are at a disadvantage here. Also, the grind for character gear has been reduced to be more reasonable, so for the most part these were great improvements.

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Fast forward 3 major DLC bundles and a bit over a year later, the roster has expanded quite a lot. Some returning beloved characters of the franchise in these packs include Shang Tsung, Sindel, Fujin, Nightwolf, Sheeva, and just recently— Rain and Mileena! There are also a handful of crossover guest characters like DC Comics’ own clown prince of crime, the Joker, as well as Todd McFarlane’s Spawn, The Terminator, Robocop, and now Rambo. The references and interactions between the guest characters and original MK characters are so fun to watch and shows just how much detail was put to make them as accurate and fitting as possible.

Not only that but those who buy the bundles or the latest definitive editions of the game received costume packs for some characters as well. Some do get better treatment than others, though.

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Mortal Kombat 11 has a diverse system where each character possesses three “variations” to their playstyle. For example, Sub-Zero has a variation called Dead of Winter; this one is for players who have a lot more of an aggressive style of kombat as this one comes with an enhanced ice ball move that breaks other projectiles and the cold shoulder move that closes the gap between him and his enemy. However, he’ll have another variation called Avalanche where this is more catered for players with a defensive gameplay approach.

This system oftentimes felt very limiting for competitive and ranked play since every character had preset variations that couldn’t be customized. Every character has a base moveset and special moves, with a handful of different abilities that can be equipped in the kustomize mode. Again, take Sub-Zero, for example, he will always have his signature ice ball move and a slide attack. However, you can add or alter abilities in his moveset like replacing his slide with that cold shoulder move, or give him an air projectile move where he chucks an ice hatchet down at his foe. Now, with Ultimate, you can pick these abilities as you want and take them to ranked modes including Kombat League. However, there are some abilities or combinations that are outright banned because they break your typical conventions or the flow of the game.

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Aside from obvious balance changes, this freedom to create your own variation and bring it online to more than just kasual feels like this game got some major overhaul. Before, balance changes were mostly around the base kits or tournament variations of characters, but now this will really shake up the current meta for the better. This will also bring some of the lower tier characters into a better light or highlight where their actual weaknesses are (RIP Shao Kahn for still being nearly dead last at the various tier lists).

The icing on the cake too, though not too sweet, is the fact that cross-play has been expanded between the major consoles. Playstation 4 and 5 players can play with Xbox One and Series X|S players in kasual modes and lobbies. As for PC, Stadia, and Switch players, they’re unfortunately not able to, and hopefully, that changes.

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Even if you only have the base Mortal Kombat 11 without the DLC packs, it might be a good time to come back and experience the changes. For those who are on the fence on buying the packs or have never purchased the game, there is no better time than now to check it out.

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is out now for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, with free next-gen upgrades at no additional cost. The game is also available for Nintendo Switch, Stadia, and PC.

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