So I just finished the Story Mode of Mortal Kombat X. Yup, I did it over a weekend, which should tell you quite a bit already..
While Netherealm has done well in terms of fighting stories with MK 9 and Injustice, this time things aren't quite as good. For one, the story is VERY short. I mean like it's MAYBE half the length of MK 9. Also, I feel like this should be called "Mortal Kombat Babies" because a significant number of characters are the offspring of previous MK characters. There's at least 5 that I can think of. Speaking of characters, this game clearly assumes that you have played MK 9 because while it does give you a general overview, it doesn't at all explain what happened to certain characters in the previous game. AS such, you'll likely find yourself confused while playing if you at least know the characters from previous games. You'll likely say, "Why does A and B not have masks on?" or "Why are A, B, C, and D looking so funny and why do they seem to be bad when they are traditionally good characters?" As I said, the game expects that you played the previous game, and while it does make allusions to what happened, it's obviously not as clear as seeing it in the original game.
Another issue with this game is that while MK 9 itself assumed that you knew who everyone was and didn't bother going into character backstory, this game feels the need to since it introduces many new characters. Like I said, the "MKids" are big in this game, along with others who are introduced, so almost all of them have a "'X' Years ago" scene where they need to tell you who this person is and why they are fighting, meaning the plot is CONSTANTLY taking detours. It was much more straightforward in 9, but again, they assumed that we knew who everyone was.
Overall there isn't too much to complain about with the new characters, but I do have 2 main points of contention. For one, it seems like some were added at the sacrifice of other, more interesting/significant characters from the previous game, mainly all the cyborgs that infected the Lin Kuei clan. They were big players in 9 but they're basically forgotten in 10. Also, and I can't believe more reviewers didn't catch this, but the new leader of Outworld almost looks like a clone of Ogre from Tekken 3. Seriously, this is
Ogre, and this is the character
Kotal Khan. There is no way this could be a coincidence. Finally, the main antagonist is a joke. The main plot is that all the actions of MK 9 were part of a bigger, more sinister plot perpetrated by a former ELDER GOD named Shinook. Just to remind you, the Elder Gods are the ones that run EVERYTHING, so it would make sense that an Elder God should be incredibly tough. Now to be fair, Shao Kahn from MK 9 was too tough, in that he was WAY WAY WAY too cheap. I mean he made Akuma from SSF2T seem like a cakewalk, to where I never got around to beating him because it was too frustrating. Well, apparently NR heard all the complaints and instead made an antagonist that was a total pushover. Very rarely did I feel like "Wow, this is a real badass that could take over the universe." And there's very little buildup to the final conflict with him. It just sort of "happens," unlike MK 9 where it really comes down to this final, tense battle between your character and SK. It just sort of happens, and the character that ends up doing the deed isn't exactly someone that screams "Yes, I am the main hero and better than everyone else in this game."
Still, at the end of the day the story did keep me interested enough to see it through to the end to see what happened next, but this is almost a detriment because the story is so short that it just makes it seem shorter. Hell, it took me from Friday to late Sunday with sporadic, limited playtimes, but your typical gamer that has more free time could easily wrap this up in a weekend, or if they're really dedicated, about 1 day. The story mode is maybe four hours. And yes, while it is interesting, it's still very short. Oh, and they threw in QTEs, because of course they did. And it enhances gameplay about as much as you think it does.
Overall it's hard to recommend MK X just on the story mode, but I can say that the fighting engine is still as fun as ever, so if you like the NR games and Injustice and MK 9 aren't doing it for you anymore, then I can easily recommend this, even if you are stuck with less characters, no stage fatalities, and a messed up microtransaction system. If you haven't gotten into these games but are interested, you'd likely be better off picking up Injustice or MK 9.
Now I'm just waiting on Arkham Knight.
