Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Impressions (NO SPOILERS)

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Mortal Kombat 11 recently received an update alongside an expansion in the form of Aftermath. The update is free, whereas the expansion is premium (priced at £34.99 in the UK). Both are available on all the platforms MK11 released on (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC and Switch).

Having finished the story expansion, and spent time with the other new content in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, I have some thoughts about it. It also gives me an excuse to talk about MK so I’ll take it.

The Free Kontent

A free update that released alongside the expansion added some much-requested content to MK11. Giving players who didn’t purchase the expansion something new to check out and giving players who did buy it even more content.

Friendships

Friendships make a return after being absent for quite some time, the last game they were in was MK3/UMK3.

Friendships are a more friendly way to end a fight. To give you an idea, Sub-Zero brings some ice lollies from his bicycle trolley or whatever you call it, as opposed to decapitating his opponent and then smashing the decapitated head. One ends with a tasty treat, the other a bloody mess.

I really like the new friendships. They’re really well put together, made me smile, and they’re free. Raiden’s friendship features a call back to his MK3 friendship, something an MK fan like me found amusement in. It also looks very aesthetically pleasing.

Stages

The free update also brought with it 4 new stages, Kronika’s Keep, Deadpool, Soul Chamber, and Retrocade.

Deadpool and Soul Chamber should sound familiar to people who played older MK games. They are updated versions of the classic stages, both look great and new while retaining the feel of the older versions.

Kronika’s Keep is new to MK and has great environments. Retrocade is brilliant and sort of new. You see, it’s set in an arcade with classic MK stages from MK1, MK2 AND MK3 being projected, giving the illusion of playing on old school MK stages. Retrocade comes complete with retro MK music, which just helps cement this being one of my favourite stages in MK11.

Stage Fatalities

Not only did we receive new stages, but we also got stage fatalities back. I especially like the stage fatality for Tournament, which sees the victor crush the defeated opponent with an arcade cabinet. It reminded me of Lui Kang’s cabinet crush fatality from MK3. But better and not just because the arcade cabinet used for the new stage fatality was an MK: Deadly Alliance one.

The Premium Kontent

The main bulk of the new content comes in the form of a premium expansion. Which brings with it a continuation of MK11’s story, 3 new characters, and 3 skin packs.

Story Expansion

The Story expansion that Aftermath brings to MK11 is in my opinion the main event when it comes to the new content. It’s shorter than MK11’s main story, and even though I wasn’t expecting it to be longer, I was hoping it would last for a couple more hours.

It mainly focuses on characters who have been added to MK11 post-launch and has more than one ending, which I won’t go into.

I enjoyed the story expansion, though I did felt a bit let down by its length. Especially given the price of the expansion. The story was the only reason l picked up Aftermath, so I’m a little disappointed. If you are interested in the 3 new characters then the issue isn’t as bad.

I’m still surprised we even got a story expansion, though, and as an MK story fan I’m not complaining about getting more story. Especially when the quality and production it’s just as strong as the main story.

I do wish you had the option to only purchase the story part of Aftermath for a cheaper price, however.

New Characters

3 new characters join the roster with Aftermath. These characters being Sheeva, Fujin and Robocop (yes, that Robocop).

It’s great to see Fujin make a return and I’m sure fans of Sheeva will be happy to see her back. It’s also worth noting Robocop is voiced by Peter Weller, a nice touch that I think fans of Robocop will appreciate.

I feel it will come down to more individual tastes and playstyles when judging the enjoyment players will get out of the new characters.

Skins

3 skin packs will be available for Aftermath owners sometime later down the line. Though we don’t know what the skins will look like. Can’t really say much more about that.

If you pre-ordered Aftermatch, then you would have received the Eternal Klash skin pack. I like the skins in this pack a lot. Scorpion gets his MK9 skin, Sub-Zero gets a skin reminiscent of his Deception skin and Frost receives a ninja skin similar to her Deadly Alliance/Deception/Armageddon look.

Overall thoughts.

If I’m honest, I feel like the price is a little too much if you’re not the biggest MK fan and/or are only interested in the new story content. If you want the story, characters and skins then the price is a bit more justified. Especially as the content, both free and paid, is high quality.

The biggest piece of new content, the story expansion should still please MK story fans, and I did enjoy myself playing through it.

The new stages and friendships are a highlight, especially as they are free. Retrocade is a clever way of including some retro stages. While the friendships made me grin.

I would also like to say it’s nice to see MK11 receiving post-launch support like this. MK11 is a great game and deserves it, this is how post-launch support should be, adding good content to an already good game that had enough content at launch. As opposed to releasing without enough content and improving later.

Nathan Coe

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