How to enter to win

I originally reviewed Mortal Kombat X on its release and was immediately impressed with just what it delivered for fans of the series and for giving the series a full on refresh. It followed on from the advances in Mortal Kombat 9 and benefitted from Injustice: Gods Among Us. It went on to win numerous ‘Fighting Game Of the Year’ awards for 2015. This week saw the GOTY ‘Mortal Kombat XL’ released and just under a year from the original launch, does it still pack a gruesome punch?

Mortal Kombat XL features the main game with its full cinematic story mode, the Towers and online modes but also includes all the DLC content that includes both Kombat Character packs, costume packs and classic Fatality packs. That gives Mortal Kombat XL a roster of 33 playable characters who along with the traditional roster also includes iconic film characters Jason Vorhees, Alien, Predator, Leatherface new to the game Triborg and Bo’Rai. That is really an astonishing number of fighters to get to grips with.

For those not familiar with Mortal Kombat X I will go through its modes starting with the Story Mode. The story is set twenty years after the climatic events of MK 9. And introduces the next generation of MK fighters Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs, Kung Jin and Takeda who must step up to defend Earth Realm from the threat that still exists in the form of the fallen Elder God Shinnock and Quan Chi. Made up of twelve chapters with each one giving the player the chance to control of a character in the story and uses fights in-between story driven cut-scenes. Even playing this again still makes me feel it is a superb way to get to know the new fighters in this game whilst enjoying a well told story. What I liked was the little details such as testing that the player is paying attention with some scenes having Quick Time Events such as pressing a button at the right time to interact with the scene. The story mode is worth playing through as it will unlock new character outfits and fighting areas as well as earning Kombat coins, XP for both your profile and your chosen Faction. It takes around four hours to complete and is as fun offline mode to enjoy.

Another great single player mode saw the return of the iconic Towers n the game is first fired up, it will ask the player to choose a Faction. Faction War is a new element to the series and as you player MKX, you will earn both XP for yourself but also points for your Faction, just by playing the game. Factions compete for glory and should you come across another player who is part of another Faction, it triggers a faction battle where bonus points can be won for your Faction by victory. Your Faction will set you daily challenges to complete as well in-game objectives in order to build points. You can even call upon a Faction Fatality which gives an extra brutal finish which is especially fun if you are fighting a player from a rival faction.

The single player side to MKX sees the return of the iconic Towers mode which was enhanced to include  Living Towers which feature three online Towers; Premier (weekly Tower), Daily Tower and Hourly Tower. Each are made up of modifiers that can help or hinder either character in a Tower match. The challenge is to get the highest score possible and beat the towers. I found the Hourly Tower great fun as it refreshes with new modifiers and challenges every hour, so always giving the player something new to do, with the traditional and Living Towers the player can choose one that best suits them and is a great way to practice with a character before taking them online to challenge other players competitively.

What I found to be the most impactful change from MK9 to the Mortal Kombat series brought in with MKX are the new character Variations. Each fighter has three variations to choose from, with each one giving the player a different move set or bonus to use in combat such as boosting their special abilities for attack or defence. Depending on which variation you pick can change the combos and special moves of that fighter which ultimately determines your playing style. It adds a new level of depth to Mortal Kombat fighting system and with MKXL having 33 characters, it will take some time to work through the roster to learn how the variations can help your chosen character but also learning those of other characters to know how to counter them.

MKX is still a satisfying fighting game which has only been enhanced with the wealth of new content now included in this version. The Fatalities and Brutalities are still gruesome but glorious when pulled off. I love the visceral X-Ray moves which can be used to deal huge damage once your ‘revenge’ bar has filled up from moves executed and damage taken. I will say if you are coming to the game for the first time that the online player vs player mode can be daunting as you will meet more advanced players especially in casual but it having such a great amount of offline modes to practice with and an outstanding training and practice element that you never feel out of touch if willing to learn.

Mortal Kombat X was a game changer for the series when it first released but gave a swift kick up the backside to fighting games on new gen consoles. Something that is a vast contrast to how Street Fighter V released, with such an abundance of game modes and now every bit of DLC included just makes this such good value for money if you are looking to pick up for first time. If you already own the base game you can upgrade to XL for £19.99. There really is no better time to pick up Mortal Kombat X and this GOTY version really is the definitive edition to have.

Street Fighter V has had a rather troubled road to release, first the controversial decision to make it a console exclusive for PlayStation 4 as well as a PC release. Then the news just before launch that it was releasing incomplete with some of its core modes coming to the game in March, post launch. It released on February 16th and suffered server problems for the first week. Three weeks on I feel I can offer my thoughts on just why SFV has been a let down, and sadly so.

Firstly I will start with what is actually positive about SFV, its gameplay. For SFV the fighting system has been overhauled to make each of the sixteen characters on the roster feel unique in battle. The new V-Abilities add a way in for the more casual player but also a new level of depth for the experienced Street Fighter player. V-Abilities adds three elements to each character’s make up and replaces the focus system from SSF IV.

The three elements are V-Skill, V-Reversals and V-Triggers and are different to each character and can change their fighting style in rather intriguing ways. The V-Skill grants a fighter an extra ability such as Ryu’s parry move. The V-Reversal can be used to escape a beatdown and potentially flip the attack in their favour but with it being different for each character it has a natural pros and cons aspect to its use. The V-Trigger activates a buff to each character in different ways which can add extra damage, give access to extra combo moves or enhance defensive skills. The V-Abilities really make the gameplay feel smoother and more accessible to all levels of player.

The gameplay changes make the core of SFV, the fighting, very satisfying and can give each fight a dynamic battle which engages the player on all levels. It feels fresh and well thought out with feedback from SSF IV clearly taken into account to improve it once again.

It is because of how fun and rewarding the gameplay is in SFV that makes the rest of the launched version of the game such an infuriating mess that put quite simply feels like an insult to the Street Fighter legacy and its fans.

SFV is not the first game to release but have game modes added or activated post launch, but it is now well documented just how bare bones a release SFV actually is. The game lacks the traditional Arcade mode, something all fighting games have almost as a default game feature and is usually the starting point for many Fans heading into a Street Fighter title. Writing this three weeks post release and Capcom have hinted that an arcade mode could be brought back which means it was never even considered, which is staggering to me.

There is a very basic ‘Prologue Story’ mode ahead of the planned full cinematic story mode coming to SFV in June. June! This Prologue gives some back story for the roster but as a game mode it is really laughable at best as the AI is set to its lowest setting and all feature 3-5 single round fights with a storyboard cut scene narration style. You can complete all  sixteen character prologues in an hour. Perhaps the mode’s only redeeming aspect is that you earn a good amount of the new in-game currency system, Fight Money. It can be used to buy new characters when available and costumes from the in-game shop which has yet to be opened, coming this month in March. Sigh!

There is a survival mode which puts the player’s chosen character into a 30 match battle with only a single health bar but after each single round fight you can purchase supplements to restore health or to boost another skill helping you fight on further. I found it fun and a good way to get to know the new roster especially trying out unfamiliar characters to you but it is still no replacement for a true arcade mode and survival modes are usually seen as an extra mode in fighting games but it feels strange that it has been included as a main mode in such a stripped down final version for release.

The main focus of SFV right now is the online competitive mode featuring Ranked and Casual matches online. For many, this has been the main defence for why SFV was released in such a reduced manner. But not every fan of Street Fighter wants to be part of what can be a very daunting competitive side which is why I feel so strongly about the lack of an Arcade mode and other offline game modes such as the challenge mode which again, will be added in March, being such a disappointment. On launch SFV suffered many issues with its servers but happily at time of writing they have improved greatly. The cross-platform play between PS4 and PC players is seamless and works really well which was initially a concern of mine. There is a Lounge Mode to have battles against friends but right now it only allows one on one battles, not so much a lounge but a small sofa!

The main bug bear with the online currently is the surprising lack of any ‘Rage Quit’ punishment in particularly for the Ranked matches. It has been highlighted by players that a player can rage quit out of a ranked match and will not lose any ranking points and keep any win streak intact and move on to another fight and the other player will not gain anything despite doing nothing wrong. Almost all competitive modes in other games have some sort of penalty whether it is a loss of points, it counting as a win for the other player or a time out from matchmaking for repeating offenders. Capcom have responded by saying they are looking to add a severe punishment for rage quitters but currently they have simply asked for players to name and shame offenders online using the PS4 Share button.

I wanted to love Street Fighter V, I really did being someone with the same familiar story of growing up going to the nearest Street Fighter II arcade machine in a shop after school with friends and lining up to have a go. I started SFV a week after release in order to allow the servers to settle and give it a fair chance. But due to its unfinished state I can not in good conscience give it a definitive review score right now.

I am angry as a Street Fighter fan to see what has been thrown up as a ready for release game. Despite it visually looking the best it has in the series with locations and character designs, the texture on player models tear so badly it just detracts from the new visual style and animation details. That combined with the criminal lack of solo game modes and a limited online experience,  it really is a disgrace that Capcom or more so Sony PlayStation felt it was OK to release it this way.

As a result this is very much a review in progress and I will be revisiting the score once the March update has added the remaining game modes and store. Right now for me SFV feels as though it never left the Beta stage and is in a preview condition which for this series is unforgivable especially when you compare it to its nearest rival Mortal Kombat X which released almost a year ago in a much more complete state and who has just released its GOTY Mortal Kombat XL version which highlights even more what SFV is lacking.

With far more negative points than positive ones right now, all I can praise about SFV is the gameplay but that is not enough to give a standing score which is fair. Capcom were clearly not ready to release it and it sets a dangerous precedent that PlayStation pushed it to market so incomplete. It entered the UK Top 20 sales charts at number 2 but slipped to 10th after just a week. The poor reaction by fans to its unfinished version is in sharp contrast to the surprisingly glowing reviews on the first week which let it off for having so much content not ready. I however simply cannot let all that slide and my score below, for now, reflects that.

*Review score based at current released version of Street Fighter V to be updated following March Update