Game Review: Mortal Kombat 1 – a generation ahead of any other fighting game
Flawless victory
Hello, dear readers! My name is Victor, and I am a blind gaming, technology, and entertainment journalist. I am also an ambassador for universal design and an accessibility consultant.
Today I am super excited to bring you my review for Mortal Kombat 1, the most recent title from WB Games and worldwide renowned developer NetherRealm Studios. Before going forward with this article, I need to confess that I played all the games in this series since the early 90s, so way earlier than I was supposed to. What fascinates me the most about the Mortal Kombat universe are the stories behind each of the characters and the ways in which the talented writers at NetherRealm manage to reinvent them for us.
Mortal Kombat 1 marks the third reboot for this beloved IP and I dare to say that for me this one is the best one yet, not only because it looks, sounds, plays and feels perfect, but because it also includes an impressive suite of accessibility features that empower blind and other impaired gamers to play it. Usually when a new game arrives for review I almost always need help from Alina to set it up, but with Mortal Kombat 1 I was able to do everything by myself while she just enjoyed the bloody show.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start from the beginning, with the story, the game modes, the gameplay, the presentation and after that I will cover everything you need to know about the fantastic accessibility of Mortal Kombat 1.
Story, Gameplay & Game Modes
In MK1 we see a return of its genre-defining story mode reflecting Fire God Liu Kang’s vision of perfection, as he hits reset on the entire history. As a result of his actions, Mortal Kombat 1 is set in a brand new universe that feels familiar, yet radically different. Sadly, although Liu Kang had only good intentions in his heart, this new timeline is potentially filled with more dangers and unknown threats than ever before.
In typical Mortal Kombat style, the player will go through the story embodying some of the most iconic fighters in the series roster. I won’t go into any more details about the story, aside to tell you that it is absolutely epic, cinematic, entertaining and delightful with excellent writing, character development and a gorgeous presentation.
The gameplay of MK1 is one that we all know and love, but it also introduces new mechanics that make it even more addictive, visceral and awesome. All the special moves, x-ray actions and fatalities are there and work out wonderfully, but MK1 sees the arrival of Cameos, a unique roster of partner fighters who assist us during matches, creating brand new gameplay possibilities. Calling on a Cameo at the right moment in a game can make the difference between life and death as they can dramatically enhance every encounter assisting us with their own Special Moves, Throws and defensive Breakers.
Invasions is also a new game mode for MK1 and arrives in the form of a dynamic single player campaign with a variety of distinct challenges. With a built-in progression system and even RPG mechanics, Invasions is a great addition to Mortal Kombat and I can’t wait to explore it even more in the future.
Aside from what we already covered above, in MK1 we have standard game modes like Versus, Online, Towers, Tournaments and of course, the Krypt.
I played MK1 on PlayStation 5 of course and as always thanks to the next generation haptics and adaptive triggers on the DualSense controller the game felt even more immersive and engaging. Every move, action, blow, x-ray and fatality was reflected in my hands through haptics and feedback.
I don’t think that there is anything else here that I need to cover as MK1 sees enhanced and improved mechanics on all levels.
Presentation
Mortal Kombat 1 is absolutely gorgeous from a presentation standpoint. The graphics are sharp, the character models are extremely detailed, the environments burst with color, life and originality and the animations are smooth and look natural.
From perfectly choreographed fights to stunning vistas on Earth Realm and Outworld, the artists of NetherRealm Studios have created the most insanely detailed game yet. As I mentioned above, Alina watched my entire play through of the campaign with wrapped attention and she interrupted from time to time to exclaim her joy on how amazing the game looks. Blind players will also be delighted by these characters and locations as the Audio descriptions are fabulous and on point.
All these awesome visuals are combined with superb sound design, flawless voice acting, engaging music and high-quality sound effects.
With MK1, NetherRealm managed to successfully deliver a third-party title that feels like a PlayStation exclusive when it comes to its fidelity, polish and features.
Accessibility
I think that with what I wrote above I already convinced you that MK1 is one of those games that you need to play, but what makes it even more special and impressive is the fact that NetherRealm hired at least two accessibility consultants to help make this title even more approachable and accessible.
You may remember that I am totally blind and that I always cover accessibility in my reviews, so this time it is with great pleasure that I can confirm the wonderful news that Mortal Kombat 1 is playable by gamers who are low vision, have lost their sight or have other impairments.
Of course, I can speak only from my perspective and I am happy to report that in my over 25 hours with the game I was able to take advantage of text to speech functionality, menu narration, superb audio descriptions provided by Descriptive Video Works, a lot of sound cues assigned to gameplay modifiers and many other helpful features.
Carlos Vasquez and Brandon Cole are the two accessibility consultants that I was talking about earlier and their combined expertise contributed in making MK1 the most accessible title in the series yet. Just by following sounds I am able to figure out how far or close my opponent is, to know when my special moves are ready to be used, to discern if I am close to the end of a stage or if my enemy crouches, jumps or blocks. It is absolutely fantastic to have such a level of agency while playing a game and all the mechanics work 100%!
I experienced a few bugs and glitches along the way, such as sound not outputting properly and the text to speech engine not covering all menu elements, but I know for a fact that these small issues will be fixed with subsequent updates. I think that some TTS elements are completely missing for now from Invasions and the character customization menus, but you can use OCR if you really want to have complete access to these sections for now.
I have recorded multiple videos while playing MK1 and you can watch all of them [here] and on my YouTube channel. I think that I will also record the entire campaign as a TV show for people interested because the story is one that deserves such a treatment and that’s even without the extremely detailed audio descriptions available with all cinematics, x-rays and fatalities.
Another thing that I want to mention before getting to the conclusion is the fact that I absolutely love the accessibility presets. Immediately after going into the Accessibility Menu players can choose exactly what kind of assistance they need. I chose 100% assistance and after that just increased the Music to 20% so that I can enjoy it but without it overlapping over the sound cues that I need. Great job everyone!
Verdict
Mortal Kombat 1 is a masterpiece! This gorgeous game is a generation ahead of any other fighting title regardless if we talk about accessibility, gameplay, voice acting, storytelling, graphics, music or content.
If you like Mortal Kombat you will love MK1 and if you never touched a fighting game before you will be absolutely blown away by this one.
Special thanks
As always, at the end I want to say a huge thank you to everyone involved with this game for their dedication and professionalism, but also to congratulate them for a terrific job!
Last, but not least, I want to shine a spotlight on Carlos and Brandon, two champions of accessibility who through their hard work and tireless advocacy have made this possible. Carlos Vasquez is a competitive Mortal Kombat player who has competed at EVO, the largest fighting game tournament in the world. Brandon Cole is an award-winning accessibility consultant and advocate that is responsible for making with Naughty Dog The Last of Us Part I and Part II playable for blind gamers. He is also currently consulting with Turn10 Studios for the next Forza Motorsport racing title which arrives in a couple of weeks and it’s already confirmed to be playable by gamers without sight. Both of them are completely blind. During the last two years since I also lost my vision completely I grew closer to Carlos and Brandon through our interactions on social media, so today I am proud and humbled to call both of them friends.
Only by embracing players and consultants with disabilities and impairments, by building on universal design and by observing inclusive practices, our beloved gaming industry will evolve and prepare for the future.
My message to publishers and developers remains the same: Reach out to accessibility consultants and create experiences that can be enjoyed by everyone!
The saying that “Disability happens when Accessibility doesn’t” comes true once again. The entire process of playing the game, capturing the videos, uploading them to YouTube, writing this huge review using dictation and voiceover on my iPad mini, spellchecking and formatting the text using AI, and posting the entire article with WordPress was a seamless one for me because it was accessible at every step. The process of losing my sight spanned over a decade almost and after such a long time I can proudly say that “I am blind and fine”. I saw that someone whom I follow on LinkedIn uses this on their profile and thought it would be actually quite true and fitting for me as well. Take care of yourselves and try to be happy!
Review copy provided by WB Games.
Score: 10 / 10
Victor Dima
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