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Almost everyone was excited when it was announced that Mortal Kombat X was coming to mobile this April and we all looked forward to it. The much anticipated game was released for iOS yesterday and if you’ve been following the Mortal Kombat game releases over the years, be ready for a dose of disappointment as the mobile version of Mortal Kombat isn’t what you’re expecting it to be.
After months of trailers and teases, the game is now available for free on iOS with loads of in-app purchases.
Continuation of the Mortal Kombat story?
Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition ended with almost all Earthrealm warriors dead and Quan Chi reporting to Lord Shinok about how Shao Khan played on as planned. It was expected that Mortal Kombat X would be a continuation of the story but the mobile version of this game doesn’t even have a story mode.
There’s only Battle Mode where you fight to earn coins, unlock new characters and other rewards; Daily Event where you can increase koins by participating in series of events. There’s also Faction Wars and Raiden Challenge which is not yet available. The console and PC version will definitely continue that storyline but a story mode isn’t available on the mobile version of the game.
Not the best mobile fighting game as anticipated
Mortal Kombat X is a fighting game, but it’s not completely a pure fighting game. It’s a combination of card game, character building and the fighting is reduced to taps and swipes. Don’t expect button combinations for combo attacks and Fatality.
If you’ve played Injustice: Gods Among Us on your iOS or Android device, you should have an idea of just what I’m saying. The model is also very similar to WWE Immmortals.
What’s good about the game then?
Well, I think it’s just the awesome graphics. This particular type of gameplay gets boring real quick for people like me.
The Gameplay
As mentioned earlier, you’re in for a pretty big disappointment if you were expecting a pure fighting game like the previous games in the Mortal Kombat franchise. You need to build characters, pay heavily to buy souls and coins in order to unlock new characters.
Just like Injustice: Gods Among Us, the fighting is reduced to taps and swipes and you can perform special moves as the energy bar increases.
The in-app purchases can be annoying sometimes. It might be difficult to really have a quick progress without purchasing a few items. And sometimes, you have to wait to allow your characters recharge to go to the next stage even if you win.
The waiting time might be up to six minutes unless you chose not to wait by paying with souls. Mind you, the souls are not easy to acquire. Special finishing moves also won’t come all the time. I wasn’t able to perform any fatality till I reached level six with Sonya chooping off Kano’s arms.
Purchases and rewards
As you level up, you earn gold coins, silver coins and souls. Gold coins are used to buy silver characters and upgrades; silver coins are used to purchase random cards that can be quite useful. Souls are used to bypass waiting times and more importantly, unlock gold characters.
You’ve been warned, this is the type of game that might frustrate you to the point of going for in-app purcahses as you progress. That’s the biggest issue with ‘free games’.
Conclusion
Mortal kombat X for mobile is nothing like the console and PC Mortal Kombat we’re used to.
The gameplay isn’t what was expected despite the great graphics. If you really like character building, you ‘ll love Mortal Kombat X for that. As more users start playing the game, we do hope a time comes when you can really challenge your friends and beat them up. It seems that’s where the real fun lies.
Here’s to hoping the PC version will be nothing like this mobile release.