For Mobile Friday this week i tried out Mortal Kombat: Onslaught on iPhone 14 Pro. this game is from NetherRealm Studios and is out on Android, too.
With the focus being on the recent Mortal Kombat 1 release, I hadn't heard of this game until i found it on the app store. I was curious about so many different aspects of this game that it had to be the next game i played. I could see from the game's app store page that it wasn't a 1 vs. 1 fighting game and that it's star rating wasn't too high.
starting the game we're greeted by the game telling us to download a further 1.745GB of data. Because of this, do not play this game for the first time on your mobile network. that's far too much data to download and will eat into your quota. the first time you play this game should be with Wi-fi. but even then, it took about 11 minutes to download and then install that data, enough time that i had to watch the same video loop 9 times during the intro. during the video i said that that time and video could be better served as a tutorial, but seeing as the game does a great job of that already i'd actually suggest the game use that time and video to tell the story of the characters throughout the series, or what had happened up to the beginning of the recently released fighting game. I've not played Mortal Kombat seriously since the Mega Drive, and whilst i am curious about the new game, i have no idea who most the characters are and what the story is.
With our first interactions with the game being that rough, i wasn't too optimistic about the rest of the game. But i'm glad to say i was wrong. from this point on, the game does soo much right. we get a lengthy opening cinematic that tells some of the back story and setting the scene for this game. we're set on our journey with a mix of writing and in-game cinematics. and then the game uses the first chapter of the story to teach us many aspects of the game via a well thought out tutorial. as i only played the first hour, it's difficult to know if the tutorial continues to be great as you level up and unlock more. i will say that the one thing it missed was the character types. the tutorial does a great job taking us through different aspects of the character but fails to bring up their type, for example if they're support, and how best each type could be used in battle.
the fights in Mortal Kombat: Onslaught are also quite accessible. the characters will do basic attacks automatically and when it comes to their special attacks, we're given the choice to simply press their icon to activate and let the computer use it or we can take control and be, maybe, more precise with it. the difficult of the battles was very appropriate in the first chapter and in the second it said we should start levelling up our characters. i didn't for the first battle and found it more difficult. so i took the game's advice, leveled up the characters, and things went much smoother.
One of the bigger criticisms i have with mobile games is how they push the store onto players. thankfully, Mortal Kombat Onslaught doesn't do this. what's even better is that you can press on any item in the game and it tells you what it is, what it does, and when to use it. the game does have a store and now we can use it with better knowledge of what's on sale and it's value.
Whilst there is a lot of good things to say about this game, the bugs can't be ignored. I don't know if there is meant to be voice acting in this game. i only got it in the second chapter. it could be that it's a bug. but in the opening cinematic to the second chapter there was a bug where the video froze and the audio continued. When i was downloading the game, i noticed on more than one occasion that the download seem to pause before continuing. i wasn't sure if the audio was correct, sometimes i felt like in fights that the audio was lagging behind the action on screen so punches looked like they hit and then i head it, if i heard it all as sometimes no sound seemed to come from punches.
Other than the big download when you start the game, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught is a good RPG. i've called it a Strategy RPG, it could also be called a Tactical RPG, and NetherRealm Studios call it a Collection RPG. What ever you call it, the core gameplay and the accessibility is good enough that it doesn't need Mortal Kombat. without the characters and such, it would still be a good mobile game. But with it, i do feel like it's enhanced the core and made it into something better. As a mobile game, Mortal Kombat: Onslaught is well worth playing and one that i won't be deleting anytime soon.
(Version 1.0.1 Played)