Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath review – Is this the end

While I don’t play Mortal Kombat 11 that much, I appreciate the story and efforts that Netherrealm put into the game. So when they announced they had another story to tell in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, I was ready to grab my gamepad and see what sort of madness was in store for the first-ever expansion to a Mortal Kombat game. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

Game Name: Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath
Platform(s):  PS4 (reviewed), Xbox One, PC, Switch
Publisher(s): WB Games
Developer(s): Netherrealm Studios
Release Date: May 26th, 2020
Price: $39.99 (DLC), $59.99 (base game + DLC)

When the original events of Mortal Kombat 11 had ended, Raiden and Lui Kang’s merged form, Fire God Lui Kang, defeated Kronkia and crushed her plans to change the Mortal Kombat timeline (again). Raiden informed Lui Kang that it was now his job to reshape the timeline and get to business with the task completed. However, right before he gets underway, Fujin, who hasn’t been playable since Mortal Kombat 4, Nightwolf, and Shang Tsung arrive on the scene, issuing a warning. Now that you’re caught up on past events, we can skip to the good stuff with Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath.

What’s Aftermath all about?

The focus of this expansion is, well, deception. If there wasn’t already a Mortal Kombat game with the Deception title, this easily could have been it. You see, no one should ever trust Shang Tsung. Yet, Lui Kang and Raiden, and many other completely clueless characters follow this lead, and things don’t turn out well for anyone. Except for you, the player, as you get to watch yet another masterful story unfold before your eyes.

Shang Tsung was already one of the best villains ever to grace a video game, but here you get to see him pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Sometimes I wonder how he fools anyone into doing his bidding, but then you see how he acts and how he talks; he could sell you a bridge if he wanted to. It’s a glorious return to grace for the villain, as he was forced into a support role ever since Shinnok was introduced. If you never understood why fans loved him so, you’ll find out why here.

The new story isn’t the only thing we’re introduced to in Aftermath, as Fujin, who we mentioned earlier, along with Sheeva, who was only an NPC in Mortal Kombat 11, is now playable. As is a cult classic movie character in Robocop. Yep, good old Robo has finally made his way into a Mortal Kombat game, and watching him match up against the Terminator (versus mode) is the stuff that makes you geek out. I should say again, as they matched up once before in the Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo title, Robocop vs. Terminator.

While all three characters bring a certain playstyle to the game, I mainly enjoyed Sheeva’s mix-up game and Robo’s arsenal of weapons, and his ability to close gaps quickly. He’s an effective zoning character, even if he’s not as unique as the other two. I’m still not sure about Fujin, as he’s not my character style, but that doesn’t make him any less interesting. I’m sure I’ll run into a Fujin player online who’ll make me think otherwise.

Throughout the 2-3 hour ride, characters are betrayed one after another. Deceased ones are brought back to life, while others are reduced to bloodied bodies on the ground. It’s a wild ride and, ultimately, an enjoyable story crafted by Netherrealm, one full of twists that will leave you wanting more. Even if you did already see them coming. Speaking of plot twists, while there are two endings, a good and a bad, only the good one is canon, yet it’s somewhat confusing even if you’ve followed the Mortal Kombat series since the first game. I’d love to sit and talk about that, but we don’t do spoiler reviews here, so you’ll have to play the game for yourselves.

Now, I firmly feel that if you’re a fan of the Mortal Kombat series, you should give Aftermath a try. But if you don’t, that’s fine as Netherrealm hasn’t left you out in the cold as they have released a free update that adds Friendship finishing moves, stage fatalities, and four new stages; updated versions of Dead Pool from Mortal Kombat 2 and the Soul Camber from Mortal Kombat 3, Kronika’s Keep and the Retrocade. In my honest opinion, the latter is best out of the added stages as it takes place in an arcade.

Throughout the fight, classical Mortal Kombat music is played, and several stages from Mortal Kombat 1-3 are projected onto five large screens. Players can interact with the projector to change the backgrounds. While older Midway arcade games such as Grid, Primal, Defender, Rage, Joust, and a few other surprises that I won’t spoil are featured throughout the stage. This is truly one of my favorite fighting stages from now on.

On the gameplay side of things, there’s nothing new here. No new mechanics, no changing up of things we already knew. Just a sweet cinematic adventure that we’re watching unfold the further we process.

More than anything else, this is the sort of thing that more fighting games should strive to achieve. While an amazing and technical fighting game will draw hardcore fighting game fans, I’m confident that Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath will draw in the casuals and eventually convert them over to the dark side.

How did it play for me?

I played Mortal Kombat 11 Aftermath on the PlayStation 4 and eventually on the Xbox One, and I didn’t have any concerns to report. The game played well, there was nothing to cause me to pause the game and go, this is out of play or this is upsetting me. It’s a decent expansion with no issues to cause concern. That’s my honest take, and I’m sticking to it… no need to bream my arm…..

Finish Him!

In the end, while short, Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is a fun-filled ride that sadly ends too soon. Yet, at the same time manages to leave you wanting more, yet we’re left with a cliffhanger ending that leaves the Mortal Kombat storytelling chapter wide open. My only concern is that the expansion is perhaps a bit overpriced. Outside of the story and three new characters, everything else provided is free, so perhaps the game could have been priced at $29.99. Either way, don’t let the price stop you from some stupid fun storytelling, even if it is short-lived. Having Robocop, Sheeva, and Fujin as playable characters doesn’t hurt, either.

Review Disclosure Statement: Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath was provided to us by WB Games / Netherrealm Studios for review purposes. For more information on how we review video games and other media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.

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