Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Review – Exciting Additions, but Lacking in Value

Mortal Kombat 1 was an impressive game and marked a bold new direction for the series, essentially rebooting the narrative to reshape the franchise’s future. I thoroughly enjoyed the story mode and fighting experience at launch. However, the post-launch support from the developers left much to be desired, leading to significant issues that sometimes made the game feel broken. Despite frequent patches aimed at addressing the community’s concerns, the game never seemed to find the right path, particularly in terms of competitive play.

Now, Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns is set to release almost a year after the original game. It promises a new story expansion and introduces Kombat Pack 2, adding six new fighters. Three of these fighters will be available at launch, including fan-favorites from previous games such as Cyrax, Sektor, and Noob Saibot. The remaining three, featuring guest characters like Ghostface (from the Scream franchise), the T-1000 (from Terminator 2), and Conan the Barbarian, will be released later. However, the main concern with this expansion is its value relative to the asking price, and in that regard, it disappoints.

If you enjoyed the story mode of Mortal Kombat 1, you will likely appreciate the continuation in Khaos Reigns. However, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that the expansion offers more of the same, and the core game still suffers from unresolved issues. Additionally, the Khaos Reigns story mode is quite short, taking less than three hours to complete, and lacks significant challenges. While I appreciate the deeper exploration of the characters’ backgrounds and the events following the base game, the high price and limited replay value of the expansion are hard to overlook.

The story in Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns picks up directly after the events of the base game, placing us in control of new fighters Cyrax and Sektor. It delves into the ongoing rivalry between Scorpion and Sub-Zero, though without giving away too much, it feels like this chapter serves more as filler, acting as a stopgap until the next main entry in the franchise. This feeling of incompleteness was not present in previous Mortal Kombat games, and I found Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate to be a more fulfilling experience, as it felt like a complete package. While the addition of six new fighters is notable, I was primarily excited about the story mode, and I was left underwhelmed by the limited content it offered.

Despite my concerns about the story’s length, I appreciated how it provided more depth to some of the main characters. Each chapter focuses on a different character, and the gameplay flows seamlessly into the cinematic cutscenes. Mortal Kombat 1 continues to excel at blending gameplay with cinematic storytelling, and Khaos Reigns carries this tradition forward. The experience feels like watching a high-budget, animated Mortal Kombat movie. The character animations and facial expressions are outstanding and leave a strong impression, while the fight scenes remain engaging and well-executed.

As for the new fighters, they are quite enjoyable to play. Cyrax and Sektor, with their unique mechanical suits, have abilities that allow them to effectively punish their opponents. While I’m generally not fond of jumping into a new character in fighting games without first mastering their moves, Mortal Kombat 1 simplifies this process by providing an easy-to-access moveset guide and highlighting key moves to focus on. Both Cyrax and Sektor feel like a natural evolution of the characters we’ve known, with improved zoning capabilities and solid damage potential.

Outside of the story mode, I was pleased to see the return of Animalities in Mortal Kombat 1. These finishing moves were always brutal in the earlier games, and with the highly realistic visuals of the latest installment, they are even more satisfying to execute. Watching characters transform into various animals and then ruthlessly finish off their opponents is always a visual spectacle. Unfortunately, the Invasions mode hasn’t seen much improvement since its initial launch, even with this new update. However, the addition of the Towers of Time mode promises to offer more content. I still miss the old-school Krypt mode, and I hope NetherRealm considers bringing it back in future installments.

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns is primarily for the most dedicated fans of the series. Its price at launch doesn’t quite reflect the content it offers. It costs nearly as much as a full-priced game, and there is currently no way to purchase Kombat Pack 2 separately. This means that if you want to play as any of the six new fighters, you will need to buy the expansion. Despite these concerns, I did enjoy my limited time with the new story expansion and the three fighters available at launch. I also hope that NetherRealm continues to work on improving the competitive aspects of the game, particularly to address the issues of imbalance and unfairness in online ranked matches.

Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns Game Information

• Price: $49.99
• Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
• Developer: NetherRealm Studios
• Platform: PS5 (Reviewed)
• Disclaimer: A review code was given by the publisher