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Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection Review

June 22, 2020

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The follow-up to the smash hit Mortal Kombat 11 has arrived with new fighters, stages and mini campaign. Arriving roughly a year after launch, the new DLC gives fans more to explore from the legendary franchise. This is the most comprehensive version of MK 11 yet, and it’s the a great time to join the kombat chaos.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection Details

Platform(s): Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Genre: Fighting
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating : M for Mature

Forge a new history

The game’s story picks up right where Mortal Kombat 11 left off. The mash up of foes from the past and present has the “good guys” on the ropes. With heavy losses and brutal sacrifice Liu Kang emerges victorious looking to continue the flow of time. He will need to recover Kronika’s crown but is plagued by who he can trust on his journey into the past. Two worlds hang in the balance, its up to you to save them.

The cinematic story centres around characters recently introduced into the MK series and welcomes back klassic ones too. The new story DLC introduces two well-known MK characters in Fujin and Sheeva who are playable once more.

A triple header

The introduction of Aftermath, along with the inclusion a new story gives players access to 3 new characters. This mini character pack gives you access to Fujin, Sheeva and my personal favourite Robocop.

Fujin is back after a fourteen-year absence from the series. The “God of Wind” can run on air, power slide into enemies and even conjure up his own tornado. He offers a nice mix-up of playstyles balancing offense and defensive tactics.

Sheeva is quite the opposite, coming at opponents hard and fast with a plethora of combos and brute force. She puts all those arms to work and is a lot of fun to play as. Her signature moves include a teleport stomp, and rapid fire combo damage. If optimized properly she can absolutely smother opponents with her offensive prowess.

Mortal Robocop

Robocop is far and away one of the most iconic characters to join the Mortal Kombat series. He’s a childhood favourite of mine, and extra points here to NetherRealm Studios for getting Peter Weller to reprise his role as Robocop. Weller’s voice and likeness are used to add that extra layer of authenticity to the character. As for Robocop’s fighting performance it’s a little sterile and ridged as one might suspect, he’s a robot after all. That being said, he is a very powerful zoning character. He has an arsenal of projectiles and can sit back and punish players with. This mini lineup of characters in combination to a short campaign offer a decent sampling of content.

Silky smooth gameplay

The signature fighting gameplay has returned more refined than ever. A massive content update accompanied the launch of Aftermath, including many gameplay refinements and character rebalancing. This will be available to all players, and not exclusive to the Aftermath DLC. Otherwise, much of the klassic MK11 combat has gone unchanged, which is a good thing.

The 3 new characters each add their own fighting styles but nothing ground-breaking to Mortal Kombat 11. As with all character additions they come packing new gory finishing fatalities. The biggest add-on when it comes to finishes is the return of “Friendships.”

Why can’t we be friends?

The launch of Aftermath also introduces new Friendships finishers for characters. In a game known for its serious tone and brutal nature, it’s a welcome comical reprieve. It’s also a great nod to the series past going back to their original introduction in Mortal Kombat II. After 24 long years, Friendships are back in the Mortal Kombat universe. They are more hilarious and outrageous than ever! Instead of brutally destroying enemies, you can opt to dance, BBQ or even take a few selfies. It’s a warmer, fuzzier side to the gory combat that the series is known for and a great fanservice.

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath stages and surprises

There are also new stages that are included with the return of the Klassic Dead Pool and Soul Chamberarenas. Along with the new arenas a former gameplay favourite in

Stage Fatalities also returns. The finishing moves let players use the environment to destroy opponents from using arcade cabinets to melting acid to dispatch foes. The added environmentals help to change things up in the gameplay department, providing more combat variety for players. It’s great to see a retro feature return, but even more environmental finishers could have been added.

Graphics and sound

The slick visual and breakneck speed of characters remains intact in Aftermath. Environments come alive with high fidelity textures and effects. Kombatants are meticulously detailed and more lifelike than ever. I was able to review the game on the Xbox One X and the 4K fidelity is absolutely stunning. The sound design remains excellent, and voice acting is absolutely top notch. Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung is absolutely incredible and does a great job with the character.

Final thoughts

If you are looking for the most complete Mortal Kombat experience yet, Aftermath is your best option. The value proposition gets a little harder for returning players who have much of this content for free. This then boils down to your need for 3 new characters and a 3-hour campaign. For me, I am a huge Robocop fan and wanted to see the MK11 storyline to the end. It would have been ideal to see more content added, but I really enjoyed my time with what was there. Outside of that, the combat is nearly flawless and discovering all the new fatalities and friendships adds more interest to the overall game. I recommend jumping into the ring whether you are a new or returning player.

+ Story chapters offer excellent acting and storytelling
+ Fujin, Sheeva and Robocop are terrific additions to the roster
+ New fatalities and friendships are wild

– Steep price tag for returning players
– Only 3 new fighters
– Campaign is relatively short