Developer: NetherRealm Studios, Qloc, Shiver
Publisher: Warner Bros.
Release: Out now
On: Windows
From: Steam
Price: 50/$60/ 60
It s got blood and you punch people. There, review over.
I sometimes wish this job was as straightforward as that. Mortal Kombat 11 is a biff em up of brutal strength and quick reflexes. It has a bin lorry s worth of microtransaction trash heaped on top of it, the PC version is lagging behind the console version as regards patches, and it was made at a studio recently criticised for its poor working conditions. There s also an excellent fighting game underneath all that. And knowing all this, I m supposed to tell you whether its worth spending your paypacket on it, so you can pester other humans with fireballs from the far end of a fighting pit. I m supposed to do that, from inside this laundry drum of hot takes and player anger. But all I can hear is my mother s old adage, whispering to me from across the years. Brendan, she said. There is no ethical konsumption under kapitalism.