In April 2015, NetherRealm Studios released the highly anticipated Mortal Kombat X. This latest entry in one of the fighting genre’s longest running series took the classic gameplay and brought it to the current generation of consoles with plenty of polish. It was then followed by a season pass, the Kombat Pack, that provided some mixed feelings.
In an effort to breathe new life back into Mortal Kombat X, NetherRealm has released another pass called Kombat Pack 2. Included are four fighters and several skin packs. Unlike the previous Kombat Pack, those who purchase the latest round of DLC don’t have to wait for months for each new portion of the package. Instead, everything is available from the moment you install the extra content.
Before we get into the Kombatants, the meat and potatoes of the expansion, it must be said that the skins leave much to be desired. Mortal Kombat X’s first year provided unique outfits for many of the characters that were fun to show off in online play. Infrared Scorpion, a skin from the Predator and Prey DLC pack, glimmered in the light as you could see the heath move within him, and the Horror Pack brought some incredibly detailed themed outfits to three characters.
The offerings in Kombat Pack 2 are noticeably sparse in comparison. The Apocalypse Pack provides a new outfit for Takeda, Erron Black, and D’Vorrah, and all three certainly look the part. Unfortunately, the Brazil and Kold War Skin Packs aren’t new at all. Both are almost a year old, and while they look interesting, players could have purchased these packs long ago and are therefore getting nothing new for their hard earned cash.
Fortunately enough, it is impossible to feel shortchanged on the character side of things. The developers have once again figured out a way to fit characters from outside of the Mortal Kombat franchise in perfectly. Leatherface and Alien feel right at home among their fellow, hyper-violent fighters.
From the moment you take control of Leatherface, you can’t help but feel chills as he hollers and charges towards his opponent. His heavy movements combined with the unnerving revving of his chainsaw are just as intimidating as the damage he puts out. Alien, on the other hand, brings a healthy dose of menacing range and speed that helps it to feel like a healthy cross between Reptile and someone with lots of tripping abilities like Kung Jin. The movements of both characters were nailed perfectly as well, so when you set up the inevitable matches of Leatherface vs. Jason Vorhees and Alien vs. Predator, there’s a genuine element to the whole affair.
Other than the monsters introduced to the Mortal Kombat universe, there are two returning fighters…or should we say five? Triborg may be brand new, but his four forms are anything but. You have Sektor, Cyrax, Smoke, and Cyber Sub-Zero as variations. Normally, a variation would only slightly adjust the move set and capabilities, but in Triborg’s case, they all feel unique. Cyber Sub-Zero is one hell of a fighter, benefiting from both the Cryomancy abilities of the Lin Kuei and the brutal speed of his cybernetic makeup. Cyrax and Sektor return to their bladed and missile launching ways respectively, and Smoke is as badass as you’d remember him to be.
While it would’ve been awesome to have each of the cybernetic Kombatants have their own spot on the character select screen, this is the next best thing. NetherRealm managed to cram a lot into a game that already had quite a bit to offer, and that’s something that is very impressive.
All in all, Kombat Pack 2 does a good job at providing content to a game that is almost a year old. The skin side of things is a bit light when compared to the previous pass, but the fighters more than make up for it. There’s just the perfect balance of nostalgia and something brand new to keep things interesting, and it will hell to shake things up between friends and enemies.
At $20, Kombat Pack 2 is definitely worth it if you planned on purchasing all of the fighters anyway. Since they each cost $5, you’ll be getting the skin packs for free. Even if you already had most of them, you don’t lose anything. Of course, if you’ve never purchased any of the DLC for Mortal Kombat X, the XL pack is the much better deal. It includes both Kombat Packs for only $25.
