Mortal Kombat 1 is massive

polygon.com:

Six hours into my time with Mortal Kombat 1, I’ve barely scratched the surface — I haven’t battled against a human opponent yet, and I’ve only seen a fraction of its ambitious story mode. But it’s the new Invasions mode that’s stealing most of my time right now, and potentially making me miss my deadline for pre-launch impressions of NetherRealm’s new fighting game.

All of which is to say that Mortal Kombat 1’s single-player components are extravagant. The campaign — or “Kampaign” — is beefy, in part thanks to well-produced, very expensive-looking cutscenes that play between clusters of actual fights. Many of these storytelling cinematics can run up to 10 minutes, as heroes Raiden, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, and others encounter new enemies and allies alike in Outworld. There’s an immense amount of exposition and dramatic justification for characters fighting, but little of it feels forced.

Even better: After more than a decade of games with a consistently cinematic storytelling style, the story of Mortal Kombat 1 feels fresh again. The game’s narrative is the latest reset of the Mortal Kombat timeline, this time with Liu Kang doing his best to chart the course for a more peaceful version of history. This means that previously well-established characters like Raiden (not a god!) and Sub-Zero and Scorpion (not mortal enemies!) have very different stories and motivations this time around. Some characters, like Johnny Cage, are experiencing the events of a Mortal Kombat tournament for the first time, often to hilarious effect.

According to my PlayStation 5 save, I’m about halfway through the game’s epic reimagining of Mortal Kombat lore, so I expect the campaign to run about eight to 10 hours. I’m genuinely excited to see where