Mortal Kombat 11: Story Details Revealed, The Game will let you explore the events of the 26-Year History of Mortal Kombat

The time-travelling twists of its story

Mortal Kombat 11

MK11 is a continuation of a story beat that was core to the 2011 series’ reboot. There, the story told across the1992 original and its two sequels were changed due to a warning sent back through time to Raiden.

The message came from a future version of himself, in the hope that foreknowledge would alter events and prevent his defeat at a later date. Subsequently, characters, events and more were changed — but not all for the better.

The fallout of that intervention will be dealt with directly in MK11, with the reveal of new big bad, Kronica. She’s “the boss of bosses,” director Ed Boon explains. “She’s been staging all the events since MK1 to MKX.”

And thus, a time travel caper forms the spine of the MK11 story. “We’re taking all the events of MK1, MK2, and MK3, and folding them on top of the current timeline,” Boon continues. “We have time quakes, characters meeting their former selves…[for example], young Liu Kang meeting revenant Liu Kang. It’s so cool.”

The reexamination of the series’ 26-year history could be a compelling hook for longtime fans. Imagine Looper with martial arts rather than bullets. Or a gory spin on Back to the Future.

Time manipulation bleeds into gameplay, too. Newcomer Geras can tamper with time as part of his move set. Learn him and you’ll be able to undo the damage by rewinding a few seconds, resurrect yourself or subtract seconds off the round timer. It’ll be fascinating to witness two pro-players who’ve fully come to grips with his potential.

And that’s the great thing about Mortal Kombat 11. If you’re not concerned with its story and character politics, you can just enjoy its highly polished fighting mechanics.