The latest expansion for Mortal Kombat 1 has been unleashed upon our realm and is now officially in the hands of fans everywhere. Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns adds new content from brand new story mode chapters to fresh DLC fighters, and there’s a lot to sink your teeth into.
I was given the opportunity to spend some time with Khaos Reigns and experience its offerings, and what I found was a mixed bag. Here in this review, we’re going to breakdown and discuss the newest additions to the game, both paid and free, and try to help you determine if the expansion is worth your time and hard earned money.
Khaos Reigns is a paid expansion to Mortal Kombat 1 that introduces new DLC characters and cinematic story mode chapters. Along with this expansion, NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. Games also released a free update that provided the new finisher type, Animalities, to everyone for no added cost, as well as balance changes to the game.
At the time of writing this, access to Kombat Pack 2 can only be acquired by purchasing one of the Khaos Reigns expansion options. The latest Kombat Pack brings in six new DLC main roster fighters, with three of them — Sektor, Cyrax, and Noob Saibot — being available all at launch while the other three are set to join at a later time.
Kombat Pack 2 characters are expected to become available for sale separately from the Khaos Reigns expansion down the road, but as of right now the two are tied together. This is an important detail that will come up later in this review.
As far as the overall presentation goes, Khaos Reigns is more of what you’d expect from Mortal Kombat 1. Visuals look fantastic, and this applies to the three new kombatants, the handful of new stages you can fight on, and the new gear pieces.
Noob Saibot working in tandem with his shadow clone makes for some beautiful animations, and close up shots of now human female Cyrax and Sektor not only showcase amazingly detailed faces, but also convey some powerful emotions. Mortal Kombat 1 looked incredible, and Khaos Reigns does too.
As far as this paid expansion goes, one of its largest draws is its new cinematic story mode chapters. Word of warning: we will be talking SPOILERS beyond this point.
Story:
The new story mode chapters follow the events of MK1 after the defeat of Titan Shang Tsung and pick up where the cliffhanger that now pits Titan Havik as the central villain leaves off.
Much like the expansion’s title suggests, Titan Havik’s M.O. is chaos, and he’s going to remind you of that constantly whenever he’s on screen. His goal is to kidnap Geras and use the time keeper’s abilities and knowledge of all timelines — as well as six colorful, magical artifacts — to take over said timelines and well… bring about chaos and anarchy to all.
The new chapters feature a subplot revolving around Sub-Zero (who becomes Noob Saibot), Scorpion, and the Lin Kuei, which also allows for the welcoming in of Lin Kuei members Cyrax and Sektor. A good portion of the story is told through the perspective of the three new DLC characters, which not only gives you some of their backstory and details their motivations in Khaos Reigns, but also familiarizes players with how they fight.
Outside of some great looking new locations, cutscenes, and a handful of badass new costume designs, it’s hard to say much good about Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns’ story mode chapters. This might be the weakest story mode offering NetherRealm Studios has ever packaged into one of their fighting games.
Right from the jump, the overall plot of this new story is essentially the exact same from the original game. Titan version of a popular villain invades Liu Kang’s timeline in hopes of taking over, and in order to do so, enlists the aid of evil versions of fighters from alternate timelines.
In preparation for this review, I recently went back and played through all of MK1’s story chapters and found that despite it being advertised by developers in a convoluted way, I actually enjoyed the majority of it. It’s in the last two to three chapters of that story where the whole thing jumps the shark, introduces the idea that there aren’t just two timelines but tons of them, and essentially makes it so that nothing really matters as the story rushes and stumbles to the finish line with an awkward recreation of the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon.
Khaos Reigns’ new story chapters feel like they embody those final segments of the original story, and that’s really unfortunate.
Mortal Kombat 1’s original story had elements of it that felt like they were trying hard to be like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and more specifically the Avengers films (Infinity War and Endgame). Everyone is doing the multiverse and multiple timelines thing now, and the giant clash of popular characters all facing off in a massive war worked so well in those movies that other franchises have tried to follow suit — NRS and Warner Bros. seemingly included.
Khaos Reigns doubles down and shoehorns in more of these MCU elements with things like Sektor and Cyrax no longer being cyborgs, but instead having high-tech Iron Man-esque power suits. They even give Titan Havik his own version of the Infinity Stones, though, they have zero impact on the story and end up being inconsequential overall.
Like… did we REALLY need the Infinity Stones in this?
These new story chapters struggle hard due to pacing issues, and when all is said and done, you realize that nothing meaningful really… happens throughout the entire thing.
The new characters introduced don’t get enough time to be properly developed and fleshed out, so I was left not caring much when the big emotional beats that were clearly supposed to be impactful happened. And that’s just talking about the three new DLC fighters. I found myself caring even less about the random alternate timeline versions of characters like Tanya and Rain, as they’re introduced and very shortly after have their major emotional sacrifice that’s too rushed and underdeveloped to really do much for the audience.
Random events happen to keep the plot moving along toward its destination, dialogue feels lazy and uninspired, and being tasked with fighting even more of the weird, mash up, alternate timeline versions of familiar Mortal Kombat characters that feel like they were AI generated all culminate in a boring and uninteresting experience overall.
The Khaos Reigns story desperately needed to be a more tightly-knit tale that focused almost exclusively on Bi-Han, the Lin Kuei, the Shirai Ryu, their conflict, and Sub-Zero’s transformation into Noob Saibot. Had it done so, we could have gotten a far more emotional and impactful story that could have been used to set up the events of whatever chapters may come next.
Alternate timeline Emperor Rain.
Fans didn’t want or need a repeat of the previous story chapters, and a far more rushed and lazy version of them at that, but that’s essentially what we got with Khaos Reigns. It really feels like there were predetermined plot points that needed to be hit with these story chapters, and the whole thing was written just to serve them.
New DLC characters:
Fortunately, the other half of Khaos Reign’s paid expansion fares better than the story mode. Sektor, Cyrax, and Noob Saibot are all popular legacy characters and great choices for the main cast, and each brings something interesting to the table.
Beginning with my favorite of the bunch, Noob Saibot is a very technical fighter with a lot of options and tools at his disposal. He requires strong awareness of the status of his shadow clone as some special moves and combo strings are either buffed or solely exist when it’s available, and there is a cooldown period for the clone that varies depending on the attack used.
Many of the trademark moves Noob Saibot is known for are back in his arsenal. From his teleport slam to his shadow slide, longtime fans will find familiarity with the fighter very quickly, while also gaining a breath of fresh air as they try and learn how they all function in the latest entry.
Noob’s returning moves give him a ton of juggle and combo options that are further bolstered by Kameo Fighters, but he also has some interesting new tools to work with in Khaos Reigns. Embrace Khaos is a maneuver that can only be used once per match, but it buffs most of his attacks that involve the shadow clone for a short time and when that period is over, Noob loses access to his clone for the remainder of that round.
As I previously mentioned, Noob Saibot is strong on the visuals front. However, some might not be the biggest fan of the hood his default look comes equipped with. Fortunately, that hood does act as his changeable gear piece, and some of the looks you can create with his alternate palettes and gear look outstanding.
Sektor and Cyrax also feel like strong additions to the Mortal Kombat 1 roster. Now, hyper fans of the former cyborgs can play the dream team of two Sektors, two Cyrax, or one of each as their old robot versions are also Kameo Fighters in the game.
Much like Noob, Sektor and Cyrax see a lot of their classic moves return in Khaos Reigns, though some are altered and tweaked a bit. Instead of Cyrax throwing out a bright green net to ensnare foes, this version tosses out bright green foam that traps the opponent in place for a similar effect (though the net is still part of her move set).
That being said, there are a ton of awesome references to these fighters’ storied pasts baked right into their move sets, intros, win poses, and the like. And while some might still take issue with their transformation into human females here in Mortal Kombat 1, the characters as a whole work nicely within the world of Khaos Reigns.
While Noob brings a highly technical play style into the mix, Cyrax and Sektor feel like they have tools that are more welcoming to newcomers up front. Things like being able to combo straight into Cyrax’s foam from a basic string allow for a quick, easy meterless combo extender that players can swiftly learn and use in battle.
Both are very capable of pulling off intricate and powerful set ups and combos of their own as well. Sektor can extend air combos with an air dash and use missiles for combo continuations, while Cyrax’s ability to ensnare foes in a trap and toss bombs on screen that continue to keep the pressure coming seem to provide a lot of room for potential and exploration for those who like to lab.
In Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns, Noob plays similar to the puppet character archetype, Cyrax is a mix up monster thanks to grenade set ups, and Sektor has some strong zoning tools and offensive pressure. This creates a nice varied spread of play styles and barriers of entry that should be a treat for most players to explore.
Animalities:
Truth be told, one of the best additions to Mortal Kombat 1 is its newest finishers. Animalities return from Mortal Kombat 3, and they are bigger and better than ever.
With these special finishing moves, each character transforms into a savage beast with the intent of ripping their victims apart. Each one is animated beautifully, and it does feel like NetherRealm put some real work and care into designing and animating them.
Not only do these finishers look great, but we also see the criteria for Animalities expanded a bit for the first time. Some fighters, like Liu Kang, turn into mythical creatures like a phoenix instead of just a regular animal, and Reptile becomes a giant Venus flytrap that pulls the opponent into his mouth with a stretchy tongue before chomping them to pieces.
The best part about Animalities, though, is that they’re completely free for everyone. And in a timeline where WB and NRS were once charging $10 USD for a single holiday-themed Fatality, receiving a brand new finisher for everyone on the main roster free of charge is something worth celebrating.
Closing thoughts:
Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns is a mixed bag. On the one hand, its first three DLC characters are excellent additions to the main roster and bring with them great visual designs as well as some fun tools to learn and experiment with.
On the other hand, the expansion’s new story chapters are severely lacking in substance and make for an unenjoyable cinematic story experience.
If we break down the cost of the cheapest Khaos Reigns purchase option — called the Khaos Reigns Expansion — which gives those who already own MK1 access to Kombat Pack 2 and the story chapters, we can get a better understanding of the value (or lack thereof) we’re getting.
The Khaos Reigns Expansion will run you $49.99 USD. Looking back to Kombat Pack 1, we see that the first DLC pack came with a price tag of $29.99 USD.
If we assume that Kombat Pack 2 will also cost $29.99 as a standalone purchase (if it is ever released as such), that means we’re effectively paying an extra $20 for story chapters and are currently forced to pay that just to get access to the new characters (which are the main star of this show.)
Quite frankly, as it stands right now the Khaos Reigns package isn’t worth the money, especially if you’re someone who can be patient and wait for the DLC fighters to become available for standalone purchase.
If Kombat Pack 2 does hit the digital stores as its own individual item, I also hope that it doesn’t come in at that full $30 price point.
Kombat Pack 1 ran for that price and included six DLC main roster characters, five additional Kameo Fighters, and a special Jean Claude Van Damme skin for Johnny Cage. Right now, Kombat Pack 2 is only advertised as having six additional main roster fighters — Cyrax, Sektor, Noob Saibot, Ghostface, T-1000, and Conan the Barbarian.
However, being that this is an expansion similar to Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, the more likely scenario is that we’ll see the latest DLC characters added to the game up front as part of the bundle, then see each one sold individually later on. For Aftermath, its three new fighters Sheeva, Fujin, and Robocop became available to purchase each on their own three weeks after the Aftermath expansion’s release, and we really hope Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns follows suit with Sektor, Cyrax, Noob Saibot, and the three guests when they are eventually released.
At the end of the day, if you’re a massive Mortal Kombat fan who has to have everything the current game offers, then picking up Khaos Reigns is likely something you’d get good value out of. However, for the majority of people — especially those who are only considering buying for the new DLC characters — your best bet is to save your money and wait for the additional fighters to become available for purchase on their own because the new story mode chapters just aren’t worth the extra money, nor your time and attention.
• The three newest DLC fighters are strong choices for the roster and are a lot of fun to play.
• New stages, costumes, and gear all look great.
• Animalities and other free offerings are excellent additions.
• New story mode chapters are lazy and uninspired making for the weakest story experience we’ve seen under NetherRealm’s umbrella.
• DLC characters are tied to expansion forcing players to shell out more money for story chapters they likely won’t want.
• Bang for your buck is just not there right now.
