Mortal Kombat 11 review – the best, goriest, fighting game in years

Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch; NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros Interactive
The extreme violence will deter some, but this over-the-top fighter has brains as well as shock value

I never expected Mortal Kombat to show this much heart - at least, not in the metaphorical sense. In the 90s, Mortal Kombat made its name with its infamously grisly fighting, particularly its absurdly violent "Fatality" finishers, where just about every vital organ could be punched, ripped, cleaved or shot out of a character's body as if it were a meaty pinata.

In Mortal Kombat 11, these gory finishing moves are more creative and more depraved than ever, to the point where shooting an opponent into a helicopter's whirling rotors seems tame. Yet amid all that spilled viscera, Mortal Kombat 11 also displays a cunning fighting brain and a surprising amount of soul.