Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath – 13 Things You Need To Know

NetherRealm Studios have made it abundantly clear over the last few months that Mortal Kombat 11 is a game they plan on continuing to support with additional content for a long time to come, and with all characters in the first Kombat Pack having joined the base game’s roster, they’ve revealed what the next stage of their post-launch support for the game is going to look like. They recently announced Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a story DLC – which is somewhat unusual for a fighting game – and already, plenty has been revealed about it. In this feature, we’ll be going over everything that they’ve revealed about Aftermath. So without further ado, let’s dive in.

STORY

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath’s story will pick up right where the base game left off, with Kronika out of the picture and Liu Kang and Raiden ready to use Kronika’s Hourglass to restart history. Just as they are about to do so, however, they are stopped by some familiar faces- Fujin, Nightwolf, and Shang Tsung. They tell Liu Kang that they were Kronika’s prisoners and have now been freed- and they’ve arrived just in time to tell Liu Kang that if he restart history with Kronika’s Crown – which he destroyed in his final fight with her – he will destroy the Hourglass, and time itself, and all realms will be destroyed. And so, Liu Kang sends the trio back into time, tasking them with obtaining Kronika’s Crown before she ever acquired it and bringing it back, setting the stage for their journey throughout Aftermath.

SHANG TSUNG RETURNS

So yeah, as we already mentioned while talking about Aftermath’s narrative setup, fan favourite Shang Tsung is back, having skipped the base game. What’s more, NetherRealm have confirmed that he will be voiced and portrayed by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, who also played the character in the Mortal Kombat movie.

MORE PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath will also add three new playable characters to the base game’s character. Two of these will be returning faces. The first is the God of Wind, Raiden’s brother, and co-protector of Earthrealm Fujin, marking his first appearance as a playable character since Mortal Kombat: Armageddon in 2006. The second returning character is the four-armed half-human half-dragon Shokan queen Sheeva, who was last playable in the 2011 reboot.

This brings us to the third character…

ROBOCOP

Mortal Kombat has garnered a reputation for pulling in characters from other media franchises as guest fighters over the years. It’s done so quite a bit with MK11’s Kombat Pack, and it’ll do so once more with Aftermath, which will add RoboCop – yes, the RoboCop – to the roster. What’s even better is that actor Peter Weller – who portrayed the character in the first two films – will be lending his voice and likeness for the role.

STAGE FATALITIES

Older characters aren’t the only thing Aftermath is bringing back- some fan-favourite mechanics are coming back as well. The first of these is Stage Fatalities, which were missing in the base game, which means that when the DLC arrives, Mortal Kombat fans will once again be able to use objects and elements in the environments of stages to perform special Fatality moves.

STAGE FATALITIES WILL BE SOMEWHAT LIMITED

Something that NetherRealm Studios have confirmed is that not every stage will present opportunities for Stage Fatalities. Writing on the official PlayStation blog, the game’s cinematic director Dominic Ciancolo confirmed that Stage Fatalities won’t be in every stage, before adding, “Which arenas have Fatalities remains a secret, for now. We hope you have fun discovering them.”

FRIENDSHIPS

 

Another beloved mechanic that Aftermath will be bringing back is Friendships, the super-friendly and wholesome finishing moves that are the series’ way of slinging meta humour at critics of its abundant violence. From giving birthday presents to doing a fancy dance, Mortal Kombat characters have killed with kindness in some truly hilarious ways over the years, and they will do so once again with Aftermath. According to the developers, these will be “some of the funniest, friendliest content ever seen in Mortal Kombat.”

NEW STAGES

Of course, the upcoming DLC will also be adding new stages to Mortal Kombat 11- both brand new and returning. One of these new stages will show the exterior of Kronika’s Keep, giving a fresh perspective on a familiar environment, while the second stage – called Retrokade – will, according to the developers, “mashes up old school game stages with our more modern presentation.” 

KLASSIC STAGES

What about the older returning stages though? There will be two of these in Aftermath as well. The first is a long-time fan-favourite- Dead Pool, first seen all the way back in Mortal Kombat 2 and last seen in the 2011 reboot. The second classic arena in the DLC will be Soul Chamber, which also made its last appearance in 2011.

PRICE AND RELEAE DATE

Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath is going to be out not long from now, on May 26, but how much will it cost? Well, it’s going for a tiered pricing structure. The DLC by itself will be priced at $40. If, however, you don’t have the Kombat Pack, you can also buy a combo of that and Aftermath for the price of $50.

SOME CONTENT IS FREE

While the new story content and characters in Aftermath is of course only going to be available to those who purchase the expansion, plenty of the other stuff that’s being added to the game with it’s arrival is going to be free. All of the new stages, Friendships, and Stage Fatalities are going to be made available to everyone who owns Mortal Kombat 11 for no additional cost.

PRE-ORDER BONUS

Pre-orders for Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath are now open, and if you do pre-order the expansion, you’re going to get a bonus, as you might expect. What exactly will that bonus be? All preorders will receive the Eternal Klash Skin Pack at launch. This pack will include a classic look for Frost with the Kori Power skin, a Mortal Kombat (2011)-inspired look for Scorpion with the Unbound Rage skin, and a Mortal Kombat: Deception-inspired look for Sub-Zero with the Son of Arctika skin.

MORTAL KOMBAT 11: AFTERMATH KOLLECTION

There’s another wrinkle to Aftermath’s (somewhat) tiered pricing structure. If you haven’t played Mortal Kombat 11 and don’t own the base game, you can also purchase Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath Kollection, which includes the base game, the upcoming Aftermath, and all characters from the Kombat Pack. This will cost you the standard $60.

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