I do like a NetherRealm fighting game story mode, and the upcoming expansion for Mortal Kombat 1, Khaos Reigns, is adding to the narrative with the return of Havik—though this time, a Havik from an alternate timeline. I don’t expect to understand what’s going on, but I do expect to see a bunch of gratuitous slow-motion martial arts and eviscerations, and that’s always a good time.
The Khaos Reigns expansion also comes with Kombat Pack 2, adding several more fighters. Some are reimagined versions of returning characters seen in the story mode: Noob Saibot, Cyrax, and Sektor. It also comes with three crossover guest fighters: Conan the Barbarian (based on the version played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movies), Ghostface from the Scream series, and the T-1000 from Terminator 2.
It’s an odd bunch of guest stars, but then they always are. I can’t get the idea of Ghostface meeting Conan out of my head. That interaction would make for some baffling taunts. “What’s your favorite scary movie?” “To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.”
At the same time as Khaos Reigns comes out, Mortal Kombat 1 is getting a free update that brings back animalities. These variant fatalities involve characters transforming into animals before ripping apart their opponents, so if you’ve ever wanted to see a gorilla grab someone’s jaws and rip their face open, now’s your chance.
The Khaos Reigns expansion comes out on September 24 on Steam and the Epic Games Store, with the Kombat Pack 2 as part of the bundle (it won’t be available separately). We’ll see if this helps to turn things around for Mortal Kombat 1, which our reviewer called “A solid but oddly soulless entry that fails to commit to being a series reboot.”