Mortal Kombat X: The Most Violent Video Game Ever?

With its gruesome symphony of spine-ripping fatalities, the tenth (!) installment in the Mortal Kombat video game franchise is gory as hell—but is it any good?

Jax grabs his opponent’s arms, holds them up over their head, and then—with a squish—he jams them all the way into their body so only the hands are visible. He takes a moment to light a cigar. He grabs his opponent’s mouth and rips the head in half. He puts out his cigar on the tongue as blood gurgles out.

Jax wins. Fatality.

Even if you haven’t heard of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), you’ve seen their work. Before every game commercial, a big letter comes up “Rated E for Everyone,” “T for Teen,” or “M for Mature.” Their ratings can be found on every single game box in the lower right hand corner. When the original Mortal Kombat was released back in 1992, the ESRB had not yet been created. Its release was one of the reasons it was.

Mortal Kombat is one of the most infamous game franchises of all time. It’s pretty simple, really: Two characters hit each other until one of them dies. Rinse, repeat. Fighting games don’t get much simpler than that. But what made Mortal Kombat stick out was its “realistic” depiction of violence. The characters were digitized versions of real actors so each punch looked, sort of, like one person actually punching another one. It wasn’t a cartoon, and censors were not pleased.

But what really stuck out, then as now, was the “Fatality” system. When a player has truly beaten his opponent, the victor has the chance to make the victory just a little bit sweeter. And by sweeter, I mean bloodier. “FINISH HIM!” the announcer booms. Press the right combination of buttons and you’ll be treated to a jaw-dropping display of virtual violence.

I witnessed a character’s testicles literally pop under the pressure of an uppercut—and that was in only my second fight.

Sub-Zero freezes his opponent’s torso with a frozen punch. He follows it up with a regular punch—one that leaves a gaping hole in their body. Only its spine remains, but not for long. He reaches in and snaps the spine in two. Then he lifts the body up, rips it in half, and drops the pieces to the ground.

Sub-Zero wins. Fatality.

Though Mortal Kombat X is the tenth official iteration in a series with many more spinoffs and side projects, the “X” is a letter, not a number. Mortal Kombat 9 was just called “Mortal Kombat,” one of those reboots that’s so popular with games these days. Mortal Kombat was a step forward for the series, and many critics and fans hailed it as such. I didn’t play Mortal Kombat. Not the 2011 one, anyway. I did play Mortal Kombat in the arcades when I was young, though. It wasn’t a good game, really, but it was definitely fun to punch off my friend’s digital head.

Mortal Kombat X

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