David Sanders
David SandersWarning: This article contains spoilers for Mortal Kombat 11’s original story mode. This article will not, however, contain spoilers for the story mode present within The Aftermath DLC itself.
I’m sure it’s no secret by now that I’ll take any chance I can get to spend more quality time with the Mortal Kombat franchise. Recurring readers among our audience will likely know that I rather easily managed to select the newest entry in the series, Mortal Kombat 11, as my 2019 Game of the Year. As such, you would be right to imagine that I was quite excited a few months back once the first story-based expansion in the series’ history was announced.
This story expansion takes the form of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. As its title implies, this DLC picks up right where the game’s original story mode leaves off. Unfortunately, I don’t see a method that would enable me to explain exactly how it goes about doing that without revealing at least a few spoilers for the end of MK11’s original events. To that end, I’ll get the spoilers out of the way as expeditiously as I can in order to set the stage for the events of Aftermath.
Aftermath’s story begins with the newly-crowned God of Fire and Thunder, Liu Kang, standing before the defeated Kronika’s Hourglass alongside his now-mortal personal adviser, Raiden. Raiden knew he had to do everything in his power to ensure that Liu Kang could defeat Kronika. This would, in turn, prevent her from rewriting history so as to create the “New Era” that she and her cronies wouldn’t shut up about during the main story. To accomplish this, Raiden sacrificed his immortality and transferred the powers bestowed upon him as an Elder God into Liu Kang.
This plan worked flawlessly… or so it was thought. Out of the blue, the despicable sorcerer Shang Tsung casually appears through a portal just as Liu Kang began to use the Hourglass to restore the timeline. Shang Tsung instructs Liu Kang to “cease, before you doom us all.” The sorcerer presumably says this because Liu Kang appeared not to notice that his attempts to use the Hourglass were actually gradually damaging it.
Much to Raiden’s and Liu Kang’s surprise, Shang Tsung is not alone; accompanying him are Fujin, the Elder God of Wind, and Nightwolf, the shaman of the Matoka tribe. Raiden and Liu Kang understandably assume that despite the presence of his entourage, the sorcerer has come to deceive them in some way. They subsequently refuse to hear what Shang Tsung has to say, at least until he makes his main point.
We then learn that since Liu Kang destroyed Kronika’s crown during their ultimate battle, he cannot safely rewrite the timeline; the crown is the key to the proper usage of the Hourglass. Liu Kang then theorizes that if he were to send himself back in time to the moment before he defeated Kronika, he could neutralize her in such a way that her crown remained intact. Shang Tsung corrects him, stating that this plan “leaves too much to chance.”
Instead, Shang Tsung explains that Kronika “must never possess the crown in the first place.” According to the sorcerer, this is the only way to guarantee victory. He explains to Liu Kang that although history cannot be restarted without the crown, Liu Kang still has the ability to send travelers to any point in the current timeline.
With this knowledge in mind, Shang Tsung suggests that Liu Kang send the sorcerer and his entourage to Shang Tsung’s island at a point in time before Kronika sends her daughter, the Elder God Cetrion, to the island to retrieve the crown. If this is done, the three can steal the crown and safely deliver it directly to Raiden. Thus, Raiden and Liu Kang would then have both the crown and the Hourglass under their control; they could, therefore, reshape history however they see fit.
When Raiden questions why he and Liu Kang are bothering to listen to the “snake” that is Shang Tsung, the sorcerer proceeds to explain that he is “a snake who has toiled beside Kronika, learning her secrets.” Using his proclaimed knowledge of Kronika’s secrets and inner workings as a bargaining chip of sorts, the sorcerer convinces Raiden and Liu Kang to go along with his plan. Liu Kang instructs Fujin and Nightwolf to continue accompanying the sorcerer as the trio are sent back in time, just in case Shang Tsung tries anything that doesn’t strictly adhere to the plan.
In the interest of avoiding spoilers for the events of Aftermath, that’s essentially all I can tell you about the events that set the stage for the DLC. Instead, I’d like to switch gears at this point and spend awhile discussing what I thought of the story expansion insofar as I can do so without spoiling anything.
Based on many events that take place within Aftermath, I would honestly say that you don’t have to be as familiar with the stories told in Mortal Kombat 9, Mortal Kombat X, or MK11 as I am in order to predict the events of MK11’s expanded story. Instead, I’d say you just need a rough understanding of these three games’ plots and to bear in mind that there’s a reason why no one trusts Shang Tsung.
I say that because for many fans of those three games in the Mortal Kombat franchise who know the stories these games tell as well as I do, MK11: Aftermath’s story expansion becomes a bit too predictable at times. Essentially, there are points in the story at which you can sense something bad is about to happen. Additionally, you can probably accurately guess who’s going to be responsible for and involved in the upcoming series of events based on the current circumstances.
For me, that predictability tends to take a small amount of the fun out of Aftermath’s story expansion. As I said a moment ago, so long as you have a basic understanding of everything that led up to Aftermath, you don’t exactly have to be the world’s greatest detective to figure out certain events within this piece of DLC. I personally enjoy a bit more mystery and a few more plot twists in my Mortal Kombat stories, but perhaps it’s foolish of me to prefer those aspects in the story mode of a fighting game.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Just because MK11: Aftermath’s story is predictable more often than I’d prefer, I absolutely do not mean to say I don’t find it enjoyable. By my estimation, Aftermath adds approximately three hours’ worth of single-player content to Mortal Kombat 11. For what it’s worth, I personally enjoyed every minute of those three or so hours, even though that time wasn’t exactly full of more plot twists than an average M. Night Shyamalan film.
Everything I’ve said thus far isn’t even mentioning the additional content that comes with the DLC beyond the additional story. Some among our audience might be familiar with Mortal Kombat 11’s “season pass” of sorts, known as the Kombat Pack. This pack adds six new fighters to the game’s roster in the forms of three series staples and three guests. In the same vein, the Aftermath DLC adds three more fighters, of which two are returning characters and one is a guest.
Allow me to elaborate. The Kombat Pack adds the series staples Sindel, Shang Tsung, and Nightwolf to the roster, in addition to guest fighters Spawn, The Terminator, and DC Comics’ Joker. The Aftermath DLC makes Sheeva and Fujin playable, and throws in guest “kombatant” RoboCop for good measure. Granted, you don’t need to own the Kombat Pack to play anything present in Aftermath; however, I would still recommend that you pick up both pieces of DLC if you’re able to do so.
Our recurring readers will likely know that I don’t often recommend DLC so wholeheartedly as I currently am. Despite that, I’m making an exception for Mortal Kombat 11’s extra “kontent” because I genuinely believe that owning it will help you get the most possible value out of the game. In case this helps sway your decision, you can currently purchase the base game and both DLC packs for $59.99 USD. That is the same asking price you would have paid for just the base game when it first released.
Of course, there’s always the prospect of the next prominent Steam sale on the horizon. I wouldn’t be surprised if the “Aftermath Kollection” which contains the base game, the Kombat Pack, and the Aftermath DLC, is discounted at least a bit from its current sixty-dollar price tag when the Steam Autumn and/or Winter Sales roll around. I see no harm in waiting for a sale to pick up the game or any of its DLC that you may be missing.
On a final note, I’d like to wrap up by passing along something of a side note. In case you’re unaware, I’ve covered Mortal Kombat 11 in various ways over on our YouTube channel in the past. To that end, I also recorded a full, three-part playthrough of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, which will begin airing on the channel on Tuesday, August 18th at precisely 1pm Pacific time. Of course, there will be unedited spoilers for the DLC in those videos, so viewer discretion is advised.
In the meantime, you can always check out my other videos on MK11 (and any additional ones I might record in the future) in this playlist. I’m considering recording full playthroughs of MK11’s original story mode and that of Mortal Kombat X as well; especially if there’s enough popular interest in me doing so. Let me know what you think of that idea in this article’s comments!
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🔥552Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
$39.99
Pros
- Story Does Exactly What it Sets Out to Do
- DLC Provides Plenty of Additional Content Outside of the Story
- Sets a Positive Precedent for Future Story Expansions
Cons
- Story Can Be Overly Predictable at Times
- Story May Feel Short Considering the DLC's Price Tag
