Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Announced

The word “ultimate” hasn’t been attached to the title of a Mortal Kombat game since Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, all the way back in October of 1995. It seems NetherRealm Studios believes twenty-five years is an appropriate amount of time to wait before reusing a subtitle on one of their games. I say that because they’ve just used the word in question during the process of unveiling a new version of the most recent title in the MK franchise.

Once it hits store shelves, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will be the most comprehensive version of the game released to date. This incarnation includes the base game, its first “Kombat Pack” DLC which contains six additional playable fighters, and the Aftermath story expansion which includes three extra DLC characters. This collection on its own wouldn’t be a very noteworthy announcement, however, as the “Aftermath Kollection” already exists and serves the same purpose. That’s why NetherRealm also revealed that they’ve got something new up their collective sleeve.

The additional piece of the proverbial puzzle that is Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate takes the form of a second Kombat Pack DLC. This one is half the size of the first Kombat Pack in terms of the amount of new “kombatants” it throws into the ring, which may seem a bit paltry to an outside observer. Despite that, though, I’ve read that many players are perfectly happy with the reduced amount of “kontent” recently announced entirely because of the identities of the fighters coming in this new DLC.

The brawlers in question are none other than Mileena, the Elder God known as Rain, and (wait for it) John Rambo, as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone. It has been widely reported that Mr. Stallone will reprise his role to provide the voice for Rambo’s appearance in MK11 Ultimate, just as Peter Weller did for RoboCop’s inclusion to the world of Mortal Kombat.

If you’re anything like me, you thought Aftermath’s inclusion of RoboCop as a playable character was completely out of left field. Now Rambo bursts in guns-blazing to add to that sensation. We must bear in mind, however, that it seems NetherRealm can get the licensing rights to virtually any character they feel like adding to one of their games. This seems to ring true even if such characters cause any copyright issues at any point down the line. In my mind, that’s much more of a blessing than a curse.

In any case, if you don’t own any version of Mortal Kombat 11 and the prospect of all these new characters has you interested in picking up the game, I have some good news for you. Pre-orders for MK11 Ultimate are currently scheduled to begin on Thursday, October 15th, 2020. If you plan to purchase the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One version of the title, in addition to either a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X or S, you’ll be able to upgrade the game to whichever new console you purchase free of charge.

Since so little time has passed since MK11 Ultimate’s announcement at the time of writing, I haven’t yet been able to determine how much the second Kombat Pack will cost for new players and returning veterans alike. There has also been no word on whether this new Kombat Pack will be the final piece of DLC for the game. Something tells me this might end up being the case, if only because of the inclusion of the word “ultimate.” Either way, Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate is slated for release on Tuesday, November 17th, 2020.