Summary
Over the last few years, theMortal Kombatfranchise has been leaning more and more into the realm of pop-culture crossovers, right alongside the rest of the gaming industry’s leading players. WhileMortal Kombat2011 had just one crossover fighter, that number quickly grew to four inMortal Kombat X, and five inMortal Kombat 11, and beforeMortal Kombat 1even hit store shelves, it had already announced that three guest characters would be coming in post-launch DLC, withInvincible’s Omni-Man leading the charge.
Released just a week ago, Omni-Man, by all accounts, is an excellent addition toMortal Kombat 1’s roster. While he’s a tad overpowered right now, that only makes Omni-Man all the more fun to play as, with it fitting his cocky character perfectly. But while Omni-Man is undoubtedly a great new addition toMortal Kombat 1, there are a handful of things missing from his integration, and in this department,Mortal Kombat 1may have wanted to borrow some lessons fromDead by Daylight.
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Mortal Kombat 1’s Omni-Man Is Great But He Doesn’t Come with Much
Mortal Kombat 1’s Omni-Man is undeniably a great fighter, and it’s clear that a lot of work went into making him feel authentic to his source material. Every single frame of animation, every individual punch, kick, and special move, and every Fatality has been ripped right out of theInvinciblecomics and TV show, and that kind of dedication and passion should be commended. On top of that,Mortal Kombat 1’s Omni-Manis voiced by J.K. Simmons himself, who gets to shine repeatedly thanks to the character’s witty fight intros. It’s also fun to see Omni-Man get his Challenge Tower ending, where fans even get a brief glimpse of the Viltrum Empire, and even Invincible himself.
But Omni-Man’s implementation intoMortal Kombat 1isn’t quite perfect. While the fighter himself, voicelines, and Challenge Tower ending are all categorically great, that’s about all that players get for purchasing the DLC crossover character.Omni-Man has no alternate skins, and only a handful of shaders, only some of which reference the source material. Omni-Man also only has 20 Mastery levels, while the rest of the roster has 35 each.
WhileMortal Kombatguest characters have never really come with anything other than their playable character,Mortal Kombat 1is an entry that leans into live-service elements much more than any past title in the series, and some fans were expecting that to increase the amount of content included with these crossover DLC characters. For instance,Mortal Kombat 1currently has an Invasion Season revolving around Nitara. It would have been much more interesting to see one revolve around Omni-Man.
WhileDead by DaylightandMortal Kombat 1are completely different games, they are both some of the biggest titles right now offering crossover characters as DLC, and unfortunately,Dead by Daylightis king in that department. EachDead by DaylightDLC crossoverusually comes with not only a new playable Killer, but a playable Survivor as well, both of whom receive their own set of unique abilities and Perks, all of which are themed around their appearances in whatever TV show, movie, or video game franchise they originally come from.
On top of this,Dead by Daylight’s DLC crossovers also usually come with a unique map based on the chosen IP, which itself is also packed with fun little references. Alternate costumes are also available for just about every crossover character inDead by Daylight, some of which allow the player to essentially unlock multiple characters in one, such as Leon Kennedy’s alternate costumes that let him appear asResident Evil’s Chris Redfieldand Carlos Oliveira. WhileMortal Kombat 1’s Omni-Man is great,Dead by Daylight’s crossovers just continue to set a higher bar for the whole industry.
