Thought i'd try to be constructive and give a review of the DLC characters thus far. Im going to start with Jason and Tanya, with Predator and Tremor to follow later. I wont be going overly deep into any one subject, just some descriptions with my opinions thrown in.

I'll be talking about the characters appearance, gameplay, fatalities, and ending. I decided to cut it off at fatalities due to the sheer number of brutalities there are between these four players(Tremor has somewhere around ten and counting).

Long read ahead. Any thoughts about characters or their reviews are welcome.


JASON-

First character out the gate, and widely believed to be the worst. The very use of the character online puts you in "noob"/"scrub" territory in some circles. Let's dig a little deeper and see how everyone's favorite mama's boy turned out.

APPEARANCE- This subject has been some of the more hardcore fans biggest objection. His look was definitely inspired by the most recent Friday the 13th reboot, and a bit of his comic book appearances as well. In a nice nod to the 5th installment of the movies, his appearance/color pallette for his P2 costume was made to resemble the "Fake Jason"(good ole Roy Burns) from said installment.

From the neck down is indeed passable, everything else is a bit harder to forgive. Little to no work went into disfiguring Jason's head or face. If you couldn't tell by his skull structure, a p.c. mod used to move the game's camera would ultimately provide proof of what hardcore fans already knew...


more grizzled war veteran than decaying counselor slayer. I'm aware that NRS ultimately never meant for this to be seen, but you can't help but to be disappointed by the lack of detail here. No decay, no disfigurement, not even a damn burlap sack for one of his other variations(damn you Torr!).

VARIATIONS/GAMEPLAY-

Slasher- Probably the most widely used of the three, slasher gives Jason's attack pretty good range in addition to combos not present in the other two variations, along with a machete projectile.

Relentless- One of two weaponless variations, this one makes Jason more of a grappling based character and includes a teleport. Also of note, the persuit special, which flips your opponent's button layout for a limited time.

Unstoppable- In this variation, Jason can use specials to buff his attacks. In addition to this, he also has a mechanic that will bring Jason back to life after defeat(with limited life).

Overall, Slasher has proven to be the most useful variation thus far. It's range and damage output makes it the most attractive of the three. I've seen relentless used to little effect. The teleport is a bit too slow to be viable and the persuit special is usually met with a projectile on read. Unstoppable seems to get blown out of the water. Who needs a second chance when you're most likely coming back against a 75% life lead?


FATALITIES-

Once again, the key word is disappointment. There is no shortage of inspiration for this subject. Nearly 30 years of movies and NRS' keen eye for dismemberment should've been enough to make for a great show. Sadly, it didn't work out that way.

The standout here is "Kill for Mother". A great musical cue and a few simple hacks of a machete are all this one consists of. Simple and to the point. Very lacking.

"Sleeping Bag Killer" is a bit more of a mind fuck. Jason grabs a leg, slings his opponent around, and they burst into pieces. Lazy, uninspired, boring. Not much more to say here.

ENDING-

Easily one of the most enjoyable endings of all the DLC characters. Simply ties Jason to the universe and stays true to the character. If only NRS saw fit to turn the closing scene into a fatality.

CLOSING THOUGHTS-

Jason is a methodical, undead, killing machine. One of the most prolific Horror characters of all time. He's brought fear to multiple generations, and for some, is the standard for a slasher movie character. All that, and yet somehow it feels like Jason was slapped together. A quick speed draw here, a few grab animations there, "BOOM!, now let's move on to the guest character we really wanted to do"(we'll get more into that soon).

OVERALL GRADE = D+


TANYA-

MK4's very own Edenian traitor. Fan favorite, Tanya, returns to the series in her first game since Armageddon. How did she fair? Let's find out.

APPEARANCE-

We start with a bit of a stumble out the gate...


NRS caused a bit of a stir with her initial reveal. A quick revamp, some longer hair, different color scheme, and her classic dead eyes quickly made much of her fan base happy. She falls in line nicely with NRS less sexy approach to females in fighting games. Simple, functional, with a classic Tonya feel. Great job so far.

VARIATIONS/GAMEPLAY-

Pyromancer- Tanya uses fire balls to zone out her opponents with this variation. It also adds in a couple fire based combo strings as well. Good for keeping an opponent at bay.

Dragon Naginata- Gives Tanya access to a bladed staff which extends the range of some normals, gives exclusive combo strings, and helps Tanya play mind games while perched atop her staff.

Kobu Jutsu- Gives Tanya access to smaller bladed weapons and exclusive combo strings. Pressure is the name of the game with this variation. Safe strings make Dragon Naginata the more popular choice among Tournament players.

Overall, pretty much all of her variations have proven viable, but its Kobu Jutsu's pressure that is hardest to deal with. Probably more worrisome though, is Tanya's ridiculous screen control. Her teleports, common across all variations, makes her an absolute pain to try and pin down.

Many pegged Tanya as the character to derail the game's progress as far as tournament viability. She was quickly slapped with the Nerf bat after CEO. Still an incredibly dangerous character in the right hands.

FATALITIES-

"Bloody Boots" gets the ball rolling. Pretty straight forward stuff. She knocks em down and stomps their face. Nothing ground breaking. How they didn't include a "getting the gum off your boots" type animation with this is mind boggling.

"Edenian Drill" is one of the cooler fatalities amongst the DLC. She lunges feet first through her opponent's back and comes out covered in entrails holding her opponents heart. Brutal, yet they managed to make it stylish. Great fatality.

ENDING-

Sadly, this is where Tanya falters a bit. Standard Tanya looking out for number 1 type shenanigans. We did find out that Rain is...just o.k. in the sack...oh and Rain died! Sadly there was more character progression for Rain than Tanya here. Weak sauce.

CLOSING THOUGHTS-

Tanya must be a delight for her fans. NRS has a very strong track record as of late with bringing back their old characters and making them better than we ever thought possible. Probably why so many of the MK faithful were upset with the limited number of MK characters this season pass. Her design takes steps forward, while honoring what came before it, she kills with style, and is an absolute beast in the right players hands. Overall, she's a great addition to this games roster, and arguably should've been in the roster to start with.

OVERALL GRADE = A




PREDATOR

Easily the most anticipated guest character of the two, did Predator reach apex status, or is he at the bottom of the food chain? Read on...

APPEARANCE-

While speaking with a friend recently, I said "the only thing that bums me out about Predator, is that you can absolutely tell where all the love went between he and Jason". I still believe that statement to be true. Predator, down to the smallest detail, is an absolute love letter to his fans.

His costume is spot on. His maskless costume is very striking and accurate. When in first person view, you see things exactly as Predator does, be it through his infrared sights or his odd red vision. All his classic weapons are there. On and on and on. He is damn near perfect.

More impressive are the little touches everywhere that makes him so complete. The laugh along with his mimic laughter between rounds, his glow stick blood, down to Erron Black's "ugly mofo" xray. Its insane the amount of detail and sheer love that went into this character. Its amazing and very appreciated. If only both guests received the same treatment.

VARIATIONS/GAMEPLAY

Hish-Qu-Ten- This variation is mainly about his shoulder mounted cannon. Cannon can shoot in the air, right down the middle, or low. It can also be controlled, adding a layer of mind games to his zoning.

Warrior- Predator's offensive variation. He's given a couple specials exclusive to this variation. The yautja strike is a leaping overhead attack, The Dread Slam gives you a hard knock down(pops up if ex'd), and finally, the self detonate, a risk/reward move that gives you a pop up at the expense of some of your own life bar. Self Detonate is difficult to utilize as it usually causes your opponent to rush in and hit you before you can get the move off.

Hunter- This variation has much more of a trap based focus. His snare move captures your opponent and strings them up for a free hit. He also has a med kit move which restores some of his health.

Overall, Predator is a very diverse character and a great example of how the variation system can change the course of a fight. While combo strings remain the same across all variations, his wide array of tools makes him quite difficult to deal with. Add that with some pretty high damage output, and you have a very deadly and versatile character.

FATALITIES-

Predator, like Jason, stumbles a bit in this area, which is very unfortunate. Ghostin' Us amounts to Predator jamming a disc in his opponents face, and and dropping him to the ground, letting his skull cap(ha!) roll off.

Certain Death is a bit more reminiscent of classic Predator, his shoulder cannon blasts you in the gut, takes off your arm, and then a blast to the head finishes you off. Simple and effective, but again, unremarkable.

ENDING-

Overall, a pretty safe ending. Predator accepts sorcery into his life and becomes a world killer. Really putting Predator over, but doesn't really make much of an effort to tie him into the mythology in any meaningful way. Trivial, I know, but a gripe nonetheless.

CLOSING THOUGHTS-

I cannot say this enough, the amount of love that went into this character is to be commended. I'm bummed the same commitment isn't as obvious in Jason, but, such is life I suppose. Every minor detail was expertly executed. He's very versatile on the battlefield and I look forward to seeing how tournament viable he can be. He stumbles a bit in both story and finisher, but overall, he's a great addition to the roster.

OVERALL GRADE = A