No one knows he didn't even touch on it in the actual review.

That makes it so much worse....

Updated OP with the latest

it will be interesting to see if pro-playstation publications will give higher scores because of all of the exclusive content they got, and if pro-xbox publications will give lower scores because of the lack of exclusive content.

so far:

pro-ps3. 9.8/10

pro-xbox. 8/10

Heres another review from skullo guy hes a weirdo but knows mk well.
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=Khqv8RsJIfw&feature;=player_embedded#at=131

Less than 3 hours before the embargo is lifted. also OP is updated with this last youtube vid. Keep the reviews going. This thread will be easy for the lazy to see reviews :)

from ign...

Gaming Utopia
Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat reviewed at 12:01am PST!

Five stars from Giant Bomb: http://www.giantbomb.com/mortal-kombat/61-25042/reviews/

Ign 8.0: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/116/1162089p1.html

really an 8 whatever ign is trash

Updatage to the first post

9.4 from Game Trailers http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-mortal-kombat/713002

Cant spell Ignorant without IGN

ign can suck some dirty, salty balls for all i care. the review gave the game 7.5 in graphics? are you kidding me? are they playing the game on an hdtv with hdmi?!! this game is GORGEOUS! graphics should have been the highest score given. the review comes across as someone who knows so little about mk, or just does not care for mk... at all. online lag issues i can see being a notable negative to keep it from a 10, but this game is clearly in the 9 to near 10 category. almost as much fail as when gamestop gave a laughable score to transformers: war for cybertron.

Yeah, that is totally garbage.

I respectfully disagree with IGN's review. Sure, the score is whatever you want it to be, but the REASONS he had problems with the game are some of the reasons I LOVE the game.

And I was baffled when he said the story was "weak" when compared to other, non-MK games. Like, what, Street Fighter? Tekken? Dead or Alive? Soul Calibur? Virtua Fighter? Mortal Kombat has an EIGHT HOUR story mode full of incredible cutscenes, character development, and twists, and he brushes it off as silly and weak. Sorry, but I don't buy it.

And he got frustrated with the cheapness of the single-player bosses, and was even TOLD that's "how it used to be in the arcades", but he said that was no excuse. Well, I remember when overpowered, cheap bosses like Goro and Kintaro were the norm, and many became legendary BECAUSE they were so tough and unfair, and these versions are WEAKER compared to the glory days of the arcade. I don't like how he docks points from the game because he had difficulties beating them.

If you're skilled enough, you can beat them.

Anyway, it's not a bad score, but I was hoping it would at least match the bare-bones, disappointing score for Marvel vs Capcom. Everyone else seems to be loving it, though.

A- from 1up: http://www.1up.com/reviews/mortal-kombat-review

i lost respect for ign.
MK Armageddon even got a 8.5 from ign!
THA FUCK

G4 gave it 5 out of 5: http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/63918/mortal-kombat/review

Machinima 9 out of 10: http://blog.machinima.com/insidegaming/2011/04/19/mortal-kombat-review/

Thanks for the updates everybody. I'll continue adding them to OP for convenience

Gamesradar gave it an 8/10. link

GNN.com.gn gives it a 9.5/10 link (scratch this one. It's just a repost of the Hadoken.net review)

Looking quite promising.

Now-Gamer gives it a 6.1/10 link

Okay, that wasn't so promising. Let the rants fly.

Games Radar seems to be summarizing the criticism pretty well:

"It all boils down to a great fighter that’s held back by a handful of serious issues. While I commend NetherRealm for making this one so easy to get into (you can even pause after 'Finish Him!' and look up the fatality), the fight mechanics fall shy of contemporary fighters."

Goddammit. Serves me right for hoping they wouldn't botch the fundamentals this time around. Looks like the next truly great MK is still to come. If only NRS had the talent to do the basic fighting as well as they do fun, but ultimately tertiary diversions like story mode and challenge tower. Perfect the goddamn fundamentals before you worry about the extras! It's elementary. After chess, cart racing, puzzle games, konquest, and now story mode and challenge tower, why don't they get it?

They did NOT say the fighting mechanics were bad. Not once. They even flat-out said it was a GREAT fighter. They just said that, when compared to the likes of games such as Street Fighter IV or Virtua Fighter, very high-level, technical fighters, the fight mechanics fall a bit short.

... But do you think for one moment that this game won't be improved upon release? After feedback? Patched? Tweaked? Fixed?

Or that the fighting mechanics, as they are right now, aren't just as good as, if not largely better than, popular fighting games such as Marvel Vs Capcom (and it's plethora of infinites and unbalanced characters), Soul Calibur IV (with characters like unthrowable Yoda that drastically make game mechanics at times worthless), Dead or Alive (three counters and I win), or even Street Fighter IV itself (how many damn shotos are in this game?).

Could it be better? Yes. Will it be better? Yes. Is it bad? No. Is it perfect? No. Is it as good as the absolute best fighting game on the market? No. Can this game cure my dog of cancer, turn my oven into pure gold, and let me fly by the power of happy thoughts? No.

But everyone, even the lowest scores and hardest criticisms, are saying the game, and its fighting mechanics, are really fun. I guess if you are only the absolutely, most hardcore fighting fan on the planet, the guy that rewinds videos to count frames, draw hitboxes over characters in MS paint, and use words like "meaty" and "oki" in casual conversation, then, yes, you may be disappointed.

I'm too busy having an absolute blast breaking my roommate's knee caps and throwing him into a man-eating tree.

"I'm too busy having an absolute blast breaking my roommate's knee caps and throwing him into a man-eating tree."

Why perpetuate the stereotype of the MK fan too ignorant or undiscerning to appreciate a truly deep fighter and who only cares about HURR HURRing over blood and gore?

Really, what does that accomplish?