Mortal Kombat Armageddon review

With special attacks a-go-go it lacks the sophistication of a technical fighter, but when was Mortal Kombat ever about attack transition and graceful Zen-like fluidity? It’s the pantomime of fighters; a mockery of conventions that has never been more satisfyingly far fetched than with a remote in your hand.

In place of character-specific fatalities of yore we now have Kreate-A-Fatality, a counting down timer at the end of fights in which players can piece together their own combos of body-destroying moves with remote gestures - pushing the remote towards the screen and flicking it up to pluck off a head is a gruesome highlight. There’s a cruel nonchalance in casually flicking the remote to snap a man’s arm or tug out his heart, but it's malicious fun nonetheless.