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Mortal Kombat X is violent.
is violent. It’s Mortal Kombat , after all. Mortal Kombat is always violent. Mortal Kombat’s gruesome fatalities have been the series’ calling card since the original game came out in 1992, when Sub-Zero ripped out opponents’ spinal cordsand inadvertently created the ESRB. Ultimately, the series’ fast-paced combat or strangely endearing characters won’t be its legacy. It’ll be the gore.
It feels silly to point that out – everybody knows how grossis, right? But imagine, just for a second, what it would be like for someone who had never heard of Mortal Kombat before. What would it be like to sit down in front of a television and see Mortal Kombat for the first time, with absolutely no idea what’s in store? It would be horrifying, right?
Imagine no longer. Thanks to YouTube user mpetrie, the world now has incontrovertible proof that yes, there was a man out there who somehow avoided Mortal Kombat for the entirety of the series’ 23 year career, and yes, he found the series just as disgusting as you’d expect. As part of a bold social experiment, mpetrie subjected his 73-year-old father to thirteen minutes of Mortal Kombat X’s brutal fatalities, for the most noble of reasons: as mpetrie says, “I was curious to see how he would react.”
Mostly, that reaction involves a lot of open-mouthed gaping, with a few disgusted grunts thrown in for good measure. Mpetrie is clearly having a lot more fun than his father, who admirably sits through the whole thing despite his visible discomfort. The man’s final verdict? “That was terrible. Sick. I can’t believe it.”
It doesn’t look like mpetrie’s father will be picking up a controller and choosing a main (possibly with the help of Game Rant’s beginner’s guide) any time soon – although, honestly, mpetrie’s mother seems kind of game. Still, the video’s pretty funny, and serves as a good indication that, while the gaming audience might be growing, there are still many people out there who aren’t familiar with some of our favorite franchises.
Mpetrie’s video is just part of a growing trend in which gamers sit older people down in front of video games to see how they respond. The most famous series of videos in this vein probably comes from the React Channel, which regularly subjects its stable of “elders” to some of the industry’s most popular – and disturbing – games. It’s an excellent reminder that popular entertainment, no matter how good it is, doesn’t always translate across generational lines. For example, many players consider Five Nights at Freddy’s one of the scariest games ever made. The React Channel’s elders, however? Unimpressed.
Mortal Kombat X is out now for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are coming later this summer.
Source: mpetrie