Mortal Kombat X: Tremor (DLC) Review

Mortal Kombat 9 had a season pass that allowed access to four extra characters that were released shortly after the game released and Mortal Kombat X is getting the same treatment. This time we already know the four characters however - Jason, Tanya, Predator and Tremor - which is a plus if you ask me. It's much more appealing to know the characters that I will be getting before forking over my money for a pass. Anyway, the fourth character that has been released for Mortal Kombat X is Tremor.

Have you ever played Mortal Kombat: Special Forces? No? I haven't either, but the reason why I mention it is that Tremor made his first appearance in that game and he later appeared as a challenge mode exclusive character in the PS Vita version of Mortal Kombat 9. Tremor was originally a palette-swap brown ninja that had control over earth powers and could create earthquakes. He was a member of the Black Dragon along with Kano, Jarek and other members. In MKX, Tremor has undergone a complete makeover. He sports a hood and wears a mask and has some very cool rock-like skin patches all over his body. Tremor is still very much an earth elemental-type of character and he has some very flashy moves. Tremor's variations are Aftershock, Metallic, and Crystalline.

Tremor has several special moves that transfer across all variations but look a bit different or gain different properties depending on which variation is chosen. He always has some form of a rock drop where he summons a rock from the ground and drops it on his opponent - this move can be directed close, far or mid screen. He also has an unblockable earthshake where he creates an earthquake throughout the arena. Each variation often has a rock that he can throw both high and low as well. He also shares a rock punch where he turns his hand solid and strikes forward with his fist - this move can be directed upwards and downwards to send the opponent into the air.

Aftershock variation is for those that like to have tons of mix-up moves at their disposal. Tremor has a high and low rock throw in this variation and he also has his rock punch. He gains a timed earth shake move where he strikes the ground and forces it to shake in a few seconds while he is free to move. This allows players to run up on the opponent before the ground shakes. When the move is performed in the air, Tremor will make the ground shake below a certain portion of the arena. The opponent must block both earthshakes low, so he basically has a low-hitting special move that he can performed anytime in the air. He also has a stone shatter move where he can summon a rock from the ground and shatter it forward or in whatever direction he chooses in front of him.

Metallic is probably Tremor's most interesting variation since it is basically two versions in one. He has both a gold mode and a lava mode in this variation that he can switch between with a certain command. Gold mode is more of a zoner mode while lava mode is for more aggressive play. For the most part, all modes have the same moves as Aftershock variation except for the timed earthshake and the air earthshake. The most interesting change is in his stone shatter moves. In gold mode, the shatter becomes a projectile toss that allows you to toss a rock forward or upward or bounce the rock along the ground. In lava mode the stone shatter creates a small lava stream in front of Tremor that burns and restands an aerial opponent - allowing for some constant mixups on falling opponents. Lava mode adds burning to all of Tremor's attacks as well.

Crystalline brings in all the special moves in the metallic variation and adds crystal properties to them. His rock shatter is now a crystal shatter, which basically does the same move as in aftershock variation except now it can absorb a projectile. In this variation, Tremor gains a krystallization move that allows him to form a krystal shield over himself that gives him one hit of super armor for a few seconds. Tremor is also able to summon a crystal rock ball that can be used as an interactive object. He can toss the rock crystal or jump off of it to shatter it. His opponent can also toss the crystal as well, though.

Out of all the DLC characters released, Tremor is my personal favorite because he isn't instantly easy to play. You have to put forth a lot of work to reach over 30% damage when performing combos with Tremor. At first glance, Tremor looks like an incredibly flashy zoner, but his zoning is slow and can be beaten by some of the faster projectiles in the game. He certainly has some great zoning mixups ranging from low, mid and overhead, but he is slow in performing them all so you can't really sit back and only throw projectiles. Tremor looks incredibly cool and has some very awesome fatalities and brutalities. Besides the five brutalities mentioned in his move list, he also has five more hidden brutalities, giving him a total of ten brutalities! I'm sure most MK fans will drop Tremor quickly once they see what a challenge he is to play - he's nearly like trying to learn Reptile or Ferra/Torr - but for those that enjoy the challenge, he's a very fun character to mess around with and he sure is flashy.

The Good:
+ Great design for an earth elemental character
+ Probably the most challenging DLC character to play so far

The Bad:
- Some of his special move phrases sound cheesy