Mortal Kombat 11: Sindel Character (DLC) Review

Along with the release of Mortal Kombat 11 (MK11) Neatherrealm Studios (NRS) offers a kombat pack (character pass) with a total of six upcoming DLC characters. The pass can be bought separate or in a bundle with the main game on all platforms or you can buy each character separately. The pass also includes extra skins and gear with the release of each character. Players that have the character pass are offered the characters one week before those that choose to buy them separately. The lineup of DLC characters are Shang Tsung, Nightwolf, The Terminator, Sindel, The Joker and Spawn.

Sindel is the fourth DLC character and the third of the three MK characters in the first character pass. Sindel first appeared in MK3. She is the bride of Shao Kahn and served as his queen before her death. She is also the mother of Kitana. Sindel was brought back to life in MK3 and seems to be controlled by Shao Kahn. She is well known for her ability to fly, air fireballs, and sonic scream. Sindel is also well-known for her ability to control her long hair. In MK11, she keeps nearly all of her moves from the previous MK and brings along several new moves as well.

NetherRealm Studios definitely did their homework and overall research with Sindel. She has many moves and references from previous games and her attire is very fitting for her – once again, her default outfit is purple. Without a variation, her moves are her Mane Squeeze (hair grab), Scream and Regal Presence (air hover). Her Scream will stagger and knock back instead of pulling you toward her. Her hover move is basically only used for maneuverability now – dashing and landing – and she can also perform the hover midair. She also has the usual fatal blow and two really good fatalities – easily the best of the DLC character fatalities so far.

Her tournament variations are Splitting Hairs, Loud and Klear and Royal Edenian. For Splitting Hairs, she gains a hair uppercut (literally called “Hair Kut”) and a spinning hair grab that can be performed on the ground or in the air – while on the ground, you can control how far she goes with the flip. The hair grab can lead to some pretty nasty mix-ups since it is an overhead attack. Loud and Klear gives Sindel the Maleficient March (powered walking scream attack that can be delayed and amplified) and the Shriek (similar to a normal scream except you can charge it to make it stagger and amplify it). She also gains two air moves – Deadly Echo (carries her forward a bit by screaming at the ground) and the Banshee Dash (launches an energy clone of herself and can amplify to make her teleport with the clone). Royal Edenian gives her an energy ball that she can place on the screen that will slowly damage her opponent if they are near it. She also gains the Star Screamer (low ground fireball) and the Banshee Barrage (multiple air fireballs that can launch when amplified).

Sindel definitely has some of the better variations in the game. They change her into a completely different character with each one, sort of like Jacqui. Royal Edenian is more of a zoner variation, Splitting Hairs is good for mix-ups and close-range attacks and Loud and Klear is like a mid-range variation. It’s nice to see her bring back her spear that she had in Deception as well – she uses the spear during some combos. Speaking of combos, she has some really good strings. She has good mix-up strings and strings that have good recovery and reach. Overall, she is not easy to pick up and play, but she has some great potential. She’s my personal favorite of the DLC characters so far.

Final Rating: 90%