LO2 - Mortal Kombat X review comparison

Mortal Kombat X review comparison

Here I'm going to compare two different reviews for Mortal Kombat X (2015), the first one being the Official Xbox Magazine review by Andi Hamilton (Issue 125, June 2015) and the second being the Zero Punctuation review by Ben Croshaw for The Escapist's youtube channel (video below).

The most obvious difference to it is the language used, Zero Punctuation heavily relies on the use of strong language to get his point across though I feel like a lot of his language comes across sarcastically; obviously it is very difficult to use sarcasm in a written format and it is generally appropriate as Xbox magazine is aimed at people of various ages where as Zero Punctuation is clearly aimed at an older audience.

Both Zero Punctuation and the magazine article mention the genre at the very beginning with Hamilton calling it "everyone's second favourite beat-'em-up", this shows another difference in the language as Hamilton begins with a subtle preference for Street Fighter. In the Zero Punctuation video however Croshaw states that "all you [Netherrealm studios] need to do is not have a story mode and we can leave each other alone." Not only is he showing an instant dislike for the games story but he is also showing that he thinks the game is otherwise good.

Neither reviews specify an age rating or who the target audience is, but they do both reference the amount of violence in the game which gives you a strong idea the game has a PEGI 18 rating and is definitely aimed at an older audience.

Though the Zero Punctuation hints at the lack of quality in the very beginning of the video, Hamilton compliments the the narrative on several occasion and takes a particular liking to the game's "almost endless depth",