Mortal Kombat 11 should have never offered Shang Tsung as a pre-order bonus

With the advent of battle passes and microtransactions during the last console generation, it is easy to become indifferent towards pre-order bonuses and consider them as the lesser of three evils. When one is compelled to constantly engage with a game in order not to miss out on exclusive skins or events, or simply to spend more money to acquire such items, pre-ordering a game to obtain a few cosmetic items may not appear as significant.

However, there are instances when pre-order bonuses are so detestable and anti-consumer that they overshadow the other two evils. Unfortunately, NetherRealm Studios has been the reigning champion of such practices in their recent releases, starting with Goro in Mortal Kombat X. Concealing such a beloved character behind a pre-order paywall was not a favorable indication. However, at least Goro held no significance to the storyline and felt more like an additional fighter, if one were somehow seeking an excuse for this decision.

Next came Darkseid in Injustice 2, another beloved character, certainly, but one who didn't appear in the main storyline and didn't feel as much like cut content. It was a poor choice, but somehow forgivable. Things took a turn for the worse in Mortal Kombat 11, as this time Shao Kahn was offered as a pre-order bonus. Not only is he one of the key villains in the series, but he also had a role in the MK11 campaign, albeit a minor one.

The fact that Shao Kahn could only be unlocked through a pre-order at GameStop was already bad enough, but Mortal Kombat 11 somehow outdid itself with its pre-order bonus - Shang Tsung. Considering that Shang Tsung was the main villain of the Aftermath DLC and it seemed unlikely for him to take the spotlight two games in a row, I initially hoped that NetherRealm and Warner Bros. had learned their lesson and would choose characters who don't appear in the story as pre-order bonuses, as was the case with Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat X.

Boy, was I wrong. Not only does Shang Tsung appear in the story mode of Mortal Kombat 11, but just as I feared when I previewed the game at Gamescom last month, he is also one of the key characters, initiating everything by appearing in the opening cutscene and then serving as the main villain of the game. Don't be deceived here - Shang Tsung is crucial to Mortal Kombat 11 and has absolutely nothing to do with being offered as DLC.

To lock any character in the roster behind the player's decision to pay for the game before its release is detestable. However, it is particularly demeaning when choosing a character who holds such a massive influence over the game's storyline. It would be akin to Superman being the pre-order bonus for Injustice.

Shang Tsung is not a character added late in development to serve as an enjoyable pre-order bonus for players who have enough confidence in the game to support it before its release. No, this is a storyline-critical fighter deliberately cut out from the base game and dangled in front of you, one that you can only obtain by paying upfront or shelling out $5.99 once you realize that an important part of Mortal Kombat 11 is missing from your experience.

However, this is not the only questionable character omission in Mortal Kombat 11. Quan-Chi and Ermac, two of the fighters offered in the first Kombat Pack, are also crucial to the main campaign and appear to have complete movesets. I want to give them some benefit of the doubt, as there may be ongoing work happening behind the scenes, but it still feels somewhat dishonest to offer them if they appear to be fully playable at launch. I'll leave it to the modders to uncover the truth about this matter.

If Mortal Kombat 11 is willing to go so far as to exclude one of its main antagonists, then I fear who they might present as the next pre-order bonus when the next Mortal Kombat installment is released. I would joke that it could be Scorpion or Sub-Zero, but that now dangerously approaches reality, and I do not wish for everyone to point fingers at me if it actually happens.