The Krypt: The Most Sinister Part of Mortal Kombat
Even trying to unlock concept art is deadly.
Mortal Kombat just dropped a bombshell. The new Mortal Kombat 1 announcement trailer showcases beautifully crafted visuals through some crazy CGI. We get a sneak peak of the cast, along with some sick fucking fatalities. I may not be the biggest Lui Kang fan, but damn—that kill was something else!
In honor of the news, I figured I’d dive into the wild world of the Krypt. The Krypt is a feature within the series that lets players exchange in-game currency for special items like skins and behind-the-scenes content. If you’re not familiar with Mortal Kombat, this may not seem like anything major to talk about.
I hear you. Bear with me here.
The Start of Grave Robbery
The Krypt was first introduced in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Designed to look like a graveyard, players would go through “koffins” to unlock new items. Some of these were in-game features, others were made-up commercials that are stilled loved by the fandom today.
The atmosphere is what makes The Krypt. Low fog sweeps over the ground, making it impossible to know what could be lurking underneath. The stone room is dark, and one can only assume it smells of mildew and the rotten corpses of unlucky rats. The only lighting is from the dim lanterns that hang from the walls.
Ahead of the player is rows of standing koffins, reminiscent of a vampire’s place of rest.
Accompanying these visuals is a dark melody, with occasional screams of terror that bounce off the walls. If you didn’t know any better, you would expect a jump scare at any minute.
Luckily, players only had to fear spending all their koins in one place.
Keep Digging…
The Krypt made its brilliant return in Mortal Kombat: Deception. Not much changed, but there were a few updates visually.
Now outside, The Krypt resembled a more traditional graveyard. Instead of koffins, players seen rows of tombstones ahead of them. It certainly felt bigger with the updated design. Ironically, though, the number of items had been cut back.
When players unlocked an item, the ground would rumble, and the casket would open to reveal a skeleton.
If you were lucky (or unlucky depending on how faint your heart is), you would be surprised by a random character running around the graves.
When Mortal Kombat: Armageddon came around, The Krypt had essentially became a new staple for the series. This version is um… lackluster, to put it lightly.
Eh, screw it—this Krypt sucked.
Content wise, it was filled with tons of value. Interesting commentary, gorgeous concept art, even behind-the-scene footage of how the game was made. Compared to the original Krypt though, it lacked any worthwhile visuals.
Armageddon’s Krypt was a simple block wall with skull lanterns. The eerie atmosphere was basically gone, with only hints of what sounded like the distant yells of torture victims.
Raising the Dead
Everyone thought Mortal Kombat was dead after Armageddon; it was their “magnum opus” after all, with every character included in the roster. It was the final send off to a beloved franchise.
Not really.
In the 2011, the franchise was rebooted with Mortal Kombat 9. With the reboot also came a brand new Krypt like players never seen before.
This Krypt brought back the scare factor, leaving the player stranded in a giant area to explore. The new Krypt was so big that they even provided a map, showcasing the different sections one could find.
Dark music guided your journey through Deadlands, Blood Marsh, Meadow of Despair, and Hollow of Infestation. The entire map was trapped in a never-ending thunderstorm, with thunder ringing through your ears as lightning caused the sky to crack.
Graves would reward your unlock with the souls of the dead, hands raising out of the ground with tarnished chests. These poor bastards were already suffering in the Netherrealm, they might as well serve as your butlers.
Bloated bodies floated in the bloody lakes, their intestines expanding into the eventual burst of their stomachs. Like balloons, they popped for your silly little unlockables.
The meadow would offer your reward through the deaths of the damned, sometimes pulling them apart as you were forced to hear them scream in agony. Other times, they died by the Iron Maiden or guillotine.
The hollow offered hanging victims, infested with an unknown poison as they hung helplessly from the branches of dead trees. To get your reward, you would force feed them the poison until they burst.
The blood and guts of MK finally made their way into the Krypt.
In this Krypt, you were a monster, and it was only fair to punish you in some way.
At random times, a creature would appear on screen and scream its lungs off.
Story time! Mortal Kombat 9 came out when I was 10-years-old. I played the hell out of that game. I remember staying up late to play the final boss fight between Raiden and Shao Kahn. It took me ages, but my victory was taken with much pride.
The Krypt was where you went to get new fatalities and skins, so I went there a lot. I never had any bad experiences there before.
Until it happened.
I was walking around the Krypt, as you do, just unlocking some shit. You know, all normal stuff. It was chill, no types of crazy feelings of being watched or anything.
Cut to my child self on the floor because I fell off my bed from the random jump scare. Talk about flashbacks to that weird viral car video from back in the day.
Needless to say, MK9’s Krypt has a special place in my heart.
Opening the Koffin
Mortal Kombat X introduced the first “mini-game” type Krypt. Here, you would find items to help you unlock certain areas, making it more immersive than previous iterations.
This version included tasks for the player to do, exploring the many different areas in first-person. At first glance, it’s almost reminiscent of survival “horror” game:
You play entirely in first-person
Your character has an inventory and certain tasks to complete to move on to the next section
Your character gets occasionally jump scared by spiders, wolves, and bloody bodies
You can kill these creatures to defend yourself from harm
Unfortunately, all this made for a less spooky experience.
Finally, we come to Mortal Kombat 11. This Krpyt had you play in third-person as an unknown character. Now, the Krypt was more of a game mode rather than a fancy unlockable store.
You were forced to complete puzzles, participate in scavenger hunts, and even do some Indiana Jones maneuvering. There were even instances where your character could straight up get killed, man. At times, it really felt more like a Tomb Raider or Uncharted game than it did a Mortal Kombat game.
The Krypt was now set on Shang Tsung’s abandoned island, and while it’s visually stunning and offers some cool easter eggs for fans, it’s doesn’t feel like the Krypt.
Don’t get me wrong: I love this version. I enjoyed running around in it when I didn’t feel like doing an entire arcade tower but wanted to play around.
It was more of a dark adventure rather than built on spooky fun. Sure, dead monks were seen occasionally, and there were bones and skeletons everywhere… but that doesn’t really mean much.
Defiling the Grave
There’s a certain charm to the original Krypt iterations. The spooky graveyards, the low fog, the screeching victims. It made the Krypt more of an experience, one that had you on the edge of your seat in uncertainty.
You never knew if something was going to pop out at you.
Going to the Krypt was a risk, especially considering the history of MK’s gags. You never knew what to expect at any turn. Sure, you may get a cool skin, but you might also get a cheap jump scare!
MK9 took that concept and ran with it, actually implementing the scares and making the atmosphere creepier than ever. It was a perfect match to the game; a horror-inspired game mode to go with a gory fighting game.
With Mortal Kombat 1 around the corner, I’m excited what they’re going to bring to table. Maybe it’ll be expanded into a Konquest-type adventure. Maybe they’ll bring back the horror aura it once had so long ago.
Whatever we get, I’ll be excited for it. I just hope we get a return of the Krypt Monster in its full glory again, ready to terrorize players simply for wanting concept art.