“Mortal Kombat X” is a frustrating, satisfying, button-smashing, strategic, anger-inducing cathartic experience; and worth it all.

The tenth edition in the “Mortal Kombat” series and the first for the next-gen platforms, “Mortal Kombat X” builds off the gory, brutal gameplay that fans love and adds a few wrinkles to draw new fans, as well as adapt to the latest demands of online gaming.

The game (played on the PS4), like previous editions, features a story mode that provides several hours of gameplay.

The story was a pleasant surprise with decent writing and compelling plot, weaving through the point-of-view concept the series used in previous games seamlessly.

The campaign begins 20 years in the past in the midst of a war between the realms of Earthrealm, our world, and the Netherrealm, the games underworld dimension. The evil sorcerer Quan Chi has resurrected the warriors who died in the story of the previous game “Mortal Kombat,” and uses them to wage a war for his master Shinnok, an evil elder god.

The Netherrealm forces are defeated by the courage of Earthrealm warriors like Johnny Cage, and the realms return to balance.

Fast-forward to the present and the story begins to introduce the latest additions to the roster of playable, as many of the new characters are the sons, daughters, and grandchildren of classic characters.

A civil war breaks out in Outworld, another dimension in the Mortal Kombat Universe, and the spectres of Quan Chi and Shinnok lurk in the back of everyone’s minds, as the old generation and new fight together to maintain the peace.

The real value in this game, however, is the online gameplay.

The developers added a faction system, in which players generate points for their respective factions by playing matches, completing the story and other challenges.

Besides gaining points for your faction, each faction has its own “faction kill” fatality, or special finisher, which is satisfying to achieve against online opponents.

Another aspect of the faction system is the faction invasions, or wars, in which players have 24-hours to generate as many points as possible for their faction in order to win the war and reap the rewards at the end.

It’s not all nice in the online arena.

The “Mortal Kombat” games have notoriously difficult online gameplay, with professional gamers amongst the amateurs, and others using any exploit they can to win.

This makes playing matches against others frustrating at times. OK, a lot of the time.

Prepare to put in hours in practice mode if you want to succeed against others online.

The game looks amazing compared to the last “Mortal Kombat.” The last game in the series was released on the previous generation consoles, but fans can appreciate waiting four years for “X” when it looks and plays at this level of quality.

Overall, the game has immense replay value, despite the very real frustrating qualities it possesses.

Rating: 10/10 (Played on the PS4)