Mortal Kombat 4 is the first fighting game in the series, which is made in 3D. During the battles, fighters use a lot of combat techniques, 2 fatalities, and also an innovation appeared here - weapons that can be picked up in the process and improvised objects - these are stones, human heads. The game has acquired new heroes - Kai, Reiko, Jarek, Tanya, Fujin, Shinnok, Quan Chi, and you can also fight with 10 old friends, including Sonya Blade and Sub-Zero, and three secret ones - Goro, Meat, Noob Saibot.The fighting takes place in the following arenas:
- Mountains - in the mountainous area.
- Reptile’s Lair - in the Reptile’s lair.
- Shaolin Temple - in the temple of Shaolin fighters.
- Living Forest - in the living forest.
- Prison - in the prison, where finishing moves are available in the background.
- Goro’s Lair - with the possibility of finishing moves, in Goro’s lair.
- Furnace - in the Furnace, where you have to defeat Shinnok.
- Elder Gods - at the location of the Gods.
- Tomb - fights in the Tomb.
- Ice Pit - fighting in the icy Pit.
At the start, Raiden gives a monologue about those events that took place long before the announcement of the Mortal Kombat tournament. Shinnok turned against the Elder Gods a thousand years ago, trying to gain power in the Earthly Kingdom, where he penetrates unnoticed with the help of an amulet. God of Thunder Raiden protected the planet by organizing a war with Shinnok, whom he sent to the Underworld in the finale. After 1 thousand. years, Quan Chi returns the villain and hires Sub-Zero to find his amulet. Soon, the villain manages to capture other worlds, including Edenia, obtained with the help of the traitor Tanya. The Invader decides to destroy Heaven. Here, the user creates a combo himself, manipulating the standard and special techniques of fighters. For the first time in the Mortal Kombat 4 series, a limited weapons system has been introduced, which is almost the same in functionality for all fighters. Now the heroes can take small steps - sidestep, and Maximum Damage has also appeared - a kind of damage limitation, where you cannot exceed the established norm, and you can avoid infinity.