@Captain:
No, they did not.
Mortal Kombat has been one of the godfathers of the fighting game genre. Always has been. The series isn't about being edgy (though that is what it's known for), it's one big bloody homage to cheeseball Chinese martial arts movies. The whole reason it was made as bloody as it is in the first place was just to set it apart from other fighters at the time.
I'd argue that being "edgy" took part of the focus after MK1, the fatalities in the later games emphasized that (Liu Kang materializing an arcade cabinet out of thin air, Kano ripping out your ENTIRE skeleton) but for the most part I agree.
As story-driven as some of the later games really try to be, I feel that this is one of those franchises that works well when it doesn't take itself too seriously (The creators acknowledged that spelling "combat" with a "k" was one big joke.)
With that said, I've got a neutral outlook to this new "rebirth" setting, but I am interested in seeing how the game is gonna play and if its gonna. And that's what really matters.
I enjoyed Armageddon, personally. Wasn't spectacular, but I had fun. S'all I ask for in a video game.
The actual fighting engine and Kreate-A-Fatality system were lame thats for sure. But I got a lot of enjoyment out of the Kreate-A-Fighter system it had.
Honestly though, I'd really like to see another MK game akin to Shaolin Monks. It was great adventure with for both single and co-op play, and the fighting engine lended itself wonderfully to a Grand Battle/Power Stone-like VS mode.