Summer Game Fest is rapidly delivering a feast of video game goodness, and those who are hungry for violence will be eating good with the gameplay reveal of Mortal Kombat 1.
The trailer sets a positively breakneck pace, demonstrating the incredible cinematic quality of fighting that is to come – not to mention a smattering of klues to suggest what kind of gameplay mechanics are returning:
Firstly, the characters that we know are throwing fisticuffs. The trailer has some series regulars – and then some neat surprises! This includes:
- Johnny Cage
- Kitana
- Kung Lao
- Liu Kang
- Mileena
- Raiden
- Scorpion
- Sub-Zero
- Takeda
- Shang Tsung (Confirmed via pre-order)
…That’s without even taking into account the myriad of ‘Kameo’ fighters that appeared on screen!
Kameo fighters are a new mechanic where you can equip an ‘assist’ character to join in the fight. From what has been seen, it appears that Kameo fighters will have a range of inputs to decide what ability the pull off – for example, in the trailer we see classic Kano firing both his laser eye AND throwing knives at different times. This is alongside other old schoolers, such as classic Sonya Blade, Jax and even a retro Sub Zero!
It also appears that ‘Krushing Blows’ are back, with a handful of mid-string attacks appearing to shatter bone and do extra damage. In Mortal Kombat 11, Krushing Blows served as micro-objectives to empower existing moves – sort of like mini brutalities. For example, Kung Lao’s drop kick would do extra damage if you landed it a third time in a fight – shattering the opponents rib cage in a spectacular display. Sort of like a combo you can pull off over a longer period of the fight.
Finally, a curious display appears to be some sort of ‘Clash’ mechanic, routinely known for it’s existence in the Injustice game series. We see a scene where Kitana and Mileena are facing off, with their weapons holding each other at bay – and it does seem awfully like it is occurring mid fight. Within Injustice, initiating a clash allowed players to wager a portion of their super bar to overpower their opponent and swing the tide of the fight; it was a mechanic that made a great deal of sense when dealing with superhero characters and their penchant for big dialogue. I am not entirely sure how it might work in MK1 – but at the same time I am willing to admit that it may just be a narrative moment from the campaign that looks super familiar.
It is a positively electrifying trailer, and goes to show that NetherRealm really don’t miss when it comes to presenting their latest creation. Now to wait for some clarification on exactly what we speculators THINK we saw!
Mortal Kombat 1 releases on September 19 2023, with a beta period in August for pre-orders.
Are you keen to spill some blood in a new era? Let us know in the KOMMENTS or on social media.
Known throughout the interwebs simply as M0D3Rn, Ash is bad at video games. An old guard gamer who suffers from being generally opinionated, it comes as no surprise that he is both brutally loyal and yet, fiercely whimsical about all things electronic. On occasion will make a youtube video that actually gets views. Follow him on YouTube @Bad at Video Games
