Crisp visuals, high-quality beautiful stages with night and day variations, and details down to individual specks of blood. The Mortal Kombat 1 trailer has been released, and it looks like there’s no shortage of stunning visuals and exciting new features alike.
If you’ve been keeping up with Mortal Kombat news, you will know that the game is actually the 12th instalment in the series. It is (confusingly) titled Mortal Kombat 1 because it is set in a different universe, thanks to Liu Kang becoming a god and resetting the timeline in Mortal Kombat 11.
This means that the game now takes place in the past, allowing players to learn new origin stories about the characters they have grown to love! For example, the trailer reveals that Mileena’s long, sharp teeth may not be genetic but the result of a disease.
In total, there will be a total of 41 fighters in the game, the largest roster in years. The trailer introduced Kameo Fighters, a separate roster of characters that can help your main character. While the main characters include fan favourites Kitana, Johnny Cage and Sub-Zero, Kameos will include pre-reset characters from past games – an effective way of keeping long-term fans happy while invoking nostalgia.
When a Kameo Fighter is activated, your main fighter will step aside as it temporarily takes over. Kameos can help with throws, combo breakers and Fatal Blows (attacks that induce a large amount of damage), but they help best with combo extenders. Do note, however, that Kameos come with a cooldown period – so carefully choose when you want to introduce them!
Fatalities, an end-of-round move introduced in Mortal Kombat 11, will also be making a comeback. Some fans were surprised at the gruesome scenes, while others were impressed at the level of detail.
Finally, NetherRealm has announced that Cole Young, the protagonist of Mortal Kombat (2021) will not be making an appearance in the game, but he will be in future Mortal Kombat movies.
The game will be released on Sep 19, but players who pre-order the game physically or online will receive popular villain Shang Tsung as an exclusive playable character.
Although Mortal Kombat 1 will not be released for another three months, each new titbit of information is exciting for old and new fans alike. As the game will be set in an entirely different universe, it has a lot of potential to pleasantly surprise fans with new lore and gameplay mechanisms. Let’s just hope that it’s not too similar to its previous renditions and will offer something new!
