NetherRealm's Injustice: Gods Among Us, was a great fighting game, but with a different fighting system and Teenrating levels of violence due to the use of DC Comics characters, it had a very different vibe than the studio's traditional offerings. If you've missed the blood and gore, Mortal Kombat X cranks it up to new heights with the added power of new-gen consoles.
NetherRealm came out strong at E3 with a playable demo featuring six characters, four of which are new to the series. In addition to MK mainstays Scorpion and Sub-Zero, we battled as Cassie Cage (the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade), the insect-like D'Vorah, Aztec god Kotal Kahn, and twofor-one fighting pair Ferra and Torr. This focus on new faces runs beyond just the debut demo. “I think, according to my immediate memory, we're introducing more characters in this game than we have since the first Mortal Kombat game,” says NeatherRealm creative director and Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon.
Adding to the roster variety even further is the new character-variations system. After selecting a fighter, players can then choose one of three specialized movesets. For example, Cassie Cage's Brawler variation makes her fists glow and adds an air powerslam and takedown. With Spec Ops, she wears more militaristic gear and is able call down missile strikes from the sky. Selecting Hollywood results in her dad's signature sunglasses and nutcracker attack.
All of these variations add more options for players, but it can triple the development headaches when you're trying to make everything balanced across the board. The team is prepared to do the extra work to incorporate new elements. “It makes balancing a lot harder, and we're going to get all those pro players in the studio and give them as much time on the game as possible,” Boon says. “I really think you need to do that. I don't want us to put out a game that's MK 9.5 and just has nicer graphics.”
X-ray specials return, and they're more gruesome than ever. For those unfamiliar, you build up a meter throughout the battle and pull both trigger buttons at the same time. If the opponent isn't blocking, the camera zooms in during key moments in the combo to show the bones, muscles, and guts getting annihilated. New character Kotal Kahn stabs people through the neck with his ancient dagger, grabs both sides of the weapon, twists the head like a corkscrew, and finishes it off with a nose- breaking knee to the face.
As cringe-inducing as the X-rays are, they're always going to be beat by MK's signature fatalities. The button combos were extremely simplified for the demo so we could pull off the moves easily. My favorite kill so far goes to Cassie. She shoots out the opponent's kneecaps, fol lows with a pistol shot to the forehead, takes out some bubble gum she's chewing, and plugs the head wound. The gum expands into a blood-filled bubble before popping and splattering everywhere. I also enjoyed when Torr lifts up an opponent by the arms and Ferra cuts them in half from top to bottom. Gore like this makes you wonder if anything is off limits when it comes to fatalities. “There have been a few that have been pitched that are just like 'No, no, that crosses the line,'” Boon says. “The fatality meetings are some of the more entertaining and disappointing for the person that's pitching it. Someone stands up and they start acting it out, and we're like, ‘We can't do that.'”
The demo debuted three new arenas that look great and include several interactive elements. The Snow Forest features logs and branches that you can pick up and smash people with or throw at them. You can even perform swinging gymnastic kicks by grabbing a branch in mid-air. The Outworld Marketplace has all manner of beasts and vendors in the background and includes throwable barrels and old ladies. Cove is basically a pirate-ship dock with waves crashing in the background. Fighters can jump off the dock posts, run up the side of the ship on one side and flip to the center of the map to escape attacks, or swing on a chain hook. Drowned bodies pop up out of the water randomly and it's possible to snatch them out of the air and toss them at your opponent.
NetherRealm isn't going into specifics yet, but it sounds like there are some major plans in the works for online play and features. “As far as the gameplay is concerned, I think the main thing is the online component,” Boon says. “We're going to be introducing this online metagame that everyone participates in. It's an online experience that is persistent. Everyone is going to be playing it, and there are benefits. It's definitely something that's going to play a major role in people's experience playing Mortal Kombat.”
Mortal Kombat X looks to have all the right ingredients to live up to the high quality (and sales) bar set by the most recent title, and this is only the first small peek. “[Mortal Kombat 9] was the highest selling Mortal Kombat of all the games,” Boon says. “Who would have thought 22 years later that would have been the case?”
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Style: 1 or 2-Player Fighting (Online Multiplayer TBA)
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Release: 2015
