Posted in: Games, Mortal Kombat, Video Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | Tagged: mortal kombat, Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm Studios, preview, Summer Game Fest, WB Games

Mortal Kombat 1 Preview: A New Era Brings New Gore

We got to be among the first to try out Mortal Kombat 1 during Summer Game Fest: Play Days, and here's what we thought of it.

One of the most anticipated games we had on the schedule for Summer Game Fest: Play Days was a chance to play Mortal Kombat 1. We were in Los Angeles for the event, where they took us into a totally separate building to hold this demo, as we got a pretty decent look at the gameplay from the developers, along with 45 minutes to just have matches as we saw fit. This was literally the first time journalists and content creators were getting a chance to play the game's demo without any real restrictions, so here's our thoughts on what we got out of it.

Just to give you an idea of what we were working with, the demo allowed us to play four characters: Kitana, Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, and Kenshi. We were also given the choice of three Kameo Fighters to choose from in the classic Mortal Kombat versions of Sonya Blade, Jax, and Kano. If you haven't watched any material for the game, the primary fighters are given a Kameo to fight with them, almost like a tag system, but not quite. When you're fighting, you can call them in to perform a special move or two that will help you during a fight. With these seven options to make two-person combos with, we were given the option of fighting up the traditional arcade ladder, or just taking on the CPU with whatever characters we chose to fight against. So the parameters of the demo were limited, but we were given enough choices to have multiple fights that all played out differently.

The fighting style for Mortal Kombat 1 feels pretty fluid. You would think that forcing you to fight with a secondary character by your side might make things sluggish, or force you into a position of relying on things to happen in order to win a match. But no, this is probably one of the better two-character systems in a fighting game we've seen in a while, which I fully contribute to the idea that it isn't a tag-format. You play as your primary choice with the other assisting on occasion, no swaps or changes when your main goes down. There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to using them, however. Sure, you could just spam the button and have someone pop in whenever you feel like it, but in order to maximize the amount of damage the two of you can do together, timing is everything. Especially when trying to pull off combo maneuvers or get your opponent in for a special move at just the right moment so both characters nail their respective hits at the perfect time.

The ladder played out about as well as could be expected for a demo. We moved up the chain, taking on all challengers, which wasn't hard at any level being only four characters deep and Liu Kang being the obvious final battle at the end. It was a bit tougher, even on regular difficulty, than just battling the CPU. We're sure it's by design, but the ladder feels more like an intense challenge rather than whether or not you could best Sub-Zero with Kano in his corner. We didn't get to see a lot of the level selection as we could only fight in Johnny Cage's mansion or at a local Tea House, each of them coming with their own fun references in the background, as well as hazards in the level you can take advantage of. Overall, I would say the best-balanced fighter of the four was Kenshi, as he was able to do both long and short-ranged attacks that didn't feel like you were being forced into a certain position.

The look and feel of this game is pretty awesome. It's clear that the creative direction moving forward is to bring about a new timeline with these characters so you have the familiar people meshed with a new set of circumstances. Listening to the characters talk before their battles adds a little bit of intrigue as well. Clearly, for the demo, they didn't add any voice lines to give away the plot. But it does make us curious why Liu Kang, who now controls time and has the ability to shape the realms as he sees fit, would allow someone like Shang Tsung to return just to exist. Or why Mileena would continue to suffer as this game has her dealing with an affliction rather than being a clone of Kitana. There's a lot to be explained that we're sure we'll get bits and pieces of over the next few months. But for now, it's an interesting puzzle to solve.

Wrapping it up, the fatality options were pretty dope. You have your standard array of gore from each one, with Liu Kang's being the greatest blood-soaked of them all as he drives his opponent's head into the ground through their own body. Even the Kameo characters have a fatality they can do, which are all modern versions of classic ones, like Sonya blowing a kiss or Jax growing and stomping you. But the funniest bit to us was the end-taunt option. In Mortal Kombat 11, hitting down three times gave your opponent Mercy and a second chance with half-life. Now it just taunts the player like they weren't even worth your time to do a fatality or throw a punch. I got a kick out of seeing everyone's different take on dismissing their fallen foe, with Liu Kang wagging his finger in a disapproving "no" gesture.

Overall, Mortal Kombat 1 feels like a mighty fine successor, but we do acknowledge we're playing a demo with a lot of things cut out. We really won't know how it plays until they finally release it on September 19th, 2023.

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