Mortal Kombat 1 Is Preserving Its History As Much As It’s Reinventing It

Mortal Kombat has morphed and altered many times in its 30 years of presence. However through its numerous versions– from 2D to 3D, with beat-em-up spin-offs and even a reboot in 2011– its identity has actually stayed consistent with its 2 core tenets: scandalous and over-the-top violence, and dark, dire, and melodramatic storytelling. After playing about 90 minutes of Mortal Kombat 1, it’s clear that NetherRealm Studios wishes to stay real to this identity while totally transforming itself. It has done this, most significantly, with an emphasis on a more easy going tone, albeit one that is still definitely drenched in guts and bone pieces, and a brand-new twist on gameplay.

Mortal Kombat 1 is a fresh start for its universe, its characters, and even its fight. All of this is apparent in the very first chapter of its new story mode, which is focused around a young Raiden (no longer the god of thunder in this new timeline) and Kung Lao, both of whom we get to see in a year zero-like setting as farmers in a little rural town. The video game takes its time to show the relationship between the two, which is constructed on a sibling-like love and rivalry. That is, till things go awry and the Lin Kuei, a clan of assassins that is being led by Smoke, show up and need protection money from a regional dining establishment. Obviously, Kung Lao and Raiden step in to protect their grass. It’s likewise in these quick minutes we’re provided a glance of some brand-new and not-so-prominent characters of the MK universe like Madame Bo, the town cook and resident martial art master, who has been teaching Raiden and Kung Lao. She’s old, eccentric, and hard as nails, and the minute she started thrusting punches and begins Smoke’s face, I immediately fell for her (fingers crossed she’s a playable character in the last lineup).

By Mortal Kombat standards, the introduction felt reserved and grounded. Where we’re frequently hurled into epic fights of conjured magic projectiles and dream scheming for the fate of Outworld, in the opening minutes of Mortal Kombat 1, I was combating as a Kung Lao without his razor-rimmed hat, overthrowing my reliable strategy of tossing it across the screen to be met a gratifying spray of blood and gore. Don’t be tricked, nevertheless, as Fatal Blows still displayed x-rays of anatomically impossible-to-survive injuries, with bones shattering into dust and organs blowing up like balloons. It’s simply that the moment-to-moment cutscenes threaded a more playful tone, like the old male sitting at the bar while a battle occurs, calmly plucking a piece from among Sub-Zero’s ice spears and dropping it in his drink. It’s uncharacteristic of MK’s normal fate-of-the-world-hangs-in-the-balance drama. In one scene, Kung Lao tosses his straw hat at Sub-Zero, only for it to bounce off into the air and gently float to the flooring. It was charmingly slapstick– and there wasn’t a drop of blood in sight.

The real feel of fight itself has actually received an invited overhaul that makes Mortal Kombat 1 feel like the most fluid it’s ever been thanks to its recently remodelled combination system. While each specific piece of the combat puzzle is easy to get to grips with, performing it all together showed off the complexity, fluidity, and depth of Mortal Kombat 1’s combo system, which is a much-needed step forward for the franchise. And although special relocations are still essential, Mortal Kombat 1 has a much bigger toolset, which it really wisely presents to the player by putting its combination and Kameo system front-and-center, while restricting the usage of special moves in the early stages of its story mode.

When getting a little hands-on time with Kameos such as Kano and Cyrax, I was able to get a short glimpse at just how deep and strategic character pairings can get. Kano, for example, used his signature laser eye to interrupt characters from across the screen, which is an outstanding accompaniment to characters like Johnny Cage, who doesn’t have projectiles this time around. This blending and matching of two character rosters expands MK’s toolkit to exciting heights.

In the sneak peek build I played, the Kameos I got to experiment with were Frost, Cyrax, Kano, Sonya Blade, and Jax Briggs. As for the primary lineup, I had access to Sub-Zero, Kenshi, Kitana, Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Kung Lao, and Li Mei. The story mode, however, only allowed me to play as Kung Lao, with Raiden as the default Kameo. It was in the video game’s all-new Invasions mode where I actually got to try out the other characters and Kameos.

Intrusions is the debut of a brand-new single-player mode. Similar to MK11’s Towers of Time mode, Invasions mode is a series of battles under a broad variety of obstacles and objectives, with each fight including various situations for the player to conquer. Completing these fights will award the gamer with a random loot drop of items and medallions that change the attributes of your fighter, like giving Kung Lao Scorpion’s spear. In addition, you’re rewarded with cosmetics to change your character’s look, and currency to upgrade items and purchase more. From match to match, you’ll work your method throughout a map in board game-like style, experiencing test-your-might style minigames and often being assailed (Pokemon-style) by unique fights that have challenges like defeating a series of characters consecutively.

On paper, Invasions is an amalgamation of various modes seen in previous MK games, most notably an advancement of MK11’s Towers of Time, with a spray of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s World of Light mode, which likewise saw players gathering items, leveling up equipment, and battling under special scenarios. The difference with Invasions mode is that it’s an ever-growing service that will feature seasons of material for gamers to return to. However, there was a sense of aimlessness to the mode in the brief time I had with it. I discovered myself meandering fight-to-fight without any clear objective besides to accumulate currency and loot items. This wasn’t helped by the sluggish movement speed of my character between matches, and frequently did I find myself at a dead end, needing to sluggishly move my character back from where I came. Nonetheless, I also do not believe the 40 minutes I played sufficed time to comprehend the potential of its depth. There appears to be a lot there, but its early stages weren’t enough to see the scope it promised as a games-as-a-service mode.

Invasions mode aside, the most exciting possibility from my hands-on time with Mortal Kombat 1 is the method it’s protecting its history while not avoiding attempting to raise the franchise to new heights with some originalities. The timeless Mortal Kombat fan in me was overjoyed at seeing the addition of deep-cut characters like Lei Me, or Sonya Blade, Kano, and Jax Briggs’s renowned attire as a cool nod to the series’ past. On the other hand, MK1 is relatively doing a lot to place itself as one of the most progressive in the franchise thanks to its brand-new combo and Kameo system, along with its overall lighter tones (at least from what I’ve seen in its opening chapter). Even the menu screens are lighter, promoting an intense and colorful vista as its background– a plain contrast to MK11’s pitch-black menu screens and doomy, gothic-like music. One could even say that the future of Mortal Kombat is the brightest it’s ever been. We’ll have to discover how intense it is when the game launches on September 14.