NetherRealm Studios has shared the first gameplay trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, the new addition to the famous fighting game franchise that resets the timeline (again). All your favorite characters like Scorpion and Sub-Zero are set to return, but the new timeline means there’s still a lot we don’t know about these familiar faces.
In terms of gameplay, Mortal Kombat 1 shakes things up with its biggest new mechanic yet: Cameos. Kameos introduces a tag system to Mortal Kombat for the first time. With that in mind, we dug into the new trailer to see what new secrets we could glean from his gameplay trailer.
Tagging
The big new gameplay revealed in the new trailer was Kameo, a new system where players select a second character to help Kombat. Similar to games like Marvel vs. Capcom, the player can tap a button to summon a cameo her partner, perform a quick attack, and then jump back off-screen. What’s unique about this system seems to be the number of different commands you can issue to your cameo partner, depending on the input you use. We’ve seen Cameo extending combos, helping with throws, using his partner as a breaker to take him out of combos, and even joining in what seems to be his MK1’s new X Ray/Fatal Blow attack. I’ve seen
Who is Kameo?
While we don’t yet know the full roster, NetherRealm Studios seems to be very careful when it comes to cameo characters. Rather than pick someone from the main roster as a tag partner, there will be a cameo alternate roster similar to how assist-only characters worked in Marvel vs Capcom 1. The roster includes reset characters from past Mortal Kombat games such as Mortal Kombat 1 Sonya, Mortal Kombat 1 Kano, Mortal Kombat 2 Jax, Mortal Kombat 3 Striker, Mortal Kombat 2 Kung Lao, and Goro.
During the stage presentation, NetherRealm’s chief creative officer, Ed Boon, appeared on stage to elaborate on cameos, stating that there are several characters available as main roster characters and cameo fighters. But “a lot of our cameos are nods to our first game,” says Boone.
timeline prank
Mortal Kombat 1 is a legitimate sequel to Mortal Kombat 11, but with Liu Kang’s decision to reset the timeline in his own vision, the world of Mortal Kombat begins anew, resulting in many changes to the characters. It is
It is already known that sworn enemies Scorpion and Sub-Zero are now good brothers, but Mileena’s teeth were not created as a clone of Tarkatan’s blooded Kitana, but the result of a disease. Because of that, a new backstory is drawn. Other changes include Kenshi seeing, Kung Lao fighting without his signature bladed hat, and Raiden being mortal as per the events of Mortal Kombat 11 .
explosion from the past
Just as cameo fighters are reminiscent of the series’ past, so are their fatalities. Kano’s heart rip is an iconic, classic fatality that looks downright tame compared to what his NetherRealms has created in recent years, but the cameo system combines the new Mortal his combat game with a callback to the past. looks like a way. New and old fans alike are happy.
new shaolin monks
As we learned from the first trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, Liu Kang’s ideal world is under threat. However, he has no intention of saving the universe on his own. In addition to the brothers Scorpion and Sub-Zero, who are supposedly on Liu Kang’s side, Raiden and Kenshi, who have become humans, as Shaolin monks, much like Liu Kang and Kung Lao did in earlier timelines. It looks like he’s sparring.
up in the air
It’s not yet confirmed how Mortal Kombat 1 will play differently from its predecessor, but one obvious change we can see in the gameplay trailer is the new emphasis on aerial combos. You can see multiple characters launching enemies into the air and unleashing rapid consecutive attacks while floating in the air. Cameos are also used to extend these combos for maximum juggling.
where are the new faces?
So far, NetherRealm has highlighted returning characters from past Mortal Kombat games. We’ve seen a lot of Kagami Liu Kang, Raiden, Kung Lao, Milena, Kitana, Kenshi, and Johnny Cage so far, but we haven’t seen any new faces this time (some leaked guest characters except).
I’m not complaining. Now that the timeline has been reset, many of these characters have completely different origin stories and we can’t wait to see some of our favorite characters re-introduced. Among them are characters who seem completely different from those we knew before.
These are some of the biggest details we noticed from the Mortal Kombat 1 gameplay trailer. Be sure to check out IGN for more on Summer of Games.
Matt TM Kim is Senior Editor at IGN.you can contact him @lawoftd.
