Nertherelm Studios isn’t pulling any punches with its newest upcoming release of the long-running Mortal Kombat series. Set after the history change after the previous Mortal Kombat 11, it has been fascinating to see these fan-favourite characters return to a world where Lui Kang is God.
In the most recent trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, we not only got a taste of two new fighters, a new Kameo fighter, and more tidbits of some story elements that look to really shake things up. We got an in-depth look at General Shao, in the previous timeline known as Shao Khan, who was the leader of Outerworld. Now tides have turned, and he is seemingly serving Queen Sidel. During the gameplay snippets of General Shao, we can see he is more of a powerhouse than the previous fighters. He is bringing his trusty hammer to the fight. We didn’t get to see his fatality, but I can only assume it will be as gory as the rest.
Speaking of gory, next up was a longer gameplay snippet of Sindel. Mortal Kombat 1 and its previous entries have never shied away from the blood and gore. If anything, they have revelled in it. Mortal Kombat 1 looks to up the ante once again, showing off Sindel and her ultra-violent fatality. She uses her hair to rip off the arms of her enemies and pulls off their heads. It is full of blood and viscera and fits very well with everything else we have seen so far.
The story snippets we get shown for Mortal Kombat 1 show Queen Sindel pushing war in the Outerworld with Commander Shao by her side and Sindel making sure Shao knows his place while Lui Keng is bringing the champion of Earthrelm to continue the tournament of Mortal Kombat between the two realms. This time with the rewritten timeline, Raiden is Earthrelms champion. With some more glimpses at more Kameo fighters like Mutaro, of all people, it will be interesting to see how they fit into the story.
To add onto this, over this last weekend during the Pre-Order Beta for Mortal Kombat 1, we got some time with two additional fighters and one more Kameo fighter. This time around, on top of the fighters present at the Summer Game Fest build, we also got Li Mei, fan-favourite Johhny Cage, and cameo fighter Frost.
They each have their iconic moves, with my favourite shot to the groin being present. I tried out both fatalities as well. Li Mei seems like a more serious character, and that can be seen in her fatality, where she pulls out the intestines of her enemies and uses her power to turn the intestine into a fuse. As it gets closer to the body, she backflip kicks their head off, sending it into the air. When the fuse reaches the head, it explodes into a rain of fireworks.
Johnny Cage is his typical jokey character. All of his taunts and attacks have him showing off his ego. In fact, when he calls forward his Kameo partner, he can be seen taking a selfie while they do the work. His fatality has him live streaming, talking about the enemy being a new start. Then he immediately smashed their face into a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on the ground and then took more selfies with the destroyed face of the other fighter.
Again, it is very clear that Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t shying away from the violence and gore the series is known for and pushing it somehow even further. I look forward to Mortal Kombat 1 as a grand reset, making it the best entry point for newcomers. Thankfully, that wait will be short, as Mortal Kombat 1 launches for Xbox series X/S, PlayStation 5, PC, and Nintendo Switch on September 19th, 2023.
