Mortal Kombat 1 Preview – Another Bloody Chapter

This summer’s announcement of Mortal Kombat 1 brought with it a new era for the long-running fighting franchise. NetherRealm Studios’ latest Mortal Kombat game brings back the fighting mechanics that have been a staple of the franchise since its 2011 reboot. However, it also adds new layers of complexity. This entry’s most noteworthy addition is the Kameo function, which allows you to bring in an additional character at crucial moments in the fight to make a quick attack. The first time I saw the game earlier in summer, I was just scratching the surface. I only played through the first part of the story, and I experienced the robust new single-player.

Mortal Kombat has long been known for its single-player story modes, with the 2011 reboot laying the foundation for the series’ modern approach. The technology in Mortal Kombat has advanced a lot since the original title. However, with every new entry, the storylines have become increasingly complex. Aftermath is the post-launch DLC story for Mortal Kombat 11. Anyone who played it knows that Liu Kang acquired the powers of gods and was able to rewrite the timeline. The team at NetherRealm had a great opportunity to reboot the Mortal Kombat series.

” According to Mortal Kombat 1 director Dominic Cianciolo and story director Dominic Cianciolo NetherRealm was aware of the rebooting franchise before it released its Mortal Kombat game. “[The idea of doing another reboot] was from the earliest pitches of Mortal Kombat 11,” he says. “The story – not even Aftermath – with Kronika and time resetting, it kind of lent itself to this notion that we were going to be starting over.”

Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode starts in a fun way, as we see a familiar face speaking to a crowd of people in a small village. A Shang Tsung who looks like the one from Mortal Kombat gives his pitch for a tonic that he holds. He claims it’s a miracle in a bottle that can cure any illness; it sounds too good to be true, and it turns out it is, as a large man who purchased a bottle for his ailing daughter interrupts him to say it’s nothing but tea. He is surrounded by a crowd, but the camera cut away.

The next night we find Shang Tsung, bruised and battered. He removes the old man costume to reveal his true, younger form; clearly, this version of Shang Tsung doesn’t have his shapeshifting powers. A woman appears in the darkness, saying she could help him gain the power that he claims to possess. She informs him of the sorcery he has wielded in other realities and offers to join forces so they can put the realms at his feet. An evil smile flashes across Shang Tsung’s face and the scene cuts yet again.

Chapter 1: The New Era focuses on Kung Lao. Kung Lao, in this version of reality, is now a farmer, alongside Raiden who has no longer been the thunder god. Both are picking crops on the field. Kung Lao mentions how trapped he feels in his job – after all, his ancestors were great warriors with amazing legacies – so he proposes a friendly wager of who can do their work the fastest with the loser picking up the dinner tab that night. The two arrive at Madam Bo’s for dinner, but there’s a dispute about who really won, so naturally, they decide to settle it with a fight. This introductory fight isn’t difficult, but it let me get my Mortal Kombat muscle memory back after spending hours with Street Fighter 6 in recent months.

There’s no time to gloat, however, as Smoke appears before the elderly Madam Bo to demand she pay the Lin Kuei for their protection or risk the safety of the establishment. Kung Lao fights Madam Bo when she doesn’t bow down to mob tactics. The Kameo mechanic is my favorite little detail. In this instance, Raiden was there during the scene, so naturally, he is inserted as Kung Lao’s Kameo fighter.

Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero crash the party after Smoke is defeated. The cutscenes become more intense. Kung Lao & Raiden fight the ninjas after Madam Bo falls off a rooftop. Even as scenes get more intense, the trademark Mortal Kombat humor is still there. Sub-Zero’s attack leaves an ice block on the counter, but a bartender breaks off a chunk and adds it to his drink. It is amazing how well these cutscenes look. It’s amazing how well the motion and facial capture work. The high resolution textures and voices kept me totally immersed. Sub-Zero was my final opponent before story mode ended.

The story modes of Mortal Kombat are traditionally great, but Mortal Kombat 1 isn’t relying solely on that for its single-player greatness. The RPG mode Invasions allows you to level up your characters, unlock cosmetics and skins and get gear and other rewards by completing various mini-challenges. The challenges often revolve around defeating enemies in fights, but with different modifiers, such as super armor, telegraphed moves to help you time your attacks around vulnerability windows, and obstacles like fire-breathing demons. Other nodes in the hub include survival minigames, where you have to dodge energy balls and Test Your Might challenges.

“It scratches a few itches,” director and series co-creator Ed Boon says. “There’s additional lore and story. There’s a little bit of training and getting accustomed to the game. There are clearly secrets that we’re burying in there, and it’s also a mechanism for getting rewards. That’s always been part of the function of Konquest mode or The Krypt or something like that: some mechanism that the player can, within the Mortal Kombat universe, get cool stuff.”

In Invasions, the rewards are also tailored to which character you choose to play. This allows you to get items that relate to characters that you enjoy. As you play, fighters level up to earn better stats, and you can also earn Talismans, which can be used to augment a character. Sub-Zero can, for instance, be given the power to throw skulls on fire. The Forge allows you to alter and enhance Talismans in order to accomplish different tasks, from healing to adding new abilities. It is important to be careful when using them, since they are limited in charge and will need to be recharged between games. These seem to be particularly relevant with a convention that was borrowed from RPGs, character types.

” These characters are given an advantage over other characters by using the same types of role-playing games. “[The characters] lend themselves very easily,” lead designer Derek Kirtzic says. “Sub-Zero, Ice. Scorpion, Fire. Havok, Blood. Reptile, Acid. […] What we’re really excited for is as you play the game and you engage with the elemental system more and more where you start building different teams and different loadouts. Like, ‘Oh, here’s a Geras. He’s going to be heavy on defense. I should pick somebody that’s going to be heavy on offense.’ And so people start making these different builds of characters to counter or complement what their opponents are.”

Invasions is structured around a six week seasonal cycle, each with its own challenges and rewards. Your progress is also reset with every season. This means that your Talismans and currency are all at the beginning of your journey. NetherRealm told me that the team hopes it will give those who are really interested in this mode additional content. Each season will have approximately nine hours worth of content.

I always eagerly anticipate the single-player content of each new Mortal Kombat game, but even within the elite franchise, Mortal Kombat 1’s offerings feel special. Whether you’re looking forward to the exciting narrative, the ever-unfolding content of Invasions, or simply just throwing down with friends and strangers, Mortal Kombat 1 is poised to continue the very strong year we’ve been seeing for the fighting game genre.

Mortal Kombat 1 is coming to Switch, PC, Switch Series X/S (PS5), Xbox Series X/S (Xbox Series X/S), and PlayStation 5 in September. You can listen to more about our conversation with Ed Boon from a recent episode of All Things Nintendo.