Mortal Kombat 1 revealed; gives the series yet another reboot
After much teasing and an inadvertent leak, NetherRealm Studios has finally revealed Mortal Kombat 1. As the name hints, the new game once again reboots the series—the second game to do so following 2011’s Mortal Kombat.
As the trailer below explains, the game takes place following the events of Mortal Kombat 11, following series protagonist—and now Fire God—Liu Kang’s defeat of Kronika, the Keeper of Time, allowing him to reboot the timeline once again.
While Mortal Kombat 1 looks to reboot the franchise, the trailer shows that many familiar faces will return such as Mileena, Kitana and Shang Tsung—who comes as pre-order DLC, more on that later. In addition, the new game will continue the franchises’ over-the-top gore, showing off more than a few fatalities, including what seems to be Fire God Liu Kang’s.
As previously mentioned, Mortal Kombat as a franchise is no stranger to reboots. 2011’s Mortal Kombat—known among fans as “Mortal Kombat 9“—did the same, framing its story as the result of Thunder God Raiden’s attempts to “fix” the timeline by traveling back to the events of the first game from 1992.
Beyond rebooting the game’s story, Mortal Kombat 9 also revamped the game’s fighting system. The games preceding it had switched to a 3D fighting system, similar to games like Tekken and Virtua Fighter. Mortal Kombat 9 returned the franchise to its 2D roots but retained the Tekken-like combo string-based combat system from the previous games.
As for Mortal Kombat 1, it’s quite possible that the reboot may also revamp the franchise’s combat system once again. Supporting this is the description for the trailer on YouTube that mentions the game having a “new fighting system.”
Whether or not this is the case, fans are likely to find out soon considering how soon the game is arriving. The trailer confirms not only will Mortal Kombat 1 will launch on September 19, but that it will have a closed beta on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles sometime before then.
Access to the closed beta will be given to those who pre-order the game when those open on May 19 at 10:00 am Pacific Time (May 20 at 1:00 am Philippine Time). In addition to beta access, those who pre-order also get early access to returning villain Shang Tsung.
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