The newest installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise is set to release in less than a month. For those who pre-ordered Mortal Kombat 1, beta access opened from August 18th – 21st. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek at the action so, “GET OVER HERE” and see what you missed!
Gameplay
There were only a couple of game mode options available in this beta. The first player option consisted of a single tower of six opponents, each with a kameo fighter. The tower opponents were the six characters available during beta. It was just enough to allow you to quickly try all of the available characters. Online matchmaking was the only versus option but I was never able to get it to work. I noticed that some people have posted streams of their online matches, so apparently it was just my bad timing.
Characters
Players had access to six playable characters including Liu Kang, Sub-Zero, Kenshi, Kitana, Johnny Cage, and Li Mei. However, there were enough places for 24 playable characters. They were divided into three groups, perhaps for Outworld, Earthrealm and dlc characters? We are already pretty familiar with the main characters and what they have to offer so I will focus on the newer content.
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Li Mei initially stood out to me because I knew the least about her. Nothing was said about her background in the beta and I am not going to make assumptions about her role in Mortal Kombat 1 because the timeline has changed. After several matches, she quickly became my new favorite character. Her moves were powered by pink fireworks that often take the form of a dragon and she would sometimes randomly surround herself with atmospheric floating pink lanterns. For her fatality, she ignited the opponent’s intestines like a fuse that leads to their head. The head then shot up into the air like a bottle rocket and exploded into a gory fireworks show.
Johnny Cage seemed like one of the more fleshed-out characters and had some pretty fun moves including his signature split groin punch. This is definitely the version of Johnny Cage that we love to hate, complete with cheesy one-liners such as, “I was a gangster you know.” I also noticed he didn’t have the green energy power that he had in previous games. There was some sort of star power bar for Johnny Cage only but I never figured out what it was and it was never really explained. I really need to know more about this star power! What do you think or hope it is?
Kameos
Sonya Blade, Kano, Jax, and Frost were available as kameo fighters. There were 16 total kameo character spaces including the four playable characters. These certainly added something new to the gameplay. It was never a dull moment with the kameo fighters constantly fighting each other in the background. They were frequently popping in and out with a swift punch or kick and even had special combo moves they could do with the player character.
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Each kameo character also has their own unique fatality and combo moves. For example, Frost shot icicles into the opponent’s chest then flying kicked them in deeper. Sonya Blade blew a kiss that catches the opponent on fire for some reason. Jax had a fatality on the moves list but I was not able to get it to work. I am really looking forward to trying the kameo combat more because it is the newest mechanic to the franchise.
Fatalities/Brutalities
The Mortal Kombat franchise is probably best known for its over-the-top and excessively violent fatalities and Mortal Kombat 1 delivers. Here are just some of the gory details from the available character fatalities and brutalities.
-Johnny Cage’s fatality showed him with his opponent at a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He then smashed their face into the concrete and lifted them up to take a selfie with what is left of their face.
-Kenshi sent his sacred sword swirling down the throat of the opponent then flipped them upside down and sliced them in half long ways. Sub Zero made a giant ice machete and sent it flying through the opponent’s torso, cutting them in half. He then slammed their head into the ice knife and they fell to pieces.
-Kitana spun her famous fans above and below her opponent and slowly brought them together to form a brutal blender. Each fatality was more astonishing than the last and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.
The moves list was not complete so brutalities tended to be random. I saw Johnny Cage punch his opponent’s head off as a spotlight focused on him and he is tossed a bottle of water as if he were on set. Kitana used her fan to uppercut her opponent’s head off. Everyone pretty much had a slightly different variation of the same brutality which was uppercutting the opponent’s head off. A lot of flying heads is what I’m saying.
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Everything Else
The backgrounds are something I have loved about Mortal Kombat since I was a kid and this game did not disappoint. Although you only saw a couple in this beta, they were more detailed and dynamic than ever. One is a fancy modern penthouse with an awesome cityscape view and another is a traditional style teahouse. I noticed the patrons in the teahouse were especially and appropriately responsive to the fighting happening in front of them.
The music seemed less modern than Mortal Kombat 11 and was a mix of traditional, some modern, and even a little classic arcade-sounding music. I noticed the “Finish Him” voice is different this time for some reason. It reminded me of the giant heads from Rick and Morty that say “Show me what you got!” I feel it has always been the same voice but it sounds different this time. Let me know in the comments if you heard this change!
Some character introductions seemed lackluster and the usual banter between characters was not really there. There were no distances on the moves list so you had to guess how close you needed to be to execute a move. This meant some trial and error so I am hoping proximities will be on the final moves list.
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Final Thoughts
So far, Mortal Kombat 1 has everything you would expect from the franchise. The graphics are smooth, crisp, and vivid which is great for all the flashy additions to combat. Liu Kang’s feet lighting up blue and orange with every swift kick is extremely satisfying. There is no denying it is a beautiful game but between the backgrounds, kameos, and new powers, it tends to get very busy. Much of the time it felt like I was watching a series of cut scenes rather than actually fighting. I would like to see a better balance between combat and cut-scene moves in the future.
The fatalities, as usual, do not disappoint; each one was more creative and shocking than the last. The people at NetherRealm Studios have somehow found an infinite number of ways to dismember a body. Based on this impressive beta, I cannot wait to see what else they have up their sleeves.
This beta access did not give us much but I felt it was enough to keep you busy over the weekend. It was definitely enough to make me even more excited for the release next month! Kudos to everyone working on this game and please keep up the great work!
Which part of the beta did you like the most? What are you most looking forward to in Mortal Kombat 1? Let us know in the comments!
Mortal Kombat 1 by Warner Brothers Games and Netherrealm Studios is expected to release September 19th, 2023, and is now available for preorder.
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