Okay, seriously. Did the world need another Mortal Kombat? The answer is yes. Yes, it does. Especially one that’s making full use of the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, and… the Switch’s power? Yeah, that should work out just fine. Lucky for us, that’s exactly what’s happening. NetherRealm Studios has announced Mortal Kombat 1. No, that’s not a typo.
This isn’t just another Mortal Kombat continuing where Mortal Kombat 11 left off. This is Mortal Kombat 1 – a soft reboot of the series that places Liu Kang in the heavens in the form of a God. We think. Besides a boatload of gory head-smashes, the trailer doesn’t give us a whole lot of story to work with. It does look damn pretty, though.
The Mortalest of Kombats
We’ve known for quite some time now that another Mortal Kombat was in the works. With one thing and another, NetherRealm Studios opted for an official reveal a little earlier than next week’s PlayStation Showcase. Mortal Kombat will be released on 19 September 2023, with pre-orders opening sometime later today, 19 May. Those that pre-order for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions will get access to a beta sometime in August.
We know that this is a new world created by the Fire God Liu Kang, featuring “unexpected twists on classic rivalries and original backstories for a wide-ranging cast of legendary fighters, including Liu Kang, Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden, Kung Lao, Kitana, Mileena, Shang Tsung, Johnny Cage, and many others.”
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This time ‘round, the series is introducing the Kameo system that hasn’t been fully revealed just yet. We assume it’ll copy every other fighting game in existence and introduce some pop-culture characters to the roster over the coming years. We already know that some form of Jean-Claude Van Damme is joining the roster as an alternate skin for Johnny Cage.
The last we saw of Mortal Kombat came in the form of Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath, a DLC that saw the end of the series’ 11th outing. We won’t go into all the details – all you need to know is that Liu Kang is now in possession of Kronika’s time powers and has vowed to remake the universe (and, you know, revive all those dead friends of his). How that’ll affect the lore going forward… we’ll have to see.