Netherrealm has officially unveiled Mortal Kombat 1, the next game in the long-running Mortal Kombat series. The game promises to be a "new era" of Mortal Kombat, complete with a new system, new game modes, and new Fatalities, and it'll take place in a "reborn" universe. It's launching for current-gen consoles and PC in September.
In the official announcement trailer for Mortal Kombat 1, a voiceover by series mainstay Liu Kang tells players it's "time to wake up" to a new world, a "blank canvas that I have painted in with warmth and peace". We see iconic characters like Kung Lao, Kitana, Scorpion, and Sub-Zero, as Liu Kang describes a series of choices these characters will presumably have to make throughout Mortal Kombat 1's story. You can check out the trailer here.
As the trailer nears its apex, Liu Kang appears from the sky and walks towards a burning sphere, from which the figure of longtime series antagonist Shang Tsung emerges. Following that, we get a montage of characters being unspeakably, brutally violent towards one another in the iconic Mortal Kombat way.
Liu Kang says that choosing to defy peace is choosing "war with a god", and after he performs a particularly brutal Fatality, the trailer concludes. Whew. That's one way to introduce the game. The trailer doesn't show off any gameplay, but the game's not too far off in terms of release date, so hopefully, it won't be long until we see some.
An FAQ on the official Mortal Kombat 1 site sheds some light on some of the systems and innovations we can expect to see from Mortal Kombat 1. They include a Story Mode, which will continue Netherrealm's cinematic storytelling tradition, as well as the Kameo Fighters system, which adds extra kombatants to create "expanded gameplay possibilities". These fighters will apparently be chosen separately to the main roster.
We'll almost certainly learn more about them, as well as the rest of Mortal Kombat 1's gameplay systems, as we go on. One thing's for sure, though: Mortal Kombat 1 will boast rollback netcode, which means your online experience in the game should be pretty smooth.
Mortal Kombat 1 is set to release for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on September 19th. Pre-orders will open tomorrow starting at 10am Pacific, and if you pre-order the game, you'll get Shang Tsung as a playable character, as well as access to Mortal Kombat 1's beta (which begins in August) if you're on PS5 or Xbox. Keep an eye on the game's official website to learn more.
