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Preview: Mortal Kombat X

Let’s not beat around the bush: there is no way in hell that Australia will get Mortal Kombat X in its current state.

Of the many fatalities we witnessed in a special E3 presentation, not a single one would fall within our (admittedly dated) R18+ classification standards. The highlight fatality features Scorpion burning a hole through his opponent’s chest. The camera then zooms in on that cavity as the opponent’s still-beating heart falls down into the hole. Then, Scorpion slices the front half of his opponent’s face off with a vertical slice, leaving him or her to fall to the ground. The remaining half of the opponent’s brain falls out of that cavity, surrounded by a pool of blood.The remaining half of the opponent’s tongue spasms violently until they eventually die.

It won’t pass classification in Australia. No way, no how.

mkx-xray

Guys, you can make someone’s testicles explode in an X-ray. Girls too, for some reason.

As awe-inspiring as the gore was, I also feel like Mortal Kombat X is a little too gratuitous for its own good. It has to outdo what it did with MK9, and as a result, it’s over-the-top and horrific. While I was one of the many in the hands-off experience oohing and awing as the fatalities landed, I can’t help but be concerned after some time away from the game. Especially considering that when we did go hands-on, I could activate a fatality by pressing down and A.

If Australia does get the chance to play MKX – in its true form or with heavy censorship – expect a hybrid of Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice. Characters have three different variations of themselves; Scorpion has Ninjitsu, Hellfire and Inferno loudouts, each with different movesets and strengths. Characters will have different visual flourishes to tell those loadouts apart; some are defensive, some aggressive, and others in between.

Levels will now have Injustice-like interaction points, either used to escape from corners or to damage opponents (that old lady selling wares? she’s interactive!). As in Injustice, matches begin with characters who recognise each other, and depending on relationships, match quips and exchanges to summarise the two who are about to fight. X-rays are also back, showing brutal damage inflicted by either combatant.

https://youtu.be/RMUvp6Fta5A

The move to current-gen also means NetherRealm is able to place a ton of detail in the game’s environments and in the characters themselves. It’s not the best-looking game of E3 by far, but it’s still damn nice looking. Injustice-type styling runs rampant in the game, with classy, crisp text advising of match winners or “Finish Him” prompts in a way that make the characters look damn good doing what they’re doing. Steve Beran, Director of Art at NetherRealm, advised that a different team is handling the last-gen version of the game as well.

The character select screen we witnessed had slots for 24 characters. Of the ones revealed, only two were recurring: Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The other four shown included Cassie Cage, the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade; D’Vorah, a human/insect hybrid; Ferra/Torr, a two-player character; finally, there’s Kotal Kahn, who we assume is related to Shao.

While NetherRealm wouldn’t elaborate any further, they said Cassie’s origin would be explained in the game’s story mode, which we assume will be like the same in MK9 and Injustice: Gods Among Us.

mkx-combat

If you’re a fan of Mortal Kombat X, you have every right to be hyped about this game. Be warned, though: you might want to start strategising now on how to import the game if you’re within Australia’s borders.

Mortal Kombat X is in development for PS3, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Expect it in 2015.

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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.