• Mortal Kombat 1 received its first gameplay trailer at the Summer Game Fest on Thursday evening.
• While the game is graphically impressive, we can’t help but feel strange about how the kombatants look.
• A new system will feature in the game called Kameo Fighters, which will harken back to the kombatants of the past.

The latest reboot of the Mortal Kombat series is heading for consoles and PC on 19th September 2023, with pre-orders now available. Players who pre-purchase the Premium Edition or the Kollector’s Edition will be able to enjoy Mortal Kombat 1 earlier on 14th September.

After a cinematic teaser was shown off by NetherRealm Studios in May, gameplay of the anticipated fighting game was finally shown off at last night’s Summer Game Fest held by Game Awards producer Geoff Keighley.

The gameplay seems to be for the campaign or story mode of Mortal Kombat 1, where fighting pauses midway to allow characters to wax poetic in cinematics. It also showed off the first look at the Kameo fighter system.

Lore revisions can also be expected, with a Warner Bros. press release explaining, “Liu Kang has restarted history by crafting a New Era for the sake of peace, while Mileena, twin sister of Kitana and rightful heir to Outworld’s throne, has been infected by a dreaded and lethal disease. Lin Kuei warriors and brothers Scorpion and Sub-Zero fight for the future of the clan, while Earthrealm champions Raiden and Kung Lao fight for family and honour. Johnny Cage, who is more concerned with staying relevant in the eyes of his fans, fights for his own vanity.”

In previous versions, Scorpion and Sub-Zero were bitter rivals, and Sub-Zero’s brother is the evil Noob Saibot. Many of the characters from previous iterations of the series are returning, but won’t be fully playable.

NetherRealm says Kameo fighters will provide support during your matches, where a fighter from the game’s long history will suddenly appear to attack your opponent. We caught a glimpse of first-generation versions of Sub-Zero, Jax, Sonya Blade, Kano, as well as Goro, Kung-Lao, and even Stryker appear as Kameo fighters.

It looks like the Kameo fighters will also take part in fatalities somehow, as well as X-Ray-like special combos.

Apart from the obvious graphical improvements, characters have undergone huge redesigns to make them more realistic. To us, it seems like a “Marvelisation” of Mortal Kombat. Previously flamboyant characters are reduced to a few thematic identifiers in the name of realism.

Kenshi’s design in the story mode comes with a three-piece suit and looks very different from versus mode which conserves some of the original costume as seen in the screenshot below.

While the engine NetherRealm is using is undoubtedly capable of impressive graphical fidelity, there is something about the proportions of the kombatants that strike us as odd. They seem smaller, thinner, less bombastic which is only contrasted by the over-the-top violence they dish out.

It could also be the brightly lit hyper-realistic backgrounds that are throwing us off. We usually expect dark palaces, torture rooms, acid bath-filled dungeons, floating wraiths and Outworld arenas as backdrops in our Mortal Kombat games. In Mortal Kombat 1 we are seemingly treated to Iron Man’s house and a location from Uncharted.

Perhaps NetherRealm wants to differentiate the series from rivals like Street Fighter and Tekken with a more grounded art direction. Mortal Kombat 11 had some fantastic costumes, especially with all the customisation you are capable of. They were realistic, but still cool.

Mortal Kombat 1’s fighters just seem a bit muted in comparison.

We’re hoping that some customisation returns in Mortal Kombat 1 and that NetherRealm doesn’t abandon the system which was quite robust in its capabilities. It hasn’t mentioned anything about it though and has focused its communications on the Kameo system and storyline changes.

You can watch the gameplay of Mortal Kombat 1 only on YouTube. Due to how incredibly violet it is we can’t even embed it here.