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Mortal Kombat To Return In 2011

"Reinvented 2D fighting mechanic" and "all-new graphics engine" to drive the next Mortal Kombat.


 Johnny always seemed like the kind of guy that'd get his own name tattooed on his chest... 
Johnny always seemed like the kind of guy that'd get his own name tattooed on his chest... 
It's been a real rollercoaster of a week over here between a director's pitch for a potential Mortal Kombat movie leaking out, followed by the revelation that the pitch wasn't official in any way. Up until now, all we really knew about the future of Mortal Kombat is that Ed Boon and his team in Chicago were working on something that was often referred to as Mortal Kombat 9, and the occasional slip of info pegged it as being a return to the franchise's gory roots.

Today, the game was officially re-announced as simply "Mortal Kombat." The game will remain polygonal, but will (finally) return to its 2D roots. No more sidestepping away from Scorpion's spear. The release mentions an "all-new graphics engine," which makes it sound like it's more than a repurposing the technology used in 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which ran on the Unreal Engine
 
Here's some video showing the game in action. 
  
   
Multiplayer tag battles have been included this time around, allowing up to four players to participate in a single match locally or online. The tag concept will also carry over to a single player cooperative mode. A lot of classic characters will return, including...


Someone resembling old, withered, MK1 Shang Tsung appears on a throne in one of the stages, as well. Some classic stages from the series' past will return, including a great-looking version of The Pit 2 and the Dead Pool, both of which first appeared in Mortal Kombat II.

 That's a very large (and very cold) tattoo needle. 
That's a very large (and very cold) tattoo needle. 
Looking at the actual fighting, it looks like there will be some kind of helper attack feature, where your tagged-out partner dashes in, executes an attack, and leaves, much like Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The other thing you notice from watching the trailer is that the game ain't playing around with the juggles. There are some very serious-looking combos going on, and they don't look much like the dial-a-combo stuff from Mortal Kombat 3. This is just a hunch, but I suspect that the Pro Moves concept from MKvDC will appear in this game. The double teleport kicks from Mileena (shown in the trailer) look too crazy and too close together to be anything else. Another sequence, where Johnny Cage's punches translate into Golgo 13-like cutaways of the bones underneath his victim's skin, almost looks like a separate type of finishing move. Maybe it's a Brutality? Stage fatalities and just plain old fatalities will also appear in the game.

Mortal Kombat is being developed by the newly renamed NetherRealm Studios, which is a snappier moniker than "WB Games Chicago," the name the team took on after the transition away from Midway, was. Despite all of the name changes, this is still the Chicago-based team led by Ed Boon, one of the creators of the series. Here's what he had to say in the game's announcement.

“We can’t wait for players to get their hands on Mortal Kombat,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “This game really is a response to what players have been demanding: mature presentation, reinvented 2D fighting mechanic and the best, most gruesome fatalities ever!”

Mortal Kombat is scheduled for release in 2011 on the Xbox 360 and  PlayStation 3.
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jeff

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Edited By jeff

 Johnny always seemed like the kind of guy that'd get his own name tattooed on his chest... 
Johnny always seemed like the kind of guy that'd get his own name tattooed on his chest... 
It's been a real rollercoaster of a week over here between a director's pitch for a potential Mortal Kombat movie leaking out, followed by the revelation that the pitch wasn't official in any way. Up until now, all we really knew about the future of Mortal Kombat is that Ed Boon and his team in Chicago were working on something that was often referred to as Mortal Kombat 9, and the occasional slip of info pegged it as being a return to the franchise's gory roots.

Today, the game was officially re-announced as simply "Mortal Kombat." The game will remain polygonal, but will (finally) return to its 2D roots. No more sidestepping away from Scorpion's spear. The release mentions an "all-new graphics engine," which makes it sound like it's more than a repurposing the technology used in 2008's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which ran on the Unreal Engine
 
Here's some video showing the game in action. 
  
   
Multiplayer tag battles have been included this time around, allowing up to four players to participate in a single match locally or online. The tag concept will also carry over to a single player cooperative mode. A lot of classic characters will return, including...


Someone resembling old, withered, MK1Shang Tsung appears on a throne in one of the stages, as well. Some classic stages from the series' past will return, including a great-looking version of The Pit 2 and the Dead Pool, both of which first appeared in Mortal Kombat II.

 That's a very large (and very cold) tattoo needle. 
That's a very large (and very cold) tattoo needle. 
Looking at the actual fighting, it looks like there will be some kind of helper attack feature, where your tagged-out partner dashes in, executes an attack, and leaves, much like Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The other thing you notice from watching the trailer is that the game ain't playing around with the juggles. There are some very serious-looking combos going on, and they don't look much like the dial-a-combo stuff from Mortal Kombat 3. This is just a hunch, but I suspect that the Pro Moves concept from MKvDC will appear in this game. The double teleport kicks from Mileena (shown in the trailer) look too crazy and too close together to be anything else. Another sequence, where Johnny Cage's punches translate into Golgo 13-like cutaways of the bones underneath his victim's skin, almost looks like a separate type of finishing move. Maybe it's a Brutality? Stage fatalities and just plain old fatalities will also appear in the game.

Mortal Kombat is being developed by the newly renamed NetherRealm Studios, which is a snappier moniker than "WB Games Chicago," the name the team took on after the transition away from Midway, was. Despite all of the name changes, this is still the Chicago-based team led by Ed Boon, one of the creators of the series. Here's what he had to say in the game's announcement.

“We can’t wait for players to get their hands on Mortal Kombat,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “This game really is a response to what players have been demanding: mature presentation, reinvented 2D fighting mechanic and the best, most gruesome fatalities ever!”

Mortal Kombat is scheduled for release in 2011 on the Xbox 360 and  PlayStation 3.
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Synthballs

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Edited By Synthballs

I'm excited.
 
EDIT: Where is Quest?!

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peepeepoopoo696

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Edited By peepeepoopoo696

Yes, more Mortal Kombat!

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Shiro_Shishi

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Edited By Shiro_Shishi

DO WANT.
 
That trailer was everything I loved about Mortal Kombat 2.

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MarkWahlberg

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Edited By MarkWahlberg

  

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jaymorgoth

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Edited By jaymorgoth

Still...i would really have liked the game to go more in the direction of that movie pitch. That pitch has ruined MK for me cause it's all i want now...

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Aarny91

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Edited By Aarny91

Sounds great. The trailer was epic.

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Danielsan

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Edited By Danielsan

Day one

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beargirl1

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Edited By beargirl1

<3

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Tirrandir

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Edited By Tirrandir

I've been out of MK since Ultimate 3, but this looks pretty awesome. I hope it's not super complicated.

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fwylo

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Edited By fwylo

Yes please.

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tomance

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Edited By tomance

Nice, I'll finally get some more use out of my arcade stick. 

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All i can really say is hell yeah!

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CyleMoore

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Edited By CyleMoore

Can't wait for this!

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RipTheVeins

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Edited By RipTheVeins

That's totally Kira chained up in the arena stage:  

No Caption Provided
Awesome. I hope they give some of the other... less memorable characters from the last generation of games a similar treatment. 
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Edited By ARKARON

Looks Great , super excite cant waits P:

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Cluter

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Edited By Cluter

YES. This looks amazing! I'm all about old school MK, and this looks to be the way to do it. 2D fighting with 3D models? Next-gen effects? Oh maaaan. I hope they also bring back some classic fatalities with updated effects. 
 
GET HYPE. ROCK IT REAL!

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EvilDingo

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Edited By EvilDingo

Thumbs up at the removal of 3D-movement! Leave that to other fighting franchises's where it always have been part of the mechanic. 
 
Now If they drop the weapon-stances and also return to the "HP,LP,HK,LK"-logic of the first MK's... I doubt they can do anything wrong. 
 
... Come to think of it. I guess I just wan UMK3 with 3D-graphics :-)

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yates

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Edited By yates

The trailer does actually look pretty awesome. Consider me hyped!

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anypti

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Edited By anypti

what a year for fighting games!

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@jaymorgoth said:
" Still...i would really have liked the game to go more in the direction of that movie pitch. That pitch has ruined MK for me cause it's all i want now... "
Agreed... 

Plus, it's using the MK vs. DC engine, which isn't a good thing.   Not so much because it played terrible, but more because it looked terrible.  Well there's always MK10 with it's movie tie in to give us Reptile's Authentic head eating minigame.
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Edited By Rhaknar
@RipTheVeins said:
" That's totally Kira chained up in the arena stage:  

No Caption Provided
Awesome. I hope they give some of the other... less memorable characters from the last generation of games a similar treatment.  "

lol, great find, that IS Kira. Wonder if this new game will have many (any?) new characters. It's only called Mortal Kombat afterall
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ArcBorealis

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Edited By ArcBorealis

MK is coming back, baby!

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brazzle

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Edited By brazzle

Thats kind of a bummer, I was really intrigued by a reboot of the franchise based in some sort of realitsm.
 
That and there appearing to be an actual story, with Scorpio as a protagonist - that would have been perfect.

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Dante_the_Jedi

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Edited By Dante_the_Jedi

This shit just got real
I really want this game, good to see going back to 2d not that silly 3d like it has been.

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Edited By RipTheVeins
@Rhaknar: I highly doubt any new characters except for maybe some crazy non-playable boss characters, but I do expect a lot of great easter eggs to arise.  Here's to hoping for a Striker appearance.
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Edited By TwoOneFive

sounds awesome! 
 
 
cant wait. mk series is the only fighting series where whenever i see it being played i can pick it up and keep up. never got into street fighter. 

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Edited By brukaoru

I'm all for going back to 2D, not to say I don't love MK vs DC, but it will be nice to see the series return to it's roots. :)

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Edited By ObsideonDarman

I am so excited for this Game, old school Mortal Kombat FTW!

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Slab64

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Edited By Slab64

No one is more authentic than Johnny Cage

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Edited By Vrock

This is exhilarating! MK going back to basics with this awesome saw-his-balls-in-halfs brutality by Kung-Lao.

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Edited By Vorbis

They chose the right time to release this trailer, everyones still excited over the directors pitch. 
 
Me included, that trailer is exactly what I wanted from an MK reboot. Kung Lao's fatality says they aren't shying away from the AO rating this time.

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phrosnite

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Edited By phrosnite

DAMN! I love MK but there won't be a PC version... I'm so sad... Damn you pirates!

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Edited By Rabid619

All this awesome new MK info lately is awesome, especially after the franchise stayed pretty well disappeared for a while.
 
All aboard the MK hype train! *blasts horn*

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colinjw

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Edited By colinjw

Ah Finally. 

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@Synthballs said:
" I'm excited.  EDIT: Where is Quest?! "
the quest is only for videos bro, not articles
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Edited By skrutop

Well hello Mileena's rack.  Nice to see you out and about on this fine day!
 
Could be good.  The visual/sound effects of Sektor's teleport are amazingly well done.

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nginsmall

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Edited By nginsmall

YES!!!! Everything else out now or coming out in 2011 seems like nothing.

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Edited By zigx

Remove the dial-a-combos and color me excited! Really, that, the transition to 3D, and the weapon stances really took away from what made MK 1 and 2 so much fun.  
 
Makes me wonder though, with the technology nowadays, I wonder how it would look if they made it with digitized people again. 

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Gregomasta

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Edited By Gregomasta
@phrosnite: I agree....:(
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Edited By VWGTI

Fantastic news! 
 
Mortal Kombat going back to its 2D roots is very exciting. I'm really looking forward to this game.

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Edited By freakin

pleasenorunbutton

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deactivated-5c7ea8553cb72

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2D? FUCK YES!

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chronicsmoke

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Edited By chronicsmoke

MK IS BACK BABY!!!!

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Crono

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Edited By Crono

I really want this to be as good as it looks...

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freakin

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Edited By freakin

 Didn't Tao Feng have broken bones?  COULD THE BAND BE BACK TOGETHER!?

yeah... I don't really think the band is back together.

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Edited By stinky

prediction, 2 hours before you will be bored playing.

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elko84

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Edited By elko84

Bring on the MK!

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Edited By TwoOneFive

new graphics engine looks great so far, cant wait to see this on a big hdtv, hopefully 1080p 60fps 
  
 
looks like the MK we've been waiting for, cant wait.... 
 
(not saying the last few MKs werent great, i really liked mk vs dc)

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Cyberscar

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Edited By Cyberscar

Cant wait looking cool! A must by with me