The wait is finally over…the 3D era has arrived. And then some, so set off the fireworks!
NetherRealm Studios’ appearance at San Diego Comic-Con could not have been more hype, as they revealed and showed off gameplay for seven classic Mortal Kombat characters. Right out of the gate the panel went live with the “Umgadi” trailer, which is in the same vein as the Lin Kuei trailer with a blend of gameplay and story. The trailer starts off in what appears to be Edenia as we used to know it with Liu Kang explaining that the Umgadi are a select group of warrior priestesses trained to defend the Royal family. Kelly Hu is revealed to be voicing Li Mei this time around, and not D’Vorah or Ashrah as some expected.
Li Mei, Tanya, Baraka and Darrius (Khameleon?!)
Li Mei literally jumps out of a carriage and fights off the Royal army with Liu Kang. Subsequently she faces Tanya, who will not let her pass as Li Mei is no longer part of the Umgadi and held responsible for King Jerrod’s death (when was he ever alive you would think). Li Mei has been touched up on her Mortal Kombat X story appearance while Tanya received quite the makeover. We get a good look at the Royal palace of Queen Sindel as well as the luscious, beautiful and colorful gardens. Speaking of beauty, the Foo Lion (Chinese Guardian lions) and Coiling Dragon staff (Chinese weapon) among others as part of the ladies’ move sets looks amazing.
The second part of the trailer starts with Mileena turning Tarkatan leading into a Baraka reveal. They show him and his Outworld comrades in battle with the Royal army as they have become infected with the Tarkat disease and outcast. Not quite the Wastelands, but the Tarkatans have their own settlement again it seems and look proper scary, deformed and unique. Baraka shines once again with his look more true to his original Nosferatu Mortal Kombat II inspired face mask and the return of his metal blades, which actually have fire like spark effects and visual flares that light up the screen.
We then get a look at what is reminiscent of The Balcony from Mortal Kombat 3, as well as the Soul Chamber in Mortal Kombat 11 and Quan Chi’s Fortress in Mortal Kombat X with the library and artifacts lying around. The surprise of this trailer surely was seeing Darrius return as a Kameo though. He still has the too cool for school vibe going with his shades and pose. They really pulled him out of the depths of the 3D era as someone I don’t think anyone in the community saw coming. He seems to be the first to have a throw where your main fightable character is part of it. Looks very promising.
Quan Chi, Ermac & Takeda (Reiko & Motaro?!)
The second trailer surely came as quite the surprise as well, given we do not even know the full launch roster yet and NetherRealm Studios usually reveals DLC much closer to the release date. Aside from the three Mortal Kombat characters (Quan Chi, Ermac and Takeda Takahashi), Omni-Man, Homelander and Peacemaker made their entrance as they showed off the whole first season of DLC. Plus we have it on good authority (Twitterverse) that there was one more exclusive trailer shown only at the panel that included Reiko and Motaro in a cinematic cutscene.
What is not to love? Li Mei is back with a kick ass flawless Fatality that is literally mind blowing. Tanya making the roster, a welcome return and what surely had fans ecstatic after Boon first teased in May (before the initial reveal trailer) that some of the Mortal Kombat 4 base roster characters would make it into Mortal Kombat 1. With Boon you never know what to expect, as we technically had a few that were part of Mortal Kombat 4 revealed. Turns out Boon wasn’t messing with us, since Quan Chi will also make his return as playable and Reiko most likely, so the “some” is definitely accurate.
This cannot be said of the reveals as it was actually a lot. Some things we haven’t even seen, at least not in a way that we can say much about it, and some things you might have missed. For example, Goro’s face is fixed and he’s back to the glorious Shokan we all knew he still was deep down inside. And did you know Khameleon made an appearance in the Umgadi trailer as well? She is right behind Tanya for a few seconds when talking to Li Mei. Talk about obscure and pulling characters from the Netherrealm.
Baraka has been in most mainline games, but even he was unexpected. Motaro had been hinted at, Reiko was teased a bit by Boon, but Baraka was still far from certain. Still if you would’ve said that we would get ten new characters shown off, most confirmed to be part of the story and or (Kameo) roster, I would’ve said no way. Even with Boon’s statement that the 3D era underrepresentation would be addressed, teases and 3D glasses hint, this was still quite the surprise and the man finally came through on his word.
When NetherRealm Studios announced they were going to be part of San Diego Comic-Con, it was surely going to be good. Then we found out not only Yuri Lowenthal (Smoke) was going to attend, but also Kelly Hu for her own character yet to be announced. Then Boon followed it up by revealing we would get three trailers, and this definitely caused excitement and anxiety amongst the fans. They promised and surely delivered literal fireworks in what continues to be stylish and flashy kombat style and top-notch cinematic looking trailers.
How are you feeling about yesterday’s reveals? Are you feasting like Kano at Goro’s banquet or still not sure about joining because Rain and Tanya are at the table too and don’t trust it just yet? Let us know and make sure to join our incredible kommunity by joining our Discord server (partnered with the Netherkast) and following us on our social media accounts, which include Twitter, Instagram, Threads and YouTube.
