A reboot to the franchise, players who preordered Mortal Kombat 1 got the chance to finally play the long-awaited 12th entry in the series during the closed beta. Mortal Kombat 1 takes place after the events of Mortal Kombat 11 where Liu Kang obtains godhood and resets the timeline. Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode wasn’t available during the closed beta, but based on the trailers we’re in for a wild ride.
The Beta focused on getting players used to online play and the new mechanics through versus and online casual modes while stress-testing NetherRealm’s servers. The Street Fighter 6 beta was built as a tutorial, Mortal Kombat 1 on the other hand immediately throws players into the mix, offering no training mode or tutorial. The easiest way for new players to figure things out in the beta was through versus mode, which would put them against the computer and allow them to pause during matches to check the moves for the select character. Pushing players to try things in the heat of battle isn’t the best way to learn in most cases. At this time the only confirmed modes for the full game are story, online multiplayer with rollback netcode, and offline versus.
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Rollback netcode has become a prominent feature in online fighting games in recent years. Mortal Kombat X was the first NetherRealm game to have it, and it was added after launch. What Rollback does is immediately run the inputs locally as if you were playing offline while predicting what the opponent might do and adjusting accordingly. Rollback also helps with mitigating issues that might occur with lag spikes during online competitive play.
During online play, I didn’t have any dropped or unplayable games. However, it did feel like I was swimming at times. There was a noticeable change in frame rate but not to the point where the characters seem to be blinking in and out or just appearing in different places on the stage. And I could see that my inputs were being detected, but the overall pace of combat didn’t seem as kinetic as it did in offline play. There also isn’t a way to avoid Wi-Fi players, but that’s not to say that options won’t be available in the final product. Playing fighting games on Wi-Fi isn’t great due to inconsistent download and upload speeds. This inconsistency results in packet loss which is how you get lag. You couldn’t see the quality of a players connection until the match was about to start, allowing Wi-Fi players the ability to not be looked over when logging on for a match. With a game that input lag baked into its mechanics, struggling in matches with players that have questionable connections isn’t ideal.
NetherRealm understands that Mortal Kombat and Injustice fans are almost an entirely different sub-group within the fighting game community because their games have entirely different mechanics from other fighting games. Because of this, they’ve added a few quality-of-life options to help bridge the gap for players of more traditional 2D fighters. In the gameplay menu, you can adjust input lag and even add diagonal direction inputs. 90, 180, and 360-degree directional movements exist in just about every 2D fighter except Mortal Kombat.
Going from that to games that requires you to not only time precise separate D-pad inputs but also factor in an input lag is a huge ask. Requiring players to unlearn everything they know from other games isn’t realistic, so this was a nice addition to help bridge the gap for fans of different fighters. With this addition, NetherRealm has been paying attention to community needs and is aiming for growth. These adjustments won’t completely remove the lag, but it still helps a lot.
Both online and versus allowed players to use six main roster characters and four Kameo fighters. Kenshi, Liu Kang, Li Mei, Johnny Cage, Kitana, and Sub-Zero were the main roster characters available. Kameo fighters provide some new flair to Mortal Kombat gameplay. They are assist characters that can be used to set up devastating combos and help you get out of a tough spot. The Kameo Fighters available for the Mortal Kombat 1 closed beta are Jax, Sonya, Kano, and Frost. The final game will feature a total of thirteen Kameo fighters, with five more available in the first Kombat Pack.
During my time with Mortal Kombat 1 closed beta I primarily played with Sub Zero, Liu Kang, Kenshi, and Li Mei. Through trial and error, I found Frost and Kano to have the most utility among the Kameo characters available. Both Frost and Kano offered reliable ways to keep opponents away and easily set up combinations. Kano’s eye laser is great at creating distance, while his ball attack and knife toss can be used to create confusion and finish off combinations.
Frost is great for mid-range and close-quarter combinations while offering some good defense with Snow Flakes, floating orbs of ice that freeze on contact. It’s a creative way to make an opponent think before charging in or catching an overzealous one off-guard. While I did really want to use Jax, he’s only great if you can set up air combos on a consistent basis. At the same time, Sonya would either get blocked or dropped by an opponent due to her animations not being the quickest.
It wouldn’t be a Mortal Kombat game without brutally creative ways to finish off your opponents. Among the Fatalities I was able to pull off, my favorite has to be Liu Kang’s Double Dragon. Using his new godlike abilities, he summons two flaming dragons to restrain the victim and then delivers one final crushing blow. Every character’s Fatality wasn’t available in the game. One trailer revealed that Liu Kang will be able to finish off opponents by slowly shoving them through a black hole. And Kameo characters are also getting in on the fun and may indicate that some classic Fatalities will return. Kano is back with his Heart Ripper Fatality in all its 4K glory, while Sonya puts a new spin on her Fire Kiss by adding a giant pink heart.
The overall experience of the Mortal Kombat 1 closed beta was a positive one. Even with the changes in framerate during online play, the matches were still a lot of fun. Adding Kameo fighters created some much-needed combat variety to the series and may lead to some funny dialog moments. The MK franchise will continue adding characters from other properties to the game. Some notable characters to appear in past games include Spawn, T-800, Jason Vorhees. So far, we know Peacemaker, Homelander, and Omni-Man will be available for the first Kombat Pack in Mortal Kombat 1. It will be interesting to see how they weave these characters into the Mortal Kombat universe.
Mortal Kombat 1 launches on September 19th for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S
