author: Luc
Mortal Kombat X Hands On: Fighting Game of Next Generation
NetherRealm is back with tenth installment in brutal Mortal Kombat series. We checked the game on recent press event and it certainly shapes up to be worthy of next generation.
This article was written prior to the game's release.
This text was based on the PS4 version.
- the tenth full-fledged entry in the legendary series;
- every character has three different fighting styles;
- even more gore than in the previous games;
- a connection of all the players – everyone takes part in the Faction Wars;
- a bit smaller, but fully interactive stages;
- game based on a modified version of Unreal Engine 3.
A while ago no one really believed that the king of fighting games can make a comeback. The Mortal Kombat series has clearly hit a standstill, and the fact that competition was constantly releasing games onto the market made it even worse for Scorpion and his crew. However, the series’ reboot which NetherRealm brought to life in 2011 turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. The franchise has been refreshed with a few new ideas, but all of the things that the fans have come to know and love, were still there. It was then when the series’ second heyday has begun, which continues to this day – and it seems as if Mortal Kombat won’t be giving up the title belt anytime soon, with the promising Mortal Kombat X on its’ way. The anticipation for the title has been raised considerably by a recent preview for the press, on which the developers shared their vision for the game, and where we got a few hours to try it out. What are our impressions? The game is more gory than ever – literally and figuratively.
We are all warriors
The most vital element of Mortal Kombat X is the games online nature. Although, singleplayer is still there to be sure, but even when alone, we will still be taking part in a conflict of a global scale. The developers have underlined that over and over again, but only now did we get a chance to see how this concept works in practice. How does the ‘online nature’ work? Mostly through Faction Wars, a conflict between groups on a world-wide server. The factions themselves will amount to five and include: Lin Kuei, the White Lotus, the Brotherhood of Shadow, Special Forces and members of the Black Dragon. Each of them is deeply rooted in the game’s universe, and all fans of the series will easily know their origin and goals. In this case, it is not the back story and the personal motivations of the character which are crucial, but why the factions fight themselves. Every week, players will choose which faction they want to belong too, and then will gather points to be summed with the results of their fellow comrades. The factions with the most amount of points wins.
The war between the factions won’t be waged for prestige alone. Victory in the current week’s war will award the members of the victorious faction with special prizes, such as new combos. Additional bonuses are planned for those who contribute the most to their faction’s end result – in other words, for those with the best scores within their factions. What is more, we will be able to change our allegiance with the beginning of the new cycle. Keep in mind however, that switching sides will result in losing our spot in the ranking and all of the awards we have unlocked up to this point in the ranks of our faction.
Trapped in the towers
First things first though – how do we get the aforementioned points? One of the ways is to simply fight another players, yet this method doesn’t seem that much interesting. The second method, which we had a chance to try out at the presentation, is based around the so-called Living Tower. Generally speaking, it’s a concept quite similar to the Challenge Tower in the previous installment, however in Mortal Kombat X it is much more elaborate and appealing. The towers amount to three – and the battles held not only require to defeat the opponent, but also to complete various tasks. The challenges are the same for all of the players, yet depending on the tower the activities change over time.
The first place, called simply ‘Quick Tower’, offers new missions every day and consists of five levels. While we will get points for our faction for defeating all of the opponents in the tower, we will get much more points for completing the simultaneous challenges. The latter aren’t too complex – usually requiring us to do a certain combo consisting of eight hits or landing three successful special attacks during a fight – that isn’t however as easy as it sounds. It gets even harder in the Daily Tower comprising of 10 levels, where missions are updated every 24 hours. The last one, a vast 15-level Premier Tower – offers the greatest challenges, which the creators will change on special occasions. Even the most seasoned players will have problems with this one, as along with the increasing difficulty, a chance of encountering various random modifiers complicating the fights increases.
