It’s almost been a year since Mortal Kombat X launched and the first kombat pack has long since been completed. However, the second kombat pack is just around the corner, here to take advantage of the huge fighting game boom that kicks off in a bit over a month with Street Fighter V.
Netherrealm has released a trailer showcasing the styles of the four incoming characters. Let’s have a look.
For such a short video, there’s a lot to take in, so let’s see what we can glean from these characters’ short demos.
Leatherface
The crazed killer from the classic slasher flick The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface seems to play a lot like Jason’s slasher variation. From what was shown, he apparently relies on longer-ranged attacks and short combos into a hit grab special move. Unlike Jason before him, he seems to have a more agile and even slightly acrobatic air about him with his movements, and this stands to reason; after all, where Jason was a lumbering unstoppable monster, Leatherface is an amped up psychopath swinging a chainsaw around, so a higher-energy feel seems right.
Two variations were shown in the trailer: one focusing on the chainsaw and another on a sledgehammer with a short handle.
The chainsaw variation looks like it focuses on the weapon’s long range, where the hammer variation looks like it might have quicker strikes and likely additional combo strings as a result. Other than that, he looks like he may be like a second Jason: low-tier overall due to easy-to-read options, but fun to use if for nothing else than his iconic nature.
Triborg
The exact nature of Triborg is unknown, but he is an amalgamation of the classic Mortal Kombat Cyborgs: Sektor, Cyrax, and (cyber)Smoke.
Naturally, Triborg’s three variations are Sektor, Cyrax, and Smoke, and they all seem to play much like their Mortal Kombat (9) counterparts: Sektor is a zoner with his missles and teleport punches, Cyrax focuses on traps and extended juggles, and Smoke uses teleport shenanigans to confuse the opponent. There really isn’t all that much to say here, Sektor seems more in-depth with his combos compared to MK9, but in broad strokes he seems the same. Cyrax seems barely changed at all, and Smoke seems to have just gotten new applications for his teleports (though he did get the spear move from Mortal Kombat 3 back). At any rate, this is quite a clever way to get all three of these characters in the game at once.
Bo’ Rai Cho
MK’s drunken master is back with a vengeance, bringing with him a more traditional martial arts vibe. Two of his variations were shown in this trailer: one with a glowing canteen, and another whose visual identifier I can’t yet determine.
The canteen variation gives us a taste of the Bo’ Rai Cho we know and love (or hate, depending). This variation looks like it grants him the ability to projectile vomit and fart on the opponent’s face. Gross, but hey, this is Mortal Kombat, anything goes.
The other seems to be more combo oriented, focusing on the use of a small staff (or walking cane). This smacks of Kung Jin’s Bojutsu variation with its increased combo potential, but there isn’t enough data to make an accurate comparison.
Alien
The dream is real. The dream match of Alien Vs. Predator is finally possible in a fighting game.
Again, two variations were shown: a tarkatan alien and a queen alien.
The tarkatan variation seems to borrow from Baraka’s design, using the arm blades and bladed tail for long-range and multi-hitting attacks such as Baraka’s famous Chop-Chop Blades.
The queen variation allows an egg to be placed on the battlefield that will hatch into a facehugger. She also seems to be able to summon other xenomorphs as assists.
In all, the offerings are looking pretty promising, and it’s really nice to see Netherrealm extend support for one of their titles past the one year mark.
In addition to the new characters, those who purchase Kombat Pack 2 will receive the all-new Apocalypse skin Pack, the pre-existing Brazil and Kold War skin packs, the Kold War Scorpion skin, and Goro.
What do you think? Will these characters be viable? And will they allow MKX to stay in the spotlight among the other powerhouse fighting games through 2016?
