Mortal Kombat (2011 video game)

Mortal Kombat (2011 video game) is the working title for an upcoming new fighting game in the Mortal Kombat series, currently in development by the newly named NetherRealm Studios (formerly WB Games Chicago).

The game was first hinted at by developer Ed Boon on January 2009, shortly after the release of the previous game in the franchise, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.

On June 18 2009, Boon confirmed in his Twitter page that they were performing motion capture for the game. He also revealed that the game will not have superheroes in it this time around, thus ruling out a sequel to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and that they were again aiming for a "Mature" rating, contrarily to the "Teen" rating attained by the previous game.

Plot
In a most recent interview, more of the plot has been revealed. The story recounts the events of the first three games in an alternate timeline where Raiden receives a message from himself in the future where Armageddon has happened and Shao Kahn became the supreme leader of the worlds. Because of this plot, characters and scenarios present are the classics ones, bringing the old back to new and starting a new conflict.

Gameplay
The normal blows has changed a bit, instead of having a few punches and kicks divided between high and low, now there's a button for each member: arm and front leg and arm and leg back. This combines with most martial arts techniques and serves to let more fluid character animations, but does not change much the feel of the game for those who already have experience with 2D Mortal Kombats. You also can make many special moves and execute them without much effort.

The controls also refer a lot to Mortal Kombat 3, with the clash limited to a single plan, the fastest pace of struggle, many movements that throw the opponent into the air and several others that take advantage of aerial combat. The "race" button will not come back, but there will be a quick dash and paste to your opponent and inflict even more damage if you're quick in getting your combo. Also out is the infamous system "dial-a-Kombi", which was introduced in MK3 and was to use pre-defined sequences of buttons to execute "ready" combos. This brings a lot of freedom to play and with the speed of return, it is very easy to improvise a few effective beatings.

Another very welcome return is the "real" Fatalities. Mortal Kombat: Armageddon used the infamous Kreate-a-fatality and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe had used far less violent versions of the finishers. Now violence is back with great pride, this time the team began creating the game for fatalities, an element that was before the end of the development cycle. From this process emerged ideas how to combine fatalities, "before the Kung Lao had a fatality in which he cut a guy in half and another in which he beheaded a person, now he has one where he does both."- said Ed Boon in an interview with Giant Bomb.

One new feature that draw much attention and keeps very well the climate of brutality is the introduction of x-ray moves with them you can see the internal damage caused by the blows on the opponent. You must wait your special bar is full before you can use the x-ray moves your fighter and this is not necessary to use combo breakers or versions of the special powers that cause more damage, since both use their special abilities bar. Also there is visible damage done to the clothes of the fighters and their bodies: the skin is torn and bruised and bloody big parties are appearing fighters. Making the fights seem much more brutal.

Confirmed Characters
The game will feature 26 plus DLC characters and the following confirmed characters are:
 * Johnny Cage
 * Kung Lao
 * Mileena
 * Nightwolf
 * Raiden
 * Reptile
 * Scorpion
 * Sektor
 * Shang Tsung
 * Sub-Zero (confirmed to be the original Sub-Zero by Ig.com)

Cameo Appearances:
 * Kira and Li Mei are shown chained in Shao Kahn's Arena.
 * Raiden and Shao Kahn appear in the beginning of the trailer, but have not been shown in gameplay.
 * Daegon is shown fighting Kenshi at a random time and Reiko at a different time in the background of the Pit 2 stage.
 * Shang Tsung on his throne (Confirmed as playable character along with Raiden by Ig.com).

Confirmed Arenas

 * The Bridge
 * Dead Pool
 * Living Forest
 * Pit II
 * Rooftop
 * Throne Room
 * Kahn's Arena
 * The Temple

=Recent News=

Midway, along with the Mortal Kombat franchise, has now since become part of Warner Bros. Many former Midway employees are now employees of Warner Bros. It was confirmed on Ed Boon's Twitter that Chameleon and Hsu Hao will not be returning for Mortal Kombat 9 or any future games. There will be many other unpopular or "clone" characters not returning along with them. Sonya's most recent voice actress, Dana Lyn Baron confirmed that in September of 2009 she had once again lent her voice for the veteran Mortal Kombat character. Brenda Barrie, the actress who did the motion capture for Catwoman and Wonder Woman in MK vs DC Universe, is taking the role as Kitana for MK9, confirming her as a character. Sorin Brouwers, who did the motion capture of Green Lantern, Kano, and Scorpion in MK vs DC, is expecting to come back but it is unknown which character he will portray.

In June 10, 2010, the first official information, along with a trailer, was released. Amongst the new gameplay features was a Tag Team mode, shown in the trailer. At E3, Gamespot interviewed with Ed Boon. The gameplay is said to be a mixture of everything well-received concerning Mortal Kombat. The simplified gameplay engine with the addition of the Tag Team features will allow for a plethora of custom combos. Regarding the game's position within the canon, Boon confirmed that the game takes place shortly after Armageddon, the story involving a time-travel element that takes the characters back to events between Mortal Kombat II and 3 with added twists.

Release
Mortal Kombat 9 is expected to be released in March 2011.

Trivia

 * This is the first game in the franchise to include battle intros for the characters, something that has been a mainstay in many other fighting games.