PND_Ketchup
"More deadly than the dawn"
Hey guys,
FINAL UPDATE:
So the guys over at The Kombat Tether have finished their Gamescom experience for the year, and with it has come a ridiculous amount of juicy information on the MK:X front.
It's much more preferable that you visit their website to read all the information, but I'll supply it here for those that can only check this thread.
Mortal Kombat: X Impressions and build summary: http://www.thekombattether.com/gamescom/mortal-kombat-x-impressions.html
Interview with Ed Boon, asking a ton of unasked questions from a competitive and in depth perspective: http://www.thekombattether.com/gamescom/ed-boon-interview.html
With that being said, here's a full write up of Tonies experience with Mortal Kombat X at Gamescom 2014. A world of thanks to him for gathering all this for the sake of everyone else.
Mortal Kombat X - Gamescom - Full write up:
* Please note that even though all the information we have provided here is accurate and correct from the Gamescom build, Mortal Kombat X is still in active development. Therefore certain elements and details could be subject to change as the game takes shape over at NetherRealm Studios. We shall update this page further if forgotten details spring to memory.
THE PRESENTATION:
Our many presentations began and ended in a similar fashion, Derek Kirtzic, Brian Goodman and Hans Lo all provided commentary to the video presentation at different times of day.
The demonstration begins with covering the basics, most of which was covered at E3, going over the character variations for Scorpion and Sub-Zero. They then introduced us to the many ways you can gain leverage using the environment. When it came to 'Finish Him', Scorpion was the victor and the team deliberately failed the input for his elusive Fatality. Engaging us by stating that the real gory fun is yet to come.
After this they introduced Raiden and Kano for the first gameplay footage outside of their respective trailers, showcasing both of their multiple variations and the recently revealed Jungle stage. We then got to see Kano's fatality in full. it was mind-blowing!
They then rolled out a special 'Finish Him' Fatality montage trailer which compiled some of the goriest moments from the Fatalities we have all already seen. To end the presentation they revealed Scorpion's Fatality in its entirety so we could all witness the infamous finisher in full, glorious HD!
We were then directed to the various MKX stations across from the theatre seating with both Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions available for play. Below you will find new information we were able to discover in our playthroughs, discussions with the team. For even more information, clarifications and confirmations, check out our interview with the legendary Ed Boon right here!
Mortal Kombat X is absolutely fantastic, NetherRealm seem to have honed their craft with this instalment and there is nothing that greatly concerns us. The only concern we have is balancing. With three variations for each character and a roster that will match or exceed MK9, the team certainly have their work cut out for them, but we are incredibly confident that the finished product will be the defining game in the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Below are some details and information on characters, moves and other miscellaneous tidbits we managed to compile during our time with the game.
SCORPION:
- Universal Moves across all variations: Spear, Teleport and Leg Takedown.
- According to NetherRealm Studios, Scorpion is overall the most damaging character in the Gamescom build. They clarified that this is likely to change with further development, balance tweaks and retail patch updates.
SUB-ZERO:
- Universal Moves across all variations: Ice Ball and Slide.
- The special move 'Frozen Aura' in his Unbreakable variation allows Sub-Zero to absorb one or two hits without stun, etc. Enhanced version increases the amount of hits he can endure before it wears off. Visually the move encases him entirely in a thin layer of jagged ice.
- Victory Pose: He constructs an ornate Kori Blade with his hands which he then forcibly sheathes into the ground. Camera pans in close to his face and he clasps his fist into an open palm.
RAIDEN:
- Updated X-Ray: Raiden begins with the same electrifying move in his previous X-Ray then uppercuts his opponent into the air. As they travel through thundering clouds, Raiden flies up and jams his hands into their chest allowing you to see their skeletal structure become overwhelmed with electricity. He then punches the opponent back to ground level and as they bounce up from impact, he zooms back down and catches them with a rising knee, snapping their spine in half.
- In his 'Thunder God' variation, Raiden can charge the electricity effects In many of his basic combos which will amplify the damage output slightly.
- Raiden has a unique blocking animation. Whilst blocking he teases a column of concentrated electricity between his hands.
- Victory Pose: Raiden begins to discharge and conduct various electricity effects before standing stoic in a solemn close-up pose.
- If Raiden is defeated, his hat will fall from his head when 'Finish Him' appears. This may be to prevent any glitches/issues with Fatalities.
KANO:
- Full Fatality: Kano unsheathes one of his knives and swiftly cuts into the opponent abdomen which causes intestines to spill out onto the ground. As the character begins to drop to their knees, Kano grabs them from behind and hoists them up in front of him as he proceeds to burn through their skull with his eye laser, leaving a huge, smouldering hole through their head.
- Universal moves across all three of his variations are: Kano Ball, Up Ball, Air Ball and Knife Throw.
- Kano Ball (horizontal) and Air Ball (downward diagonal) are performed with Back Forward A / X.
- Up Ball is performed with same command input as MK9.
- In his 'Cutthroat' variation, you can input a command where he will pound his heart implant which will increase his overall damage output for a limited time.
- in his mid-round victory pose, Kano will pummel his head with his fists multiple times whilst sniggering.
- The enhanced choke special (Commando variation) has Kano choking the opponent for a longer duration before finishing by lifting them by the throat and stabbing them multiple times with his knife.
- Victory Pose: Kano utters "Nothing personal mate" then begins to play with his knife before stopping to perform a 'ear to ear' motion on his neck. He then begins to casually shave his beard with the blade.
CASSIE CAGE:
- X-Ray: Cassie begins by twirling her batons at long range at the opponent, upon connecting she then uses an incendiary device that explodes in the opponents face. She then cartwheels into the opponent and slides down into the spits to perform a crotch punch (modelled testicles/cameltoe for females) - after this she crushes the opponents skull at the temples with the butts of her akimbo pistols before firing off two bullets into their eye sockets, throwing them mid-full screen.
- Cassie has a command input taunt in one of her variations where she performs a salute.
- Her D1 is very similar to Mileena's in MK9 which is quite useless. Hopefully she will receive something more useful.
- If you play a Cassie Cage mirror-match, the Player 2 Cassie Cage will have a yellowish-green bodysuit centre colouring instead of her default.
- Cassie's Nut Kracker special move (Hollywood variation) has her drop to her knees before punching the opponent in the crotch with both fists in unison.
- Her tied-up bun hairstyle is her final hair. The cropped bob hairstyle was a previous design experiment.
- Cassie is still being polished and developed further so her posture, animations and character model are still being worked on.
- Her X-Ray hasn't been shown publicly yet due to the graphic depiction of ball busting.
KOTAL KAHN:
- There is no direct relation to Shao Kahn, 'Kahn' is confirmed to be a title bestowed upon the ruling emperors of Outworld.
- He was never planned to be included in any previous Mortal Kombat game despite Hector Sanchez stating on Twitter that he had waited nearly 20 years to see an 'Aztec God'.
- Kotal Kahn is confirmed to be from Outworld.
- Special Moves in his War God variation: Blood Offering, God Ray, Air Takedown, Saw Blade, Sword Toss, Overhead Sword Strike and Sword Sweep.
- You will see his rise and fall to power as the Emperor of Outworld throughout the story.
- Has some of the most damage-heavy chain combos.
- As you perform specific special moves and chain combos, the inscriptions on his body will begin to glow brighter.
- Victory Pose: Kotal pulls out his short blade, drops to his knees and slices open one of his palms whilst muttering an unknown phrase before slamming his palms together and closing his eyes.
D'VORAH:
- Has some form of relationship with Kotal Kahn.
- Is one of the game designers favourite characters on the roster. He took the liberty to show off with her, demonstrating some long and gnarly combos.
- Her pokes seem to have the longest range out of the right characters present in this build.
- D'Vorah has a lot of 50/50 mix-ups which allows for some crazy pressure and rushdowns.
- Her Venomous variations ovipositor attacks will do slight damage over time.
- Can do standing resets in Venomous if you time her acid spray special right and you get a 50/50 mix-up off that too.
FERRA/TORR:
- When fighting against Cassie Cage, Ferra will shout "Break her face!" in the mid-round victory pose to Torr.
- Victory Pose: Ferra leaps up onto Torr's shoulders whilst acting gleeful and cheering. She then stops to playfully pull and squeeze at Torr's head before resting her head on his.
MOVES-LIST DETAILS:
- Universal special moves for characters are listed in white text when pressing Start and variation specific special moves appear beneath them in gold text.
-Similar listing style to Injustice (if not more detailed); with move descriptions, enhanced/meter-burn inputs and explanations, etc.
- There are five finishing moves listed as '?????' in this build of the game. Our interview with Ed Boon has confirmed that it won't be that many in the final build.
- Frame Data for moves has the following information: Startup Frames, Active Frames, Recovery Frames, Block Advantage Frames, Hit Advantage Frames and Cancel Frames.
- Basic combo starters and strings again have unique names personalised to the character.
CHARACTER INTRO DIALOGUE:
Out of all the matches we managed to play we have only managed to grab a handful of intro dialogues. Some days the MKX stations were not outputting sound and the other days had them at a very low volume. It doesn't help that Gamescom is a very noisy environment, but we have done our best to extract what we could. Subtitles were unavailable in this build.
Kano Vs. Raiden:
- Kano: "Hmm, the big cheese"
- Raiden: "This day will not end well for you..."
- Kano: "*spits* Get your crystal ball fixed!"
Kano Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Kano: "Over here sweetheart."
- Cassie Cage: "Your grandmother wants her teeth back!"
- Kano: ***Inaudible***
Cassie Cage Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Cassie Cage 1: "Funny."
- Cassie Cage 2: "You know what's funny? Your face."
- Cassie Cage 1: "Dude, you've just insulted yourself..."
D'Vorah Vs. Kotal Kahn:
- D'Vorah: "Kotal..."
- Kotal Kahn: "With which face do you see me?"
- D'Vorah: "There is no power greater than ours!"
Scorpion Vs. Sub-Zero:
- Scorpion: ***Inaudible***
- Sub-Zero: "Prepare to rejoin your clan!"
- Scorpion: ***Inaudible***
Sub-Zero Vs. Raiden:
- Sub-Zero: ***Inaudible***
- Raiden: "I am their protector, not you!"
- Sub-Zero: ***Inaudible***
Ferra/Torr Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Ferra/Torr: "Such pretty eyes!"
- Cassie Cage: "Got a thing for eyes do ya?"
- Ferra/Torr: ***Inaudible*** "both get one." ***Inaudible***
MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS:
- The game is faster-paced than MK9 and marginally faster than Injustice: Gods Among Us.
- The Gamescom build was completed a week prior to the showing.
- Some specific character variations will have a command input taunt. Some may give additional super-meter among other benefits, etc.
- Forward and Backward Throws are still present.
- Throws can now be meter-burned. So you can into a 50/50 from a meter-burned grab.
- All models now have trackable damage. For example if Scorpion slashes his opponent at the chest with his sword, a gash will appear in sync with the slash. Hitting D'Vorah for example in the face with the tree branch in Snow Forest will leave a gaping wound in her cheek.
- Character models will have a wet sheen effect over them and drip slightly when knocked into or splash into the water on the Jungle stage.
- Mud and Dirt will cake and stick to character models when knocked or rolling on the Jungle stage ground.
- Snow will fall onto character models and dissolve during the fight in the Snow Forest.
- Characters develop beads of sweat and a sheen to their exposed skin during intense kombat.
- All Fatalities in this build were performed at mid-screen distance with Down Down X / Square.
- There are EX (enhanced) and meter-burn special moves.
- You can meter-burn some combos.
- Some characters will have unique blocking animations.
- Dash-cancelling is not present in this build and it is not likely it will be included.
- Forward Forward RT / R2 is the command input for running.
- You can begin a combo directly after running and use running to extend combos.
- Running can be cancelled at any time during the animation, even into a dash.
- The Stamina Meter dictates the duration of running.
- Forward and Backward dashing will deplete the Stamina Meter.
- Crossups seem to operate the same as they did in MK9, though this could be subject to change.
- All characters share universal moves such as the uppercut D2 and a sweep, but all have unique animations that reflect the characters personalised styles.
- Characters have unique air jump-in attacks.
- Can still perform a standing neutral jump attack which will allow for pop-ups.
- Environmental interactions can be meter-burned but are still fully blockable.
- X-Rays are currently set at 30-32% damage but if they end or lead into a combo, scaling will still govern the overall damage.
- The main menu consisted of 'Versus' and 'Ladder' only.
Ed Boon interview: From a competitive and in depth perspective for any die hard MK fan:
The Kombat Tether: How are you enjoying Gamescom so far, Ed?
Ed Boon: It's awesome, the reaction has been great, thanks for asking!
When did Mortal Kombat X first enter the development stage? Rumours claim that work began prior to the conception of Injustice.
Yes, we always start the next game before we are done with the previous ones, so we had started working on the graphic engine and getting everything over for next-gen quite a bit, long before Injustice so a lot of work went into it.
Can you confirm the actual purpose for the flip stance button? Many fans have questioned its necessity in MK9 and Injustice. Could we see it become replaced by something more substantial like a taunt button for example?
Yeah you know what, I don't think that has been decided yet. I think currently it's just there because we've had it before. Some people liked to change their stance to be in front but even within us there is debate to decide if we want to keep the button for that. It's an interesting question. *laughs*
Now that a running mechanic returns to Mortal Kombat, do you feel this will change the meta-game despite it being governed by the new stamina meter and with dash-cancelling a thing of the past?
Erm... No I think that because it is governed by it that's something we are going to do to cap it, but we do want to have as aggressive of a fighting mechanic because you're also going to be jumping off of these objects and getting really long jumps and so we really want the player to be able to do something. So it's not just you escaping and then all of a sudden there's this 'long time' and not so much action. Dash cancelling is gone yeah.
Will we see any classic or previous MK stages in the game? We can certainly name a few fan favourites.
Oh like The Pit and all that stuff? Erm, I think the vast majority of them are new. You know we're trying to just, philosophically, introduce as much new elements as we can. You know Mortal Kombat 9 was really a like a tribute to the first three games, bringing everything back, all the backgrounds; so many of them were things that you saw from before. We are taking the opposite approach now, we want to have as much newness as possible to the game.
In this Gamescom build there are five slots in the finishing moves list for each character, for example, two fatalities, a stage fatality and two yet to be announced alities, Is it likely this format will remain in the final game?
Probably not. *smiles*
TKT: There was some confusion at E3 in regards to multiple X-Rays per character. Was this a mistake on behalf of the interviewer or will characters in fact have more than one X-Ray move across their variations?
EB: I think that was a mistake. We don't currently plan to have multiple X-Rays per character.
Are you worried at all that given the new technology at your disposal that you're going too far with some of the fatalities and depictions of violence?
No. You know at this point we are so over-the-top, so outrageous. Oddly, most of the reaction we get is laughter, at some point it just becomes like a parody of itself.
Given the three character variations have slight changes to the characters appearance, does this spell the end for alternate and classic costumes or will additional costumes also feature the visual variation cues?
No it does not. As a matter of fact that's one of the things we were considering having each variation have it's own costume, which is a really great way to identify but exactly like you said, all of a sudden when we discussed alternate costumes, alternate skins; which people really like. We didn't want to have the alternate skins be forced to be one version, so our solution was to have an added accoutrement like Scorpion's skulls on his waist to let you pick alternate costumes and to also choose any variation you want.
With the likelihood of Stage Fatalities making a return, will every stage have one, or will only a select few stages harbour them?
If we did them, not every single stage will have them but there would be a good number of them.
Aside from the graphical fidelity, is there anything else that will be significantly different in the last generation versions of the game?
Ideally no. We are focusing mainly on the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 versions. The other versions will be outsourced so our job is to make as strong a game as we can and then the other versions is something that another studio is doing and is a separate effort. So we're just going to make the best game we can on next-gen.
Is there a possibility we will see a new version of the Challenge Tower and The Krypt in this installment?
It's possible, but like I said, we are wanting to add as much newness with Mortal Kombat X.
In regards to practice mode, will we see as many options, if not more than we encountered in Injustice? Replays, frame data, etc?
Absolutely. We always want to keep layering features to practice mode. People seem to really give us good responses to that.
Have you considered the idea of a dedicated tournament mode for the offline scene? Streamlined and optimised for tournament settings?
Yeah, it's interesting you said that as I went to the EVO tournament in Las Vegas and that was like one of the foremost things on my mind. You know there are things that are done in tournaments and to streamline things like button checks, etc. I'd love it if we could, I certainly can't promise anything like that but I would certainly love it if we can squeeze that in.
It became common knowledge that Brutalities were implemented but later cut from MK9 due to time constraints. Could we see these foundations built upon in a future instalment?
Mmhmm, it's definitely a possibility, yeah. *big grin*
Aside from this persistent online mode where everyone is involved, are King Of The Hill, Survivor and other online modes still probable?
Yes!
MK9 got a fair bit of criticism for the online net code causing disconnects and lag, etc. Seeing as MKX will have some form of a persistent online mode, has the netcode been overhauled and optimised for the game?
Absolutely. One of the problems we had with MK9 was the messaging that we delivered to the player. Sometimes the game would get disconnected or the opponent dropped out and then we just said 'session lost', the most generic thing. Now we are a lot more informative about the status of things and we are matching people up better with their connections.
TKT: With MK9, online players could quit matches with no repercussions. Are you working to penalize gamers who rage quit and disconnect similar to how other games are doing?
EB: We -always- want to do that. Some people have complained about that, but I think whatever we can do to discourage people from doing that should be done, you know?
Could we see a companion or standalone Mortal Kombat app to coincide with the release of the main game? The Injustice app was an incredible success.
*long pause* - We don't have anything to announce, but you're right; Injustice did very, very well and sometimes that's a good motivator for us to do that, but I have nothing to announce.
There was discussion of crossing the proposed Mortal Kombat movie with this game in terms of a character created specifically for the movie. Doers this still have the potential to be realised?
Well I guess that was never a discussion that 'we' had, it sounds like a cool idea but the timing of things is really tough because we always have to design our characters in advance and there's a long pipeline of things so it's hard to do with that with a movie script that's far behind us.
The roster has 24 slots on the select screen right now. MK9 had 32 playable characters, including Kratos and the DLC; will the MKX roster match or exceed this?
Yeah it will be comparable to MK9, you know it might be a little more, but will definitely be comparable to it.
The DLC for MK9 was capped at four kombatants. Given that this game will have many new characters; will you unlock the limit of DLC when it comes to classic characters? Perhaps 6 or more akin to your DLC plan with Injustice?
I mean yeah, we always want to take a more aggressive approach with just online and DLC so currently we would also like to offer more than just characters so we're gonna have some surprises coming up.
Could you name one character from Deadly Alliance, Deception or Armageddon that will definitely not make an appearance in MKX? You confirmed that Motaro and Hsu Hao will be absent and its common knowledge that you dislike Drahmin, although he has a cult following.
Uh huh, Drahmin! He's not gonna get into this game. *laughs*
As far as Mortal Kombat mythos has gone, there has only ever been two Sub-Zero’s that we know of, the original, Bi Han who later became Noob Saibot and Kuai Liang the current one who became a Cyborg. Is the Sub-Zero in MKX one of those two or has another taken up the mantle?
If I told you I'd be giving away some of the story and I really don't wanna do that right now, sorry. *smiles*
Is there a possibility we will see the Shimmering Woman from Jades ending in this game or perhaps in the future? Fans love her design and the new, unknown realm she inhabits.
Is there a possibility? I suppose, but is there a probability? Not a high probability.
Cassie Cage specifically seems to be still a work in progress in terms of her character model, notably her face, posture and some of her animations. Are these elements being polished further?
Yes, of course.
TKT: Are characters battling for the control of Outworld 'Game of Thrones’ style now that Kotal Kahn is the new emperor? Mileena is still alive at the end of MK9 and seems to be Shao Kahn's last surviving heir.
EB: Yes. As like I said before, the course of the game is over twenty-five years so people come in and out of power so it's a great shift of control.
So with having 'Kahn' in his name, is there a relation between Kotal Kahn and Shao Kahn or is ‘Kahn’ actually just a title befitting of emperors?
No. It's just a title.
Hector Sanchez tweeted about wanting to see this 'Aztec god' since 1993. Was the concept for Kotal Kahn created years ago but never realised? Was he ever planned for an earlier game?
No, he was just created for this game.
Guest characters are a valuable commodity nowadays with Freddy Krueger and Scorpion being the best-sellers for MK9 and Injustice respectively. Will both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 receive a guest or is it more likely only one console will get the exclusive?
We don't have a final decision but ideally it would be great if the most players can have them, like Freddy was available for both of them so that's our ideal thing for some guest characters, but the two consoles are different and opportunities come up for one or the other but unfortunately, right now there is nothing we can announce at this point. You understand. *smiles*
Given that this game begins shortly after the events of MK9 and spans about 25 years, without revealing too much, is it safe to say we could see events from MK4, Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon reimagined?
There might be similarities but we are certainly not going to just follow that story because when you think about it, this is kind of like an alternate reality and anybody who looked at MK9 will know we kinda retold the MK story but events had changed, people had died and so you're probably not just going to see MK4 through to MK8 played out you know.
Kano for example doesn’t look like he has aged very much over the span of 25 years. Will the ‘human’ characters age throughout the span of the game story and will certain variations or costumes reflect this?
Yes and yes. With Kano, if you look at some of the details like his hair and stuff like that you'll see that he has aged but you will certainly see younger versions and older versions of the characters and that was one of the things we wanted to do, to offer the younger and older versions of characters.
Many fans are concerned with your talk of character descendants. They fear that their favourite characters will be succeeded by essentially clones with similar move-sets, when they could just have the original character. Is this something the team is being sensitive with?
Right, yes. It never ceases to amaze me with the speculation that goes on. We love our fans and stuff like that and it's great that they're so into it but it just blows my mind when somebody hears 'Cassie Cage is in the game...' and then they assume that means 'well Sonya is not in the game!' and I don't know where they draw that conclusion and then they go 'Well if Sonya is not in the game that means Cassie is going to be a version of Sonya and she's gonna be skinned'. It's amazing but my advice would be don't speculate on that kind of stuff. *laughs*
TKT: Should we anticipate every character that died in the previous game to stay dead for MKX? Death has never been everlasting in Mortal Kombat.
EB: Yeah you just answered that perfectly. Death never has been everlasting in Mortal Kombat. *smiles*
In terms of the roster, we will see a healthy ratio of females against the male characters?
Yes we will have a good, decent amount of female fighters. That's always been popular in the games.
Will we ever get to see the One Being manifest itself or at least will we learn more about it? Many fans have been excited to see this ominous being since Deception.
Erm, probably not in this chapter.
Seeing as NetherRealm have now worked alongside DC Comics, will Mortal Kombat finally get the comic treatment it deserves?
I would love to see that but we have nothing to announce at the moment.
You recently tweeted that we should expect a new 'Ality' soon. Can we ask just how soon?
In the upcoming months. You know we always have a kind of long plan where we announce characters as you know. We're doing these character reveals and all that. So there's a whole kind of plan set out and that's going to be one of them in the future, so.
Finally, are there any secrets that you are aware of that have not been discovered in any previous Mortal Kombat games. Could we get a hint?
That's a tough one. Not that I can think of off the top of my head. There have been a lot of secrets in the games over the years.
TKT: Thanks so much for your time Ed, it's been a pleasure!
* We would like to thank Ed Boon for the interview and autographing our custom Mortal Kombat X posters. Extend our gratitude to Derek Kirtzic, Brian Goodman and Hans Lo for multiple presentations, hands-on sessions with Mortal Kombat X, autographing our custom Mortal Kombat X posters and for providing us with official Mortal Kombat X t-shirts. And a special thank you to Kehau Rodenhurst and Mark Ward of Warner Bros. PR for booking and organising our appointments and interview.
ORIGINAL POST BELOW
IMPORTANT - These are just cliff notes for now. They will be doing a full write up afterwards, but it'll be useful to update what's available in the current build as it's discovered, so stay tuned for that!
Our good friends over at The Kombat Tether have travelled to Gamescom from the UK just to cover as much as they can when it comes to Mortal Kombat X.
Here's what they have to report on the current build so far:
"Here are a handful of details we accumulated from today's play session of Mortal Kombat X. We are going to be as thorough as possible with more coverage over the next two days!
- Kano's Fatality: He slices the opponents abdomen open with his knife causing intestines and entrails to spill to the floor. He then gets behind the opponent and laser burns a gaping hole through the victims head with his eye implant.
- Kano refers to Raiden as 'the big cheese' in his intro and then tells him to get his 'crystal ball fixed'.
- Dash-Cancelling is a thing of the past. Runs can be cancelled mid-run however.
- Characters get a wet sheen over them in the Jungle stage when they are knocked into the water.
- Most environmental leveraging can be meter-burned.
- All characters have universal moves like an uppercut and sweep but in their own personalised style.
- It appears some characters have a unique blocking animation. Raiden utilises a column of electricity in his hands.
Plenty more koming! Stay tuned! #Gamescom"
This is after their first day. They plan on playing every day to find out more information, including an interview with Ed Boon this Friday.
You can find them on their official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheKombatTether?fref=nf
Will update when I can!
Updates:
Cassie's X-Ray - "She performs some swift acrobatics into a cartwheel and then uses an incendiary device, she then goes into the splits and performs a nasty ass ball punch (fully modelled and swinging) which causes them to explode. She then uses the butts of her twin akimbos to crush the opponents skull at the temples.
I missed the beginning of the X-Ray slightly hence 'swift acrobatics' but will make sure I watch it tomorrow with full focus to describe it exactly as is. "
Cybernetic Kano and D'Vorah: "It definitely felt zone heavy, a strong variation for him. I will say that D'Vorah impressed me the most out of everyone. She is also the favourite of one of the guys at NRS and he took the liberty to show off with her and she has some insane reach and combos. Definitely going to be high tier if you go by this early build. She is a beast!"
"All eight characters are available in the playable build. Kano is really awesome. His commando variation is my favourite. High and low counters, chokes, etc. His cannonballs feel weighty but powerful. Cybernetic is a lot of fun, very zone heavy. Eye lasers have sweep range unless enhanced."
Dash Cancelling: "You don't cancel the dash. It is the input command to run, the character hardly has any dash frames as it is instant. I was told point blank that there is no dash cancelling. Whether this changes later in development is anyone's guess, but right now, you cannot dash cancel. I tried it with blocking and it is not possible."
Footsies: "You can't really judge footsies at Gamescom when you're playing with people who are complete novices at a game that is not released yet. Raiden has an awesome anti-air special where he surrounds himself in a lightning blast which hits in the air only. Meter burn hits those on the ground too. Movement flows much better and dashes are rather quick. Overall has a faster pace than MK9 and I would say right now, marginally faster than Injustice. Though as the camera is close to the characters, it feels much more intense."
MORE UPDATES:
Cassie's X-Ray in full: "Starts with twirling her batons at the opponent then breaks into a cartwheel before she flicks an incendiary device into their face then down into the splits performing a nut punch (fully modelled testicles and the women have a cameltoe) which explodes the testicles. She then crushes the victims skull at the temples with her akimbo gun butts then flips them around to fire two bullets into their eyes sending them flying mid-full screen."
Increased Frame Data Info: "Increased frame data info: Start up, active, recover, block advantage, hit advantage, cancel."
Mirror Match exclusive dialogue:
"Cassie1: Ha, Funny.
Cassie2: You know what's funny? Your face.
Cassie1: You just insulted yourself.
Cassie mirror P2 Yellowy green bodysuit."
Universal Kano Moveset: "Kano universal specials across his variations: Air Ball Kano Ball Up Ball Blade Throw"
Scorpion and D'vorah in the current build: "Scorpion at present is the most damaging character in this current build. D'Vorah a team favourite."
Detailed Character Models with X-Rays: "Non human characters will have unique internal musculature, Skeletons etc."
Character Taunts: "Some characters have taunt inputs. Cassie performs a salute. Specific to certain character variations."
Kotal Kahn in the current build: "Kotal Kahn has some of the most damaging Combo Strings across all present characters."
Huge thanks to the guys at The Kombat Tether so far. They may have an extended session tomorrow, so hopefully we'll get some more details!
FINAL UPDATE:
So the guys over at The Kombat Tether have finished their Gamescom experience for the year, and with it has come a ridiculous amount of juicy information on the MK:X front.
It's much more preferable that you visit their website to read all the information, but I'll supply it here for those that can only check this thread.
Mortal Kombat: X Impressions and build summary: http://www.thekombattether.com/gamescom/mortal-kombat-x-impressions.html
Interview with Ed Boon, asking a ton of unasked questions from a competitive and in depth perspective: http://www.thekombattether.com/gamescom/ed-boon-interview.html
With that being said, here's a full write up of Tonies experience with Mortal Kombat X at Gamescom 2014. A world of thanks to him for gathering all this for the sake of everyone else.
Mortal Kombat X - Gamescom - Full write up:
* Please note that even though all the information we have provided here is accurate and correct from the Gamescom build, Mortal Kombat X is still in active development. Therefore certain elements and details could be subject to change as the game takes shape over at NetherRealm Studios. We shall update this page further if forgotten details spring to memory.
THE PRESENTATION:
Our many presentations began and ended in a similar fashion, Derek Kirtzic, Brian Goodman and Hans Lo all provided commentary to the video presentation at different times of day.
The demonstration begins with covering the basics, most of which was covered at E3, going over the character variations for Scorpion and Sub-Zero. They then introduced us to the many ways you can gain leverage using the environment. When it came to 'Finish Him', Scorpion was the victor and the team deliberately failed the input for his elusive Fatality. Engaging us by stating that the real gory fun is yet to come.
After this they introduced Raiden and Kano for the first gameplay footage outside of their respective trailers, showcasing both of their multiple variations and the recently revealed Jungle stage. We then got to see Kano's fatality in full. it was mind-blowing!
They then rolled out a special 'Finish Him' Fatality montage trailer which compiled some of the goriest moments from the Fatalities we have all already seen. To end the presentation they revealed Scorpion's Fatality in its entirety so we could all witness the infamous finisher in full, glorious HD!
We were then directed to the various MKX stations across from the theatre seating with both Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions available for play. Below you will find new information we were able to discover in our playthroughs, discussions with the team. For even more information, clarifications and confirmations, check out our interview with the legendary Ed Boon right here!
Mortal Kombat X is absolutely fantastic, NetherRealm seem to have honed their craft with this instalment and there is nothing that greatly concerns us. The only concern we have is balancing. With three variations for each character and a roster that will match or exceed MK9, the team certainly have their work cut out for them, but we are incredibly confident that the finished product will be the defining game in the Mortal Kombat franchise.
Below are some details and information on characters, moves and other miscellaneous tidbits we managed to compile during our time with the game.
SCORPION:
- Universal Moves across all variations: Spear, Teleport and Leg Takedown.
- According to NetherRealm Studios, Scorpion is overall the most damaging character in the Gamescom build. They clarified that this is likely to change with further development, balance tweaks and retail patch updates.
SUB-ZERO:
- Universal Moves across all variations: Ice Ball and Slide.
- The special move 'Frozen Aura' in his Unbreakable variation allows Sub-Zero to absorb one or two hits without stun, etc. Enhanced version increases the amount of hits he can endure before it wears off. Visually the move encases him entirely in a thin layer of jagged ice.
- Victory Pose: He constructs an ornate Kori Blade with his hands which he then forcibly sheathes into the ground. Camera pans in close to his face and he clasps his fist into an open palm.
RAIDEN:
- Updated X-Ray: Raiden begins with the same electrifying move in his previous X-Ray then uppercuts his opponent into the air. As they travel through thundering clouds, Raiden flies up and jams his hands into their chest allowing you to see their skeletal structure become overwhelmed with electricity. He then punches the opponent back to ground level and as they bounce up from impact, he zooms back down and catches them with a rising knee, snapping their spine in half.
- In his 'Thunder God' variation, Raiden can charge the electricity effects In many of his basic combos which will amplify the damage output slightly.
- Raiden has a unique blocking animation. Whilst blocking he teases a column of concentrated electricity between his hands.
- Victory Pose: Raiden begins to discharge and conduct various electricity effects before standing stoic in a solemn close-up pose.
- If Raiden is defeated, his hat will fall from his head when 'Finish Him' appears. This may be to prevent any glitches/issues with Fatalities.
KANO:
- Full Fatality: Kano unsheathes one of his knives and swiftly cuts into the opponent abdomen which causes intestines to spill out onto the ground. As the character begins to drop to their knees, Kano grabs them from behind and hoists them up in front of him as he proceeds to burn through their skull with his eye laser, leaving a huge, smouldering hole through their head.
- Universal moves across all three of his variations are: Kano Ball, Up Ball, Air Ball and Knife Throw.
- Kano Ball (horizontal) and Air Ball (downward diagonal) are performed with Back Forward A / X.
- Up Ball is performed with same command input as MK9.
- In his 'Cutthroat' variation, you can input a command where he will pound his heart implant which will increase his overall damage output for a limited time.
- in his mid-round victory pose, Kano will pummel his head with his fists multiple times whilst sniggering.
- The enhanced choke special (Commando variation) has Kano choking the opponent for a longer duration before finishing by lifting them by the throat and stabbing them multiple times with his knife.
- Victory Pose: Kano utters "Nothing personal mate" then begins to play with his knife before stopping to perform a 'ear to ear' motion on his neck. He then begins to casually shave his beard with the blade.
CASSIE CAGE:
- X-Ray: Cassie begins by twirling her batons at long range at the opponent, upon connecting she then uses an incendiary device that explodes in the opponents face. She then cartwheels into the opponent and slides down into the spits to perform a crotch punch (modelled testicles/cameltoe for females) - after this she crushes the opponents skull at the temples with the butts of her akimbo pistols before firing off two bullets into their eye sockets, throwing them mid-full screen.
- Cassie has a command input taunt in one of her variations where she performs a salute.
- Her D1 is very similar to Mileena's in MK9 which is quite useless. Hopefully she will receive something more useful.
- If you play a Cassie Cage mirror-match, the Player 2 Cassie Cage will have a yellowish-green bodysuit centre colouring instead of her default.
- Cassie's Nut Kracker special move (Hollywood variation) has her drop to her knees before punching the opponent in the crotch with both fists in unison.
- Her tied-up bun hairstyle is her final hair. The cropped bob hairstyle was a previous design experiment.
- Cassie is still being polished and developed further so her posture, animations and character model are still being worked on.
- Her X-Ray hasn't been shown publicly yet due to the graphic depiction of ball busting.
KOTAL KAHN:
- There is no direct relation to Shao Kahn, 'Kahn' is confirmed to be a title bestowed upon the ruling emperors of Outworld.
- He was never planned to be included in any previous Mortal Kombat game despite Hector Sanchez stating on Twitter that he had waited nearly 20 years to see an 'Aztec God'.
- Kotal Kahn is confirmed to be from Outworld.
- Special Moves in his War God variation: Blood Offering, God Ray, Air Takedown, Saw Blade, Sword Toss, Overhead Sword Strike and Sword Sweep.
- You will see his rise and fall to power as the Emperor of Outworld throughout the story.
- Has some of the most damage-heavy chain combos.
- As you perform specific special moves and chain combos, the inscriptions on his body will begin to glow brighter.
- Victory Pose: Kotal pulls out his short blade, drops to his knees and slices open one of his palms whilst muttering an unknown phrase before slamming his palms together and closing his eyes.
D'VORAH:
- Has some form of relationship with Kotal Kahn.
- Is one of the game designers favourite characters on the roster. He took the liberty to show off with her, demonstrating some long and gnarly combos.
- Her pokes seem to have the longest range out of the right characters present in this build.
- D'Vorah has a lot of 50/50 mix-ups which allows for some crazy pressure and rushdowns.
- Her Venomous variations ovipositor attacks will do slight damage over time.
- Can do standing resets in Venomous if you time her acid spray special right and you get a 50/50 mix-up off that too.
FERRA/TORR:
- When fighting against Cassie Cage, Ferra will shout "Break her face!" in the mid-round victory pose to Torr.
- Victory Pose: Ferra leaps up onto Torr's shoulders whilst acting gleeful and cheering. She then stops to playfully pull and squeeze at Torr's head before resting her head on his.
MOVES-LIST DETAILS:
- Universal special moves for characters are listed in white text when pressing Start and variation specific special moves appear beneath them in gold text.
-Similar listing style to Injustice (if not more detailed); with move descriptions, enhanced/meter-burn inputs and explanations, etc.
- There are five finishing moves listed as '?????' in this build of the game. Our interview with Ed Boon has confirmed that it won't be that many in the final build.
- Frame Data for moves has the following information: Startup Frames, Active Frames, Recovery Frames, Block Advantage Frames, Hit Advantage Frames and Cancel Frames.
- Basic combo starters and strings again have unique names personalised to the character.
CHARACTER INTRO DIALOGUE:
Out of all the matches we managed to play we have only managed to grab a handful of intro dialogues. Some days the MKX stations were not outputting sound and the other days had them at a very low volume. It doesn't help that Gamescom is a very noisy environment, but we have done our best to extract what we could. Subtitles were unavailable in this build.
Kano Vs. Raiden:
- Kano: "Hmm, the big cheese"
- Raiden: "This day will not end well for you..."
- Kano: "*spits* Get your crystal ball fixed!"
Kano Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Kano: "Over here sweetheart."
- Cassie Cage: "Your grandmother wants her teeth back!"
- Kano: ***Inaudible***
Cassie Cage Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Cassie Cage 1: "Funny."
- Cassie Cage 2: "You know what's funny? Your face."
- Cassie Cage 1: "Dude, you've just insulted yourself..."
D'Vorah Vs. Kotal Kahn:
- D'Vorah: "Kotal..."
- Kotal Kahn: "With which face do you see me?"
- D'Vorah: "There is no power greater than ours!"
Scorpion Vs. Sub-Zero:
- Scorpion: ***Inaudible***
- Sub-Zero: "Prepare to rejoin your clan!"
- Scorpion: ***Inaudible***
Sub-Zero Vs. Raiden:
- Sub-Zero: ***Inaudible***
- Raiden: "I am their protector, not you!"
- Sub-Zero: ***Inaudible***
Ferra/Torr Vs. Cassie Cage:
- Ferra/Torr: "Such pretty eyes!"
- Cassie Cage: "Got a thing for eyes do ya?"
- Ferra/Torr: ***Inaudible*** "both get one." ***Inaudible***
MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS:
- The game is faster-paced than MK9 and marginally faster than Injustice: Gods Among Us.
- The Gamescom build was completed a week prior to the showing.
- Some specific character variations will have a command input taunt. Some may give additional super-meter among other benefits, etc.
- Forward and Backward Throws are still present.
- Throws can now be meter-burned. So you can into a 50/50 from a meter-burned grab.
- All models now have trackable damage. For example if Scorpion slashes his opponent at the chest with his sword, a gash will appear in sync with the slash. Hitting D'Vorah for example in the face with the tree branch in Snow Forest will leave a gaping wound in her cheek.
- Character models will have a wet sheen effect over them and drip slightly when knocked into or splash into the water on the Jungle stage.
- Mud and Dirt will cake and stick to character models when knocked or rolling on the Jungle stage ground.
- Snow will fall onto character models and dissolve during the fight in the Snow Forest.
- Characters develop beads of sweat and a sheen to their exposed skin during intense kombat.
- All Fatalities in this build were performed at mid-screen distance with Down Down X / Square.
- There are EX (enhanced) and meter-burn special moves.
- You can meter-burn some combos.
- Some characters will have unique blocking animations.
- Dash-cancelling is not present in this build and it is not likely it will be included.
- Forward Forward RT / R2 is the command input for running.
- You can begin a combo directly after running and use running to extend combos.
- Running can be cancelled at any time during the animation, even into a dash.
- The Stamina Meter dictates the duration of running.
- Forward and Backward dashing will deplete the Stamina Meter.
- Crossups seem to operate the same as they did in MK9, though this could be subject to change.
- All characters share universal moves such as the uppercut D2 and a sweep, but all have unique animations that reflect the characters personalised styles.
- Characters have unique air jump-in attacks.
- Can still perform a standing neutral jump attack which will allow for pop-ups.
- Environmental interactions can be meter-burned but are still fully blockable.
- X-Rays are currently set at 30-32% damage but if they end or lead into a combo, scaling will still govern the overall damage.
- The main menu consisted of 'Versus' and 'Ladder' only.
Ed Boon interview: From a competitive and in depth perspective for any die hard MK fan:
The Kombat Tether: How are you enjoying Gamescom so far, Ed?
Ed Boon: It's awesome, the reaction has been great, thanks for asking!
When did Mortal Kombat X first enter the development stage? Rumours claim that work began prior to the conception of Injustice.
Yes, we always start the next game before we are done with the previous ones, so we had started working on the graphic engine and getting everything over for next-gen quite a bit, long before Injustice so a lot of work went into it.
Can you confirm the actual purpose for the flip stance button? Many fans have questioned its necessity in MK9 and Injustice. Could we see it become replaced by something more substantial like a taunt button for example?
Yeah you know what, I don't think that has been decided yet. I think currently it's just there because we've had it before. Some people liked to change their stance to be in front but even within us there is debate to decide if we want to keep the button for that. It's an interesting question. *laughs*
Now that a running mechanic returns to Mortal Kombat, do you feel this will change the meta-game despite it being governed by the new stamina meter and with dash-cancelling a thing of the past?
Erm... No I think that because it is governed by it that's something we are going to do to cap it, but we do want to have as aggressive of a fighting mechanic because you're also going to be jumping off of these objects and getting really long jumps and so we really want the player to be able to do something. So it's not just you escaping and then all of a sudden there's this 'long time' and not so much action. Dash cancelling is gone yeah.
Will we see any classic or previous MK stages in the game? We can certainly name a few fan favourites.
Oh like The Pit and all that stuff? Erm, I think the vast majority of them are new. You know we're trying to just, philosophically, introduce as much new elements as we can. You know Mortal Kombat 9 was really a like a tribute to the first three games, bringing everything back, all the backgrounds; so many of them were things that you saw from before. We are taking the opposite approach now, we want to have as much newness as possible to the game.
In this Gamescom build there are five slots in the finishing moves list for each character, for example, two fatalities, a stage fatality and two yet to be announced alities, Is it likely this format will remain in the final game?
Probably not. *smiles*
TKT: There was some confusion at E3 in regards to multiple X-Rays per character. Was this a mistake on behalf of the interviewer or will characters in fact have more than one X-Ray move across their variations?
EB: I think that was a mistake. We don't currently plan to have multiple X-Rays per character.
Are you worried at all that given the new technology at your disposal that you're going too far with some of the fatalities and depictions of violence?
No. You know at this point we are so over-the-top, so outrageous. Oddly, most of the reaction we get is laughter, at some point it just becomes like a parody of itself.
Given the three character variations have slight changes to the characters appearance, does this spell the end for alternate and classic costumes or will additional costumes also feature the visual variation cues?
No it does not. As a matter of fact that's one of the things we were considering having each variation have it's own costume, which is a really great way to identify but exactly like you said, all of a sudden when we discussed alternate costumes, alternate skins; which people really like. We didn't want to have the alternate skins be forced to be one version, so our solution was to have an added accoutrement like Scorpion's skulls on his waist to let you pick alternate costumes and to also choose any variation you want.
With the likelihood of Stage Fatalities making a return, will every stage have one, or will only a select few stages harbour them?
If we did them, not every single stage will have them but there would be a good number of them.
Aside from the graphical fidelity, is there anything else that will be significantly different in the last generation versions of the game?
Ideally no. We are focusing mainly on the Xbox One and the Playstation 4 versions. The other versions will be outsourced so our job is to make as strong a game as we can and then the other versions is something that another studio is doing and is a separate effort. So we're just going to make the best game we can on next-gen.
Is there a possibility we will see a new version of the Challenge Tower and The Krypt in this installment?
It's possible, but like I said, we are wanting to add as much newness with Mortal Kombat X.
In regards to practice mode, will we see as many options, if not more than we encountered in Injustice? Replays, frame data, etc?
Absolutely. We always want to keep layering features to practice mode. People seem to really give us good responses to that.
Have you considered the idea of a dedicated tournament mode for the offline scene? Streamlined and optimised for tournament settings?
Yeah, it's interesting you said that as I went to the EVO tournament in Las Vegas and that was like one of the foremost things on my mind. You know there are things that are done in tournaments and to streamline things like button checks, etc. I'd love it if we could, I certainly can't promise anything like that but I would certainly love it if we can squeeze that in.
It became common knowledge that Brutalities were implemented but later cut from MK9 due to time constraints. Could we see these foundations built upon in a future instalment?
Mmhmm, it's definitely a possibility, yeah. *big grin*
Aside from this persistent online mode where everyone is involved, are King Of The Hill, Survivor and other online modes still probable?
Yes!
MK9 got a fair bit of criticism for the online net code causing disconnects and lag, etc. Seeing as MKX will have some form of a persistent online mode, has the netcode been overhauled and optimised for the game?
Absolutely. One of the problems we had with MK9 was the messaging that we delivered to the player. Sometimes the game would get disconnected or the opponent dropped out and then we just said 'session lost', the most generic thing. Now we are a lot more informative about the status of things and we are matching people up better with their connections.
TKT: With MK9, online players could quit matches with no repercussions. Are you working to penalize gamers who rage quit and disconnect similar to how other games are doing?
EB: We -always- want to do that. Some people have complained about that, but I think whatever we can do to discourage people from doing that should be done, you know?
Could we see a companion or standalone Mortal Kombat app to coincide with the release of the main game? The Injustice app was an incredible success.
*long pause* - We don't have anything to announce, but you're right; Injustice did very, very well and sometimes that's a good motivator for us to do that, but I have nothing to announce.
There was discussion of crossing the proposed Mortal Kombat movie with this game in terms of a character created specifically for the movie. Doers this still have the potential to be realised?
Well I guess that was never a discussion that 'we' had, it sounds like a cool idea but the timing of things is really tough because we always have to design our characters in advance and there's a long pipeline of things so it's hard to do with that with a movie script that's far behind us.
The roster has 24 slots on the select screen right now. MK9 had 32 playable characters, including Kratos and the DLC; will the MKX roster match or exceed this?
Yeah it will be comparable to MK9, you know it might be a little more, but will definitely be comparable to it.
The DLC for MK9 was capped at four kombatants. Given that this game will have many new characters; will you unlock the limit of DLC when it comes to classic characters? Perhaps 6 or more akin to your DLC plan with Injustice?
I mean yeah, we always want to take a more aggressive approach with just online and DLC so currently we would also like to offer more than just characters so we're gonna have some surprises coming up.
Could you name one character from Deadly Alliance, Deception or Armageddon that will definitely not make an appearance in MKX? You confirmed that Motaro and Hsu Hao will be absent and its common knowledge that you dislike Drahmin, although he has a cult following.
Uh huh, Drahmin! He's not gonna get into this game. *laughs*
As far as Mortal Kombat mythos has gone, there has only ever been two Sub-Zero’s that we know of, the original, Bi Han who later became Noob Saibot and Kuai Liang the current one who became a Cyborg. Is the Sub-Zero in MKX one of those two or has another taken up the mantle?
If I told you I'd be giving away some of the story and I really don't wanna do that right now, sorry. *smiles*
Is there a possibility we will see the Shimmering Woman from Jades ending in this game or perhaps in the future? Fans love her design and the new, unknown realm she inhabits.
Is there a possibility? I suppose, but is there a probability? Not a high probability.
Cassie Cage specifically seems to be still a work in progress in terms of her character model, notably her face, posture and some of her animations. Are these elements being polished further?
Yes, of course.
TKT: Are characters battling for the control of Outworld 'Game of Thrones’ style now that Kotal Kahn is the new emperor? Mileena is still alive at the end of MK9 and seems to be Shao Kahn's last surviving heir.
EB: Yes. As like I said before, the course of the game is over twenty-five years so people come in and out of power so it's a great shift of control.
So with having 'Kahn' in his name, is there a relation between Kotal Kahn and Shao Kahn or is ‘Kahn’ actually just a title befitting of emperors?
No. It's just a title.
Hector Sanchez tweeted about wanting to see this 'Aztec god' since 1993. Was the concept for Kotal Kahn created years ago but never realised? Was he ever planned for an earlier game?
No, he was just created for this game.
Guest characters are a valuable commodity nowadays with Freddy Krueger and Scorpion being the best-sellers for MK9 and Injustice respectively. Will both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 receive a guest or is it more likely only one console will get the exclusive?
We don't have a final decision but ideally it would be great if the most players can have them, like Freddy was available for both of them so that's our ideal thing for some guest characters, but the two consoles are different and opportunities come up for one or the other but unfortunately, right now there is nothing we can announce at this point. You understand. *smiles*
Given that this game begins shortly after the events of MK9 and spans about 25 years, without revealing too much, is it safe to say we could see events from MK4, Deadly Alliance, Deception and Armageddon reimagined?
There might be similarities but we are certainly not going to just follow that story because when you think about it, this is kind of like an alternate reality and anybody who looked at MK9 will know we kinda retold the MK story but events had changed, people had died and so you're probably not just going to see MK4 through to MK8 played out you know.
Kano for example doesn’t look like he has aged very much over the span of 25 years. Will the ‘human’ characters age throughout the span of the game story and will certain variations or costumes reflect this?
Yes and yes. With Kano, if you look at some of the details like his hair and stuff like that you'll see that he has aged but you will certainly see younger versions and older versions of the characters and that was one of the things we wanted to do, to offer the younger and older versions of characters.
Many fans are concerned with your talk of character descendants. They fear that their favourite characters will be succeeded by essentially clones with similar move-sets, when they could just have the original character. Is this something the team is being sensitive with?
Right, yes. It never ceases to amaze me with the speculation that goes on. We love our fans and stuff like that and it's great that they're so into it but it just blows my mind when somebody hears 'Cassie Cage is in the game...' and then they assume that means 'well Sonya is not in the game!' and I don't know where they draw that conclusion and then they go 'Well if Sonya is not in the game that means Cassie is going to be a version of Sonya and she's gonna be skinned'. It's amazing but my advice would be don't speculate on that kind of stuff. *laughs*
TKT: Should we anticipate every character that died in the previous game to stay dead for MKX? Death has never been everlasting in Mortal Kombat.
EB: Yeah you just answered that perfectly. Death never has been everlasting in Mortal Kombat. *smiles*
In terms of the roster, we will see a healthy ratio of females against the male characters?
Yes we will have a good, decent amount of female fighters. That's always been popular in the games.
Will we ever get to see the One Being manifest itself or at least will we learn more about it? Many fans have been excited to see this ominous being since Deception.
Erm, probably not in this chapter.
Seeing as NetherRealm have now worked alongside DC Comics, will Mortal Kombat finally get the comic treatment it deserves?
I would love to see that but we have nothing to announce at the moment.
You recently tweeted that we should expect a new 'Ality' soon. Can we ask just how soon?
In the upcoming months. You know we always have a kind of long plan where we announce characters as you know. We're doing these character reveals and all that. So there's a whole kind of plan set out and that's going to be one of them in the future, so.
Finally, are there any secrets that you are aware of that have not been discovered in any previous Mortal Kombat games. Could we get a hint?
That's a tough one. Not that I can think of off the top of my head. There have been a lot of secrets in the games over the years.
TKT: Thanks so much for your time Ed, it's been a pleasure!
* We would like to thank Ed Boon for the interview and autographing our custom Mortal Kombat X posters. Extend our gratitude to Derek Kirtzic, Brian Goodman and Hans Lo for multiple presentations, hands-on sessions with Mortal Kombat X, autographing our custom Mortal Kombat X posters and for providing us with official Mortal Kombat X t-shirts. And a special thank you to Kehau Rodenhurst and Mark Ward of Warner Bros. PR for booking and organising our appointments and interview.
ORIGINAL POST BELOW
IMPORTANT - These are just cliff notes for now. They will be doing a full write up afterwards, but it'll be useful to update what's available in the current build as it's discovered, so stay tuned for that!
Our good friends over at The Kombat Tether have travelled to Gamescom from the UK just to cover as much as they can when it comes to Mortal Kombat X.
Here's what they have to report on the current build so far:
"Here are a handful of details we accumulated from today's play session of Mortal Kombat X. We are going to be as thorough as possible with more coverage over the next two days!
- Kano's Fatality: He slices the opponents abdomen open with his knife causing intestines and entrails to spill to the floor. He then gets behind the opponent and laser burns a gaping hole through the victims head with his eye implant.
- Kano refers to Raiden as 'the big cheese' in his intro and then tells him to get his 'crystal ball fixed'.
- Dash-Cancelling is a thing of the past. Runs can be cancelled mid-run however.
- Characters get a wet sheen over them in the Jungle stage when they are knocked into the water.
- Most environmental leveraging can be meter-burned.
- All characters have universal moves like an uppercut and sweep but in their own personalised style.
- It appears some characters have a unique blocking animation. Raiden utilises a column of electricity in his hands.
Plenty more koming! Stay tuned! #Gamescom"
This is after their first day. They plan on playing every day to find out more information, including an interview with Ed Boon this Friday.
You can find them on their official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheKombatTether?fref=nf
Will update when I can!
Updates:
Cassie's X-Ray - "She performs some swift acrobatics into a cartwheel and then uses an incendiary device, she then goes into the splits and performs a nasty ass ball punch (fully modelled and swinging) which causes them to explode. She then uses the butts of her twin akimbos to crush the opponents skull at the temples.
I missed the beginning of the X-Ray slightly hence 'swift acrobatics' but will make sure I watch it tomorrow with full focus to describe it exactly as is. "
Cybernetic Kano and D'Vorah: "It definitely felt zone heavy, a strong variation for him. I will say that D'Vorah impressed me the most out of everyone. She is also the favourite of one of the guys at NRS and he took the liberty to show off with her and she has some insane reach and combos. Definitely going to be high tier if you go by this early build. She is a beast!"
"All eight characters are available in the playable build. Kano is really awesome. His commando variation is my favourite. High and low counters, chokes, etc. His cannonballs feel weighty but powerful. Cybernetic is a lot of fun, very zone heavy. Eye lasers have sweep range unless enhanced."
Dash Cancelling: "You don't cancel the dash. It is the input command to run, the character hardly has any dash frames as it is instant. I was told point blank that there is no dash cancelling. Whether this changes later in development is anyone's guess, but right now, you cannot dash cancel. I tried it with blocking and it is not possible."
Footsies: "You can't really judge footsies at Gamescom when you're playing with people who are complete novices at a game that is not released yet. Raiden has an awesome anti-air special where he surrounds himself in a lightning blast which hits in the air only. Meter burn hits those on the ground too. Movement flows much better and dashes are rather quick. Overall has a faster pace than MK9 and I would say right now, marginally faster than Injustice. Though as the camera is close to the characters, it feels much more intense."
MORE UPDATES:
Cassie's X-Ray in full: "Starts with twirling her batons at the opponent then breaks into a cartwheel before she flicks an incendiary device into their face then down into the splits performing a nut punch (fully modelled testicles and the women have a cameltoe) which explodes the testicles. She then crushes the victims skull at the temples with her akimbo gun butts then flips them around to fire two bullets into their eyes sending them flying mid-full screen."
Increased Frame Data Info: "Increased frame data info: Start up, active, recover, block advantage, hit advantage, cancel."
Mirror Match exclusive dialogue:
"Cassie1: Ha, Funny.
Cassie2: You know what's funny? Your face.
Cassie1: You just insulted yourself.
Cassie mirror P2 Yellowy green bodysuit."
Universal Kano Moveset: "Kano universal specials across his variations: Air Ball Kano Ball Up Ball Blade Throw"
Scorpion and D'vorah in the current build: "Scorpion at present is the most damaging character in this current build. D'Vorah a team favourite."
Detailed Character Models with X-Rays: "Non human characters will have unique internal musculature, Skeletons etc."
Character Taunts: "Some characters have taunt inputs. Cassie performs a salute. Specific to certain character variations."
Kotal Kahn in the current build: "Kotal Kahn has some of the most damaging Combo Strings across all present characters."
Huge thanks to the guys at The Kombat Tether so far. They may have an extended session tomorrow, so hopefully we'll get some more details!
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