The Mortal Kombat X Trailer Sure Looks Great, But Does It Tell Us Anything?
Aside from, "Get over here," that is.
If you didn’t already know, Mortal Kombat X got a trailer yesterday, and people seem pretty excited about it. I can understand why, seeing as the fight in the trailer is a lot of fun to watch, features fan-favorite characters, and is also incredibly pretty to look at, even when it’s gross. But does it say anything about the game?
Maybe. We learned that Mortal Kombat X will be a game that exists at some point in 2015, but what about how the game will play? Judging from the trailer, it’s another push into allowing competitors in fighting games to make use of their environments more naturally.
Normally, I’d hesitate to make that logical leap just from a CG trailer, as I grew up in an era where games were nothing like their CG trailers. But, last year’s Injustice: Gods Among Us, also from Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios, did a lot to make the environments come into play, so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was among their ideas to freshen up Mortal Kombat.
Competitive fighting game purists might not like it, but I’d say it’s a good bet. Other than that, the trailer doesn’t really give a lot of insight into gameplay aside from maybe some kind of beefed up counter attack system. Like a lot of modern game trailers, it goes for style over substance (Polygon has a more in-depth look at the trend). Don’t get me wrong; the trailer greatly succeeds in that style department and is probably very successful at getting people hyped up for the game. After all, it’s an early teaser, so lack of details isn’t necessarily an accident, especially this close to E3.
Still, I’m wary of trailers that show a lot of pretty footage and don’t make the distinction of whether or not it’s actual gameplay. And even then, there have been an increasing number of incidents lately where gamers have been disappointed with the final look of a game compared to what was shown in previews. Here are a few examples:
Most of these problems come from confusion over which version of the game in question is being shown, because PC versions tend to have better graphics. Still, that makes it hard to trust a new trailer’s looks until we know explicitly what version of the game we’re seeing and whether or not it’s gameplay footage.
Will Mortal Kombat X look as good as it does in that trailer? I sure hope so, and fighting games can generally go a little heavier on the graphics, because their environments are generally small, there are few characters on the screen simultaneously, and assets can be loaded individually and sparingly for each match. So, only time will tell on this one, and hopefully we’ll find out more at E3 next week.
(via Polygon, image Mortal Kombat Community via YouTube)
- Check out some awesome Scorpion cosplay
- Watch all of Mortal Kombat Legacy season 2
- Or read what the series’ director had to say
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