Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) Gameplay Reveal (Story, Characters, Arenas, Screenshots)

[Gambid]

It is Summer Game Fest everyone and just as it was announced Netherrealm Studios released the very first Mortal Kombat 1 (2023) gameplay trailer. And there is so much to talk about, but before we begin, have a look at the trailer itself:

During the reveal, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon was on stage and shared a lot more details, while additional gameplay footage was running in the background, so we advise you to go and check everything here (the Mortal Kombat part is in the first part of the stream):

So, now that you have seen how gorgeous the game looks like, lets talk about all the new information:

Newly announced characters
- Kenshi

Newly announced Kameo characters
- Sonya (MK1, MK3)
- Jax (MKII)
- Kano (MK1)
- Sub-Zero
- Kung Lao (MKII)
- Stryker (MK3)
- Goro
- Scorpion

Kameo Fighters Information
- There is a meter for the Kameo fighters
- The can perform finishing moves
- A lot of them are nods to previous games

Story elements
- Scorpion and Sub-Zero are brothers

Arenas
We saw a lot of arenas, unfortunately a lot of them are currently without names, with one exception:
- Fengjian Teahouse (Day/Night)

Hi-Res Screenshots

We have some extremely hi-res screenshots for you, featuring Kenshi, Kitana, Liu Kang, Kano and Jax. Click here to visit our Mortal Kombat 1 Screenshots page and see them all:

More Screen Captures
And now lets have a look at more exciting screen captures:

Did we miss something important? Tell us in the comments and we will update this article.

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[Roy Arkon]

The trailer was insane, the gameplay was amazing, and the character models and stages are incredible. I didn't expect out of all of the classic mechanics for the Air Kombat from MK Armageddon to come back, as well as seeing Jax in his MK2 skin with no metal arms, as well as Sonya and Kano as Kameos alongside Jax.

This trailer was just phenomenal, I can't wait for MK1.

[Ermac-Zero]

Awesome new information! Good to see Klassic Fighters from the past MK games!

Anyway, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are BROTHERS?! but what about Noob Saibot aka the elder Sub-Zero?

[Roy Arkon]

We don't know if this Sub-Zero is either Bi-Han or Kuai Liang, it could be either one of the them. And maybe all 3 of them (Hanzo, Bi-Hand and Kuai Liang) are brothers. And that's not the first time that Noob Saibot and Sub-Zero were not brothers, just look at the MK Conquest TV show (which is a prequel to the 1995 MK movie), both of them are in the show, but they are not brothers like in the games' canon. Also, Scorpion in that canon isn't even Hanzo Hasashi, but someone else named Takeda (and no, not MKX Takeda).

[Gambid]

I am also not sure whether I like the idea myself. It all depends on what exactly the story is and so far we know very little. What I also did not expect was for them to release so much information, this was basically insane. Makes me wonder how much more they want to tell us between now and the release of the game.

[Gambid]

Just added some hi-res screenshots and also created the MK1 screenshots page.

[Roy Arkon]

Yes we are not used to it, but that's only because that's not what usually happens. Like I said, the canon of the games wasn't always intact across the board, like with the first live action movies. And NRS/WB always deliver with their ideas, they have earned my trust a long time ago.

[Gambid]

I wouldn't mix game and movies canon at all nor put them in the same discussion as they have very different sources even if Midway consulted on the movies. The canon of the classic games is all over the place anyway with MK1's story having huge differences with what would come afterwards.

NRS has become significantly better at this, that is for sure. However about always delivering, they do of course. Is it always good, well, that is a different thing and everyone has their own preferences. For me personally:

- Killing everyone at the end of MK9 was pointless and with the exception of Liu Kang and Kitana never went enywhere. In fact it caused issues later on and forced NRS to figure out or to have to explain (where they did so) why there is alive version of the fighters when they are actually dead in during the events of the game.
- MKX's time jump was something I could live without to be honest. None of the new generation characters were original from a story perspective and to focus the whole game on them was kind of eh.... MKX's story mode started amazing, only to slow down brutally after the first chapter.

And that is just part of my opinion of the latest games. The 3D are is an even bigger catastrophy story-wise with Armageddon bringing back officially dead characters with zero explanation: Hsu Hao, Quan Chi, Shang Tsung just to name a few.

But at the end of the day, MK is still the best Fighting game franchise when it comes to story. However there has been some hit and miss with it as well.

[Roy Arkon]

Of course the games and other MK media are different, I'm just bringing it up to show that this thing isn't new. And like you said, MK1's story is all over the place anyway, that's the point of the story in this game, to restart everything with new perspectives and ideas without contradicting what happened before, because the timeline has been restarted.

As for NRS/WB stories, anyone can indeed prefer whatever they want, but there's a huge difference between subjective preference and objective quality. Just for the points that you brought up:

1) The killing of everyone in MK9 was explained very well, and there were no issues. In fact, if they did explain it, how come it can cause any issues? That's just doesn't make any sense. And yes some of the killed chars got more focus than others, but that's all just because overall popularity. And it wasn't just Liu Kang and Kitana. Did you forget the whole Jax trauma story? Or the newly formed partnership between Scorpion and Sub-Zero? Not one that they got a huge focus but they were all written exceptionally well.

2) MKX story mode was exceptionally well written from start to finish as well. And not only the new chars were awesome, but most of them were very original and creative: Takeda, Kotal Kahn, D'Vorah, Erron Black and Ferra/Torr. Also on a side note, Ed Boon wanted to make a next-generation MK game already after MKA. That was the original plan for the lore, and that's why MKA's story was the way it was, to give room for a whole bunch of new chars. But because Midway in general were in trouble, they had to go with MK Vs. DC instead, so the crossover of chars from both universes will help Midway. MKX is essentially an updated version of what MK Vs. DC was originally supposed to be.

3) The lore in the 3D era games was also super well-written, and we did get explanation for a lot of things. Shang Tsung returned in MKA as his soul was magically bound to Shao Kahn even beyond death. It's explained in his MKA Bio. And even for chars that there's no concrete explanation, it's still very easy to figure out what happened with them. Quan Chi for one, very possibly returned to life with the help of Shinnok. And then Hsu Hao returned with the help of magic users (either Shang Tsung, Quan Chi or Shinnok) as well. Not everything can be explained super easily on the spot, and some explanations need to be searched for very well, just like with the Sindel change in MK11, when after some search, I've managed to figure out that the dialogue between Shao Kahn and Quan Chi in MK9 (after Liu Kang beat him) explains that Sindel in this timeline is truly evil and not just brainwashed like the previous timeline.

There is a reason why MK's stories are the best in the genre and some of the best in all of gaming, because they are all very well thought-out and written. It's not a Shakespeare type of written, but it is still exceptionally well done.