Warner Bros. revamping Mortal Kombat

By Tom Bramwell Published 10 June, 2010

2D fighter due in 2011. Trailer inside.

Warner Bros. has announced the development of a new Mortal Kombat game for release on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011.

Developed by NetherRealm Studios, led by series co-creator Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat follows Street Fighter IV's example and races back to its two-dimensional roots.

Apparently it's built on a new engine and in additional the usual one-on-one antics it promises new game modes.

One of these will allow for two-on-two tag-team battles, and there's also talk of something called the Co-op Arcade mode.

We're also promised "the deepest story mode of any fighting game" and, of course, gory fatalities, several of which are previewed in the announcement trailer below.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Gearskin #1 2 years ago

    YESYESYESYESYESYESYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Gearskin #2 2 years ago

    You'd know that from a brief trailer a whole year ahead of release. Before anyone has played it at E3.

  • Unofficial #3 2 years ago

    After watching the new Mortal Kombat movie pitch/trailier, I was hoping any future games might follow the same gritty style. Doesn't look like it though, based on this game trailier. Bit disappointing.

    Looks very similar to many of the other "recent" Mortal Kombat games.

  • Kami #4 2 years ago

    Bit disappointing but some good points. First - pits are back proper. Secondly - fatalities are back proper. Thirdly - 2D is probably the right way to go, that's where it's roots lie and going back to those roots should mean they can spend less time trying to be cocky and more time focusing on the game.

    It's just... that pitch trailer... I want that. Sorry, but I've tasted something far sweeter and I want more - Mortal Kombat will have to do so much more than this to get me excited - I mean, I BOUGHT Armageddon! I really did. There is so little mercy left in my heart for the games that it will take Sonya and Kitana naked washing each other in a bath of chocolate custard to get me excited.

    That's how much Armageddon hurt.

  • coolbritannia #5 2 years ago

    MK was always a poor relation to Street Fighter. Not interested.

  • Acrid #6 2 years ago

    Oh Hell Yes!

  • sonicyoda #7 2 years ago

    Again, nostalgia is clearly ruining my judgement, but I really want this. If they can still implement the multiple movesets from Deadly Alliance/Deception/Armageddon and not return to the same moveset for every character except special moves, this will probably be the most refined title in the series. Keep the awesome character creator as well! I loved how they knew players would want to make Street Fighter characters so they gave them the tile-sets they'd need. Very sneaky but very cool.

  • Shikasama #8 2 years ago

    Does the world really need another 2d beatem up?

    I suppose we will have to wait until after the new film (it better be made) before Mortal Kombat gets its 'Arkham Asylum'

  • geeza2020 #9 2 years ago

    hmmm, it looks exactly the same as every other MK game i have ever played. And i havent liked one of those since about 1994.

  • bad09 #10 2 years ago

    After seeing that nice re-imagining of MK in the movie clip the reality of a return to old is a bit of a downer TBH.

    Still on the positive note, it looks good and a real nod back to MK1-3 (the only really good MKs).

  • bad09 #11 2 years ago

    "Does the world really need another 2d beatem up? "

    The world doesn't have enough new 2D beat 'em ups these days. Actually we don't get enough fighters full stop!

  • Eurolamer #12 2 years ago

    7/10

  • unusualsin #13 2 years ago

    That looked awesome.

  • Sir_TimAlot #14 2 years ago

    YEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, FUCK YEAH!!!!!!

  • Shikasama #15 2 years ago

    bad09 - then I humbly stand corrected!

  • BBIAJ #16 2 years ago

    Looks like an HD remake of MK II.

    I wonder if they'll release it on Mortal Monday?

    Round 1. Ready? FIGHT!!!

  • bad09 #17 2 years ago

    "bad09 - then I humbly stand corrected!"

    Good, now don't let me hear such blasphemy again! :)

  • Raiko101 #18 2 years ago

    I enjoyed the first two games in the series, which says a lot considering i'm not a beat 'em up fan. This actually looks quite good.

  • Nuronv #19 2 years ago

    Doesn't look too bad , I think that is quite positive considering Mortal Kombat's track record :)

    You have my interested, now don't muck it up!

  • SpaceMonkey77 #20 2 years ago

    Now the moment this post mentioned Ed Boon, it was doomed. He might be the co creator, but he has no vision beyond his arm length. That's why this series has been on life support forever. And Never who? Who the hell are they in fighting game circles?

    All Warner needed to do with this series is hand it over to Arc System Works, for a 2DHD version, with fresh character designs etc (LEARN FROM TEKKEN HERE). And if not the likes of Arc for 2D version, what is also badly needed is a fresh art style, perhaps something akin to Borderlands cel shaded look, as the realism of CG just makes it look cheap ass and plain. Also, how about some location backgrounds on earth, with people. have you learned nothing from Street Fighter, KoF etc after all these years. Levels should entertain the eye, and possibly distract the players, with the awesomeness. The meh backgorunds of Outworld, might as well be card board cut outs, coloured with crayon.

    Sorry Warner, but I still can't get a woody for this series. Trying to make a beat em up game like this, without japanese help has always been a recipe for disaster. And you'd have thought that they'd have learned, after the 'meh' of DC vs MK. What a waste of money and time.

    Check this links to see how a good beat em up is done. (Someone get the below game onto Live/PSN, please.)
    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJ5kMAbk8o&feature=related
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJ5kMAbk...[/link]

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZWP3gbxkEE&feature=related
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZWP3gbxk...[/link]

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrWzrMjg9tc&feature=related
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrWzrMjg9...[/link]

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMd6Kh22w...

  • FinalBurn #21 2 years ago

    Arg, this is the right topic... :D

    Well, as I already wrote, I sincerely hoped in something a bit more daring, graphically speaking, about this reboot... At this stage it looks like MKvsDCU, only without the DC part.

    Which is kind of cool, hey, I liked that game... I don't know why, I just expected something different.

  • duckncover #22 2 years ago

    Damn, I was hoping they were going back to 2D pictures (I'm sure there is a technical term) when I read "2D fighter". That was what was unique about MK for me, the fact it had an element of reality to how the chars looked. Learn from what SF did with the style they had and try to find yours again. It wasn't just pits and fatalities.

  • JJrabbit #23 2 years ago

    The thing that ruined MK was going fully 3D. Now that the mechanics seem to be going back to 2D, I'm not going to dismiss it straight away. Wait and see how it turns out....

  • Sonic_D #24 2 years ago

    MK2 was a great beat em up, puts loads of time in to it. MK3 was enjoyable too, but I always preferred MK2 as the dial a combo stuff became irritating. All after were pretty poor, but I did enjoy the MK vs DC for the occasional game against mates.

  • BBIAJ #25 2 years ago

    @SpaceMonkey77:

    It doesn't take a genius to work out that the Never Realm is a large part of the MK Universe, so it sounds to me like this is a startup studio from the ashes of Midway.

  • LazyNinjaUk #26 2 years ago

    I'm excited already :D

    Being a proper MK nerd and being more than disappointed with MK vs. DC Universe, I had pretty much lost hope thinking the only MK titles we'd see in the future were more Teen rated DC crossovers. But if the series is following SFIV's example and taking the game back to its routes, then I'm more than pleased.

    What with all the recent movement on all things Mortal Kombat, I'd say now is a good time to be an MK fan. SWEEEEEEET!!
    Edited by LazyNinjaUk at 10/06/10 @ 18:20

  • Lukus #27 2 years ago

    They should make a proper 2D MK with really nice old school graphics and animation.

  • RobotRocker #28 2 years ago

    @SpaceMonkey77

    You hath missed the point of MK completely young grasshopper.

    MK is about crazy wizards,ninjas, kung fu treachery, inexplicable plot twists and lots and lots of blood and gore. Its a bad exploitation movie with a budget. Gameplay needs to be easy to get into, fun and not dependent on tons of systems and its what MK has excelled at. BlazBlue had so many meters and systems it was practically masturbating. Thats not MK

    Also FOTNS was fairly bad and broken (Kenshiro is YOU ARE ALREADY DEAD tier. Everyone else is ALREADY DEAD tier) and Arc are really slow in making everything with sprites. Plus, do we really want to deal with Mortal Kombat with new hat revisions every 6 months like with Guilty Gear/BlazBlue?

    Keep shining on Netherealm studios you crazy diamonds.

  • sega #29 2 years ago

    I'm so glad 2D gameplay is back! It's a genre in itself and, when the PS1 was first released, it seemed all 2D games suddenly had to become 3D, totally changing the gameplay in the process.

    The 2D plane for fighting games isn't a limitation - it's simply how they play and it's not the graphics we need as 2D but it needs to play as it should. I'm glad game companies are finally realising this now and are releasing games true to their gameplay roots but with the benefit of amazing modern day graphics.

    Why companies didn't realise this in the 90's and 2000's I'll never know - I'm glad the days of making it completely 3D for the sake of it are over - welcome back 2D gamplay!

  • Gearskin #30 2 years ago

    Soooo... the tag team system. Optional? I'm really looking forward to some hands on impressions from E3.

  • Razzajazz #31 2 years ago

    I'm so glad that there are some people here who agree that MK2 was the best one, I've been saying that for years and no-one agreed with me! This looks pretty fun, and I'm happy to see that Jonny Cage is in it, I always liked him, and am always sad that he seems to die so easily, even in the goddamn reboot!
    Edited by Razzajazz at 10/06/10 @ 20:36

  • the_mtfr #32 2 years ago

    MK 3 is my #1 game (MK 2 is somewhere up there too) so this gives me hope as I couldn't stomach any 3D MK game.

    BUT, MAKE A PC VERSION PLEASE! The insane fun of wrecking a keyboard??? Not'n wrong with that!

  • SpaceMonkey77 #33 2 years ago

    @Robotrocker

    I know very well what Mk is all about. I was there when the arcade games were hot, and when they first hit consoles, with much inflated controversy. I know its suppose to be this b-movie bs, and I'd also agree that MK2 was a high peak of the series. While thats all nice, what's clear is that MK is dead or nigh on invisible to many people.

    However, games need to evolve to survive and stay relevant. more so fighting games. The SF series was fading, only to be the joy of fighting tournaments and the small hardcore fighter crowd. With each SF, Capcom experimented adding something different. SFIV saved the series from obscurity.

    Fighting games need a degree of complexity. MK will differ to other games in this regard, but more change is needed to ever make this series the kind of success SFIV is. Notice how anyone can play SFIV, a very different path taken than the still awesome but harder SFIII.

    I'll keep smoking my cocaine of clarity, thanks. I bet that this game gets buried at retail, just lke the previous DC vs MK effort, even from rival same studio product like Batman AA2. In a similar way to Tomb Raider, MK is a product of its time, and needs major surgery to ever appeal enough in today 21st century market.

    But ofcourse, once again, Mr Boon, prove me wrong.

  • Kami #34 2 years ago

    I think the sad thing for me is I've seen so much better. Characters wise, I still regularly play Champions Online and some of the frankly amazing characters that people come up with shits over MKers from a great height. The visual style isn't any different - Street Fighter 4 and SSF4 was STYLISED - it remembered it was comic-book violence and embraced it wholeheartedly. Hell, I've probably made characters in CO that could crap over anything in Mortal Kombat stylistically.

    MK9 is going to be same-old MK on a 2D axis (which, I remind everyone, is how it's ALWAYS been - the illusion of 3D worked for so long but let's face it, we're older and wiser and much more picky!). The animations again seemed a little jerky and not very smooth - which is fine when you are SSF4 and fully embracing the comic stylings and using them to cover up the little gaps in the animation from time to time, but when you are MK going for a realistic look it just doesn't work. The fatality we saw was Kung Lao turning his hat into an axe and pulling his opponent through it groin-first. We've seen so many fucking variations of this fatality it's OLD HAT. Pun not intended but very welcome.

    But you know what narks me the most? What really pisses on my chips about this trailer? It's trying to do a Street Fighter, but Street Fighter had the good grace and dignity for many years to stay with arcade units where it refined, honed and toned every little aspect of its combat system. The bridge from Street Fighter Alpha 3 to Street Fighter 4 was a long, long, LONG bridge and it learned a shitload in that time, and staying very much out of the way - it left on a good note and came back on a great note.

    Mortal Kombat left us on a bad note last time. I mean, REALLY bad note. I'd say Armageddon was shit but I'm afraid that may be considered offensive to shit. It was a cock-up, it was a disaster, it was a failure on a scale I hadn't seen in years. It was a game that was broken, bugged, ripped off Mario Kart and managed to even desecrate a formula that simple into uncondensed horsecrap, it had no spark or identity, the pits were lame, they took away fatalities, the characters looked awful and like half of them were unfinished (I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR STRYKER! YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!) and that's before you get to the pointlessness of a character creation system for an online mode THAT DIDN'T FUCKING WORK!

    I am angry, because I think I see the cynicism now of what Boon and co. are trying to do here in the wake of Super Street Fighter 4. But after going away, thinking about it, even watching that reboot concept (That will become daily viewing for me for quite some time) has made me realise that Mortal Kombat died before Armageddon, and all that game did was put the corpse into a woodchipper. It is a franchise that needs tlc, it needs new blood and new life and new brains behind it to really push it to be what it could and SHOULD be. Armageddon should have drawn a line under the crapness of old, and a new MK should have started again with yes, some fan favourites but essentially started to build a new cast, with new direction and a new sense of purpose.

    Mortal Kombat died years ago, Armageddon was an afront to its memory. I'm not sure I can forgive Boon for that, and as such I ask myself... with him still there behind this, can anything actually change?

    I expect a trailer of Kitana and Sonya Blade writing around in a paddling pool of baby oil before I can even consider any forgiveness for the past transgressions of the Mortal Kombat series...

  • RobotRocker #35 2 years ago

    I bet that this game gets buried at retail, just lke the previous DC vs MK effort

    It did 2 million globally so it was a fairly decent success for the time. Also, have a look at some UMK3 tourney play. Its pretty damn good and exciting (It has the same issue of MvC2 where its brokenness actually makes it strangely competitive).

    I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR STRYKER! YOU HEAR ME? NEVER!

    "Sam Fisher off the deep end after fighting a demonic soul stealing horde" Stryker was pretty neat and he was the most fun to play out of them all in Armageddon. But I agree that it sucked. It was rushed as Midway panicked and made them ship an unfinished product once the next gen came steaming in. A few more months would have done wonders for it.

    The thing is, you are all over thinking MK. It doesnt need BlazBlue or SF4 systems. Maybe a rage/breaker bar. But thats it, it needs to be more Smash Bros than Street Fighter. Anything else is really over kill. Its the best post pub fodder for fighters there is, why screw with the formula?

  • Kami #36 2 years ago

    I had no issue with Stryker until Armageddon, and they made him so unbearably ugly and crap that I genuinely think, after playing all the characters, that he was the worst of the lot.

    I know what you mean, MK doesn't need all the technical stuff - but it still needs something that's going to change it up a gear. I don't want a SSF4 clone, or BB or anything like that. I want a GOOD Mortal Kombat game, one that plays well, handles well, doesn't feel rushed, looks slick and smooth and feels like it has a valid place in the market. Mortal Kombat relying on mere hyperviolence isn't going to cut it - we've seen, played, watched and experienced gorier, bloodier, nastier material over the years. My grandfather was so worried when he saw Mortal Kombat 2 back in the day he told me to be wary of being overexposed to violence and gore - now it's not only acceptable but actively encouraged in every corner of the industry! Even my gramps a few years ago played MK:A and burst out laughing when I reminded him how concerned he was over the old 2D version on my SNES. We've changed over the years. The industry has changed. Mortal Kombat hasn't - that's the real problem that has to be tackled.

    This does reek of trying to be SSF4. The animation is clunky and jerky and yes, okay, it's always been clunky and jerky but if you're going for realistic hyperviolence our standards have changed in the last fifteen years - we've seen and experienced much more seamless and enjoyable gratuitous violence. We've played better fighters over the years - Deadly Alliance was admittedly a great stab at moving MK into 3D, but Deception and Armageddon just didn't seem to give a rats ass.

    My point is - Mortal Kombat for the modern era has to change. This isn't a world where we can be excited by fatalities anymore, or how dangerously exposed Kitana's breasts are. We see that in so many games now, so many ways to kill maim and destroy and so many game babes with tits that would make Quagmire pass out in a giggity-fit. Mortal Kombat's main claim to fame when I was growing up was that it was a little bit naughty with all the gratuitous violence - me and my friends would huddle around after a tournament in MK Trilogy, hit the fatalities showcase and enjoy some shameless gore. Honestly, in this current era, you wanna tell me this is the sort of shit that would get anyone excited again? That ship has long since sailed - it's going to need at least one more selling point.

    I don't want to be down because going back to 2D makes sense. Going back to specialised fatalities makes sense. But it's not enough I fear - it's just not enough to make it an appealing attraction any more. The game has to look like it's changed and grown up...

    That the short trailer heavily suggests it hasn't is what hurts most of all.

  • rodpad #37 2 years ago

    Calling this 2D is misleading. It does however look as fast paced as the previous 2D games and MK4.

  • kratos2010 #38 2 years ago

    well i have a foot fetish hope this helps

  • SpaceMonkey77 #39 2 years ago

    Well said Kami and Thoughtful

    I think the real problem is Ed Boon himself. He's been around constantly over the years, but I think he's blinded and creative vision shackled and not going anywhere in the dark. Instead of studying the competition, he's too entrenched in MK's established mythology etc, to see that change is needed. If he's trying, he's failing.

    Where I think this series should go, if it wants to remain simpler, is via Tekken/VR style route of design. A lot of change is needed, but from the game to date, and that trailer, I get the impression that EdBoon doesn't know what to leave and what to change.

    I think the realism that MK once strived for, is pretty dumb now, so that needs to go for a more appealing stylised look. On top of that, new designers with fresh vision and take on previous version. More earth locations ( because we are all from earth, so that connection is needed for players and any kind of appeal to build) and less boring Outworld excuses for lame level design, and Outworld itself needs a makeover.

    Fatalities exist because of the laziness of not thinking up good special moves, as well as for that origianl shock factor, IMO. If not dropping them altogether, I think they should be toned down, and perhaps be replaced be more robust combo based system. Finish moves are not needed anymore, and should be replaced with something to make you connect with your characters (eg: Character expression, via start and end of round animations, taunts in SF, SS, LB etc.

    A fighting round, from start to finish, is a chance to tell the play about the character they are using, what they are about etc. Many fighting games across the spectrum do this, but to this day, I know next to nothing about the MK characters to like them more, than I did in MK1. There's so much more to creating a good character than just how they look.

    There's a reason, why we can all remember Afro Thunder from Ready To Rumble (a better Midway game, that is franky more deserving of attention) than some MK characters, which is because he reeks of personality, with his 'Somebody Needs To Call The Doctor' line. Unfortunately, very few MK characters have this kind of charisma, and are hard to connect with or like much. In fact most of the RTR cast were likeable with a cool sense of humour to them. Perhaps that also part of the problem. which is that MK takes itself far too seriously, and forgets what fun is.

    When I think of MK, I think of Raiden, Scorpion and Sub Zero (and the small degree of personality the have), the others are very 'meh'.

  • Kami #40 2 years ago

    Wouldn't want the fatalities to disappear...

    Mortal Kombat really should move closer to what Killer Instinct did. Fatalities should be done when an opponents final health bar reaches the critical last 10%, can miss and require a charged power bar. This way, you feel you have earned the fatality and it's more of a punishment to the opponent than a case of show. Actually, with no resurrection of Killer Instinct, isn't that where MK should be headed? Fast-pased combo action, frantic and stylised and gorgeous with sweeping camera angles, showy stages and all the rest of it? Please see Killer Instinct Gold - it's aged, but that's what Mortal Kombat should be trying to aim for.

    Ed Boon is a great guy I have no doubt, but I do fear he's way too attached to Mortal Kombat for any actual change to take place. Mortal Kombat needs a real overhaul because fatalities, boobs and hyperviolence are commonplace in the games industry now - all three were MK's main draws years ago, so it needs something more otherwise it's just going to fail miserably again.

  • davisorle #41 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • Kami #42 2 years ago

    Yeah, I think it's one of those games though that Rare will never resurrect, although I still listen to the SNES mixes CD a fair bit (they're all on youtube anyway including mixes of the mixes, go figure). Killer Instinct Gold, when you got the finishers, it felt like you'd earned it. They could miss. Your opponent could then shamefully fight back and humiliate you. It was stylish, over-the-top and bloody amazing - violent and gory but with real style behind it, fluid animation and a real sense of fun. I miss Killer Instinct, and if they released a new KI, you'd not be the first to run out and buy it. If anything, we'd probably end up in a fight to be first in the queue...

    I think the real problem this new MK will have is that our last taste was Armageddon, and it was shit. It was beyond shit, it redefined for me what a shit fighter actually is (I did credit it for a great character creation system though). The last experience hurt, it was a horrid horrid game, and it's something that they have to remember - they inflicted on us one of the worst fighting games ever made. The simple first step for them would simply be to hold their hands up and say, "You know what? Armageddon was shit. We're sorry, it was rushed bugged and unfinished and we sucked dick, but we're taking our time with this and listening to fighting game fans."

    I jest about the Sonya and Kitana performing near-erotic acts in an FMV as compensation, but the easiest, cheapest and best way to start making up for the last bundle of shite is simply for Boon to say, "I. Am. Sorry."

    It's not nearly enough, but it's a start and may at least tell us he's not stuck in his own little world where he genuinely believes we need Mortal Kombat, because we so don't these days...

  • RandomTerrain #43 2 years ago

    I agree this series needs a fresh approach, something to make it stand out.
    How about making those weapons so much more dangerous?

    Being able to slice someone's arm off at the start of a round if they don't defend properly, that would be cool, and I think it would work well in this universe. And with co-op mode, it means you haven't lost straight away. It would add a very interesting dimension to gameplay. Just an idea of mine, and let's be honest it needs plenty of new ones.

    But I am pessimistic when it comes to MK these days. We shall see.