The back-breaking eleventh entry to everyone’s favourite fighting game franchise is almost here. On Wednesday, NetherRealm studios put out a new trailer for its upcoming Mortal Kombat 11, giving us a first glimpse at a fan-favourite returning character who is joining the ever-growing roster.
Kotal Kahn, a relative newcomer to the Kombat saga, was confirmed today in an expectedly gory gameplay trailer alongside the already-confirmed Jacqui Briggs. It’s no surprise that Kahn is getting added to the game after being so centrally featured in MKX. The Sun God is a slower, heavy-type character who carries a gigantic sword and can summon the power of the sun to unload huge damage on his opponents. As Emperor of the Outworld, Kahn’s role in the upcoming MK11 is sure to be a pivotal one, since he’s in charge of an entire realm that’s currently being flung into chaos via the time-jumping manipulation of Kronika.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Collection (Xbox One)
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Mortal Kombat 11 Premium Collection (Xbox One)
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The gameplay trailer also prominently displays Jacqui Briggs, who now dons a kick-ass new haircut and some armoured duds. As the daughter of series mainstay Jax, Jacqui is slowly but surely ushering the Briggs family into the new era. She may not have cybernetic arms like her father, but she’s just as brutal, and a whole lot faster, too.
Earlier this week we learned the beta run, which will be available to folks who pre-order MK11, launches on Thursday, 27 March. You’ll be able to beat the shit out of each other online until Sunday, 3 March. That gives you four full days of punctured organs, decapitated frozen heads, and all the demonic ninjas from hell that your repressed little heart desires.
It seems that the beta will focus on the online mode, so you should plan on having your ass kicked by mean 11-year-olds across the country rather than getting a taste of the epic storyline that NetherRealm has been previewing over the past few months.
The closed beta will be available for Playstation 4, Playstation 4 Pro, Xbox One, and Xbox One X. You have a week to shake the dust off those button combos. With Mortal Kombat XL available now for under £20, you may have just enough time to relearn how to do that Scorpion teleport special that never fails to break the game.
Dom Nero is a Senior Creative Producer at Esquire, where he also writes about film, tv, tech, and video games. Elsewhere, Dom hosts Eye of the Duck, a podcast about essential movie scenes.
