Mortal Kombat 1 Xbox beta code provided by Warner Bros Games

Publisher Warner Bros Games and developer NetherRealm Studios are tweaking the last couple things for Mortal Kombat 1 in preparation for the release in September. If you pre-ordered Mortal Kombat 1 and are as excited as I am for it, then you already played, but if not this weekend was the pre-order beta weekend. Friday through Sunday I spent some time playing as much as I could with the fighters available. Let’s see how the game is shaping up!

Gameplay

I played so much Mortal Kombat 11 it’s not even funny, I’m a huge Mortal Kombat (MK) fan in general. I thought that the play style in Mortal Kombat 11 was good already, but I was truly stunned by how smoothly the gameplay feels in Mortal Kombat 1. Especially for a beta, it ran incredibly smoothly.

One thing I was not expecting to enjoy so much were the Kameo Fighters. I was a little skeptical at first because I was in the mindset of wanting to see these characters as actual fighters. But they actually really add to the fluidity of the fights and they can really help in the creation of some crazy combos. The roster of Kameo Fighters available during the beta included; Jax, Frost, Sonya Blade, and Kano. With plenty more on the way for the full release, these four I feel gave the perfect amount to taste. All four fighters added to the matches very differently and pairing them each with different characters each added their own unique combos.

The roster available during the beta included; Kenshi, Sub Zero, Johnny Cage, Li Mei, Liu Kang, and Kitana. Again, just like the Kameo Fighters, the six that they included all have very different play styles giving you a sampler platter for the full release. Some things that I noticed while playing is that the returning characters have gotten new and upgraded fighting styles. Most apparent in Johnny Cage, usually you see him with a green glowing shadow kick, but this time he still had those shadow moves but this time he actually seemed to fade in and out and visually that was pretty kickass.

For the beta they obviously cut out all the story aspects since it’s just for testing the gameplay. But you could very clearly see the cuts in the intros before the fight to not give anything away which I think is perfectly acceptable because it actually is leaving most of it for the final release.

Expectations

Now maybe I’m biased for Mortal Kombat , and I’m okay with that, but I think that Mortal Kombat 1 is going to turn out to be a really good fighting game and come with a good story. I think we can expect plenty of gameplay from Story to Klassic Towers to Online fights. A stacked roster is coming our way with guest fighters and with Mortal Kombat universe characters.

One thing that I expect to see after Mortal Kombat 11, is customizable gear. I’m perfectly fine with it being on the same system as MK11 where you have to fight the timed towers to unlock it. But after the previous installment, I’ve grown accustomed to being able to customize the fighters how I please.

Verdict

Mortal Kombat 1 is shaping up to be exactly what I thought it would be, but better. The gameplay was so fun, and the fatalities, brutalities, and kombos are just something that never get old to me. This game has been on my most wanted list for a long time and playing the beta just made me want it more. If you haven’t pre-ordered it yet, I suggest you do now.

Mortal Kombat 1 will be available on September 19th for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.