Mention Halo: Reach to your average mall-dwelling soccer mom and she’ll probably think you’re trying to peddle a new angelic mouthwash. Utter the words “Mortal” and “Kombat,” however, and expect this same frumpy collection of nauseating, clashing Lycra and questionable hygiene to make the sign of the cross and bolt for the nearest Supreme Court.
Some games are simply iconic; legendary totem poles of the industry, marques that have literally been bandied around a wide eclectic of circles from synagogues to track meets across decades of time. Some game titles have the ability to persist, like a stubborn mould, forever hated by those who misunderstand their simple purpose, constantly rubbed out, only to come back again. Laughing. Bigger and more gratuitously disgusting than before. Such is the case with Mortal Kombat. It’s practically indestructible. And nothing sticks to it.
To the aforementioned evangelist above, Mortal Kombat represents all that is wrong in the world. To the average thirty something, it’s more likely a symbol – the embodiment of all that was off-limits when they were young. We weren’t supposed to play Mortal Kombat back when we should have known better but play we did. It was the epitome of rebellion without actually, you know, stealing a car. Your parents hated it. Which meant you loved it even more.
Finally, to Jack Thompson, of course, it was the match to his burgeoning powder-keg. Until he found Grand Theft Auto, that is. Then the man simply went apoplectic. But that’s another (painfully embarrassing – for him) story.
A Mortal Kombat reboot sounds crazy on paper, as part of the allure of the series is its perpetual chronology; each rendition dishing up bizarrely animated combatants, all sporting some of the most insane and stomach-churning finishing moves ever imagined. The Fatality has become part of gaming parlance; nomenclature that instantly identifies the game to anyone who has ever picked up a game-pad. Say “Finish Him!” to any gamer across the globe and you are quite literally breaking down international boundaries. You are speaking a common – if perhaps forked – tongue.
Rebooting back to zero seems like a strange decision. Maybe Warner Bros. are out to corrupt a whole generation on youngsters, poisoning their minds with gruesome acts of wanton cruelty performed by characters that look like they’ve crawled out of a Rob Zombie nightmare. The truth is, it’s all down to business. Mortal Kombat sounds a hell of a lot better than Mortal Kombat 9. Who wants the ninth of anything when you can have that first, fresh morsel of violent goodness? Call us nostalgic, aggression-junkies but we want to see where this goes. If anything to see if the positivity that was gushed over Mortal Kombat at this year’s E3 is actually warranted.
Taking place during the timeline of the first three games, albeit altered due to the fact Raiden, God of Thunder and Chinese hat wearer extraordinaire, knows the future (Of course he does! He’s been in like another five of the bloody games!), all the gang are back to gift Fox News another two years of material.
Ironically, Mortal Kombat will be the first M Rated game of the series. Which, considering the belligerents have been pulling the spines out and spitting acid in the faces of each other for years now, can only mean one thing: yep – boobs. We’re kidding. We don’t know if there are boobs in the game. We will ask, however. That’s what we’re here for.
Mortal Kombat is out in Q1/Q2 of 2011 on the PS3 and Xbox 360.
SpikeyMikey23
Talking about boobs, whats happened to father tuffcubs smut watch? lol. I am soooo looking forward to this! Day one for me! Cant get enough Mortal Kombat! apart from DC vs!!
Tuffcub
Father Tuffcub was found dazed and confused wandering the streets of Liverpool. He was naked apart from bunch of grapes taped to his nether regions and a pair of sparkly pink deely boppers. Witnesses claim he was staring widly at anyone who walked past and shouting “Jiggling breasts! GBDC! Upskirt upskirt UPSKIRT!”.
He has since been admited to an institution and will not be returning.
Forrest_01
See – Further proof that the ESRB are evil & can corrupt young virtuous minds! Shame on them!
solidsteven
so Father TC’s fatality was Boobality?:P
SpikeyMikey23
got a black ops mission going – free father tuffcub, whose in? bagsy expolding crossbow!
Tuffcub
He will return if TSA TV returns.. assuming we can get the video past the censors.
Kitch
I stopped playing years ago. Might go back for this.
colmshan1990
Now THIS I’m really interested in…
DrNate86
Ditto, I would love a decent next-gen MK game! The last few have been awful, but I keep holding out hope…
ElGuason
i can’t wait for this game looks amazing!
BrendanCalls
Ive just read up on Jack Thompson. Wow!! How did this guy elude my attention’s all this time.
I’d love to say what I thought of the guy but he would probably sue TSA for defamation of his character. He would definitely find it as well because Im sure he searches via google for every mention of his name.
What goes around…comes around
solidsteven
Yeah he thinks that every video game will turn every child into murderers. He has given Rockstar the most trouble and strangely enough has not bothered with Activision. He can’t sue tsa as it is you opininon and no court would accept that case.
BrendanCalls
By the sounds of it though it wouldn’t stop him trying though
3shirts
Only concern I have is the character roster. The original MK was very short on characters (obviously due to the limitations of the time) but I don’t know if they will opt to replicate accurately in that regard or add in some of the classic characters from MK2 and 3
jayjay119
That’s the magic of a Reeboot though, they don’t have to, the situation will be different so characters could actually be disincluded, which isn’t necesserily a good thing, but from what I have seen so far the roser is very MK2/3 friendly. However Ed Boon stated he was aiming for 26 characters, so if you count every single character that was introduced in MK1, 2 and 3 (which adds to 22) that’s everyone seen in the originals plus 4 others (possibly from UMK3)
One thing for me though: No Sonya, no sale, she’s my bitch!
SpikeyMikey23
i was under the impression, they were including every character, ala armageddon
jayjay119
No, only 26, you can see the character select screen from MK9 here:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7SuP6mcJB_M/TIrQE2vYnBI/AAAAAAAABOE/5e3xxopoT48/s1600/mortal-kombat9-character-select.jpg
solidsteven
It has boobs?! sold!
Rocket_345
Not played a MK game before but this looks really good. The timing is bothering me as i definately won’t have no money or tim in Q1/Q2 next year.
Teabags
Haven’t been an MK fan for long but I’m stoked for this.