In their regular livestream series, NetherRealm have shown off the Outworld gunslinger Erron Black, Elder God Shinnok and Shaolin monk Liu Kang, as well as a whole host of other information about Mortal Kombat X.
Let’s break down the new fighter first. Erron Black was first revealed in the Mortal Kombat X comic and has fast become a fan favourite. His inclusion was hinted about since the very first Story Mode trailer and many fans are no doubt rejoicing at the gunman’s playable status. His moves involve using his large arsenal of weaponry, including sand grenades, his trademark revolvers and a breech loading rifle which looks straight out of Red Dead Redemption. He seems best suited at midscreen, using his slide to get in and do some quick damage, before retreating away in a hail of gunfire.
His standard Variation is Gunslinger, where he uses a rifle in tandem with his dual revolvers. In this mode, he gains several rifle specific specials, like a charged sniper shot which can be dash cancelled out of, a 3 shot volley which he fires while retreating back as well as an uppercut when he hits enemies into the air with the butt of his rifle. As seems to be the trend with Variations, this acts as Erron’s long range option, with his rifle controlling a lot of space and allows him to retreat out of range if enemies get too close.
His melee focused Variation is Outlaw, where he gains a sword made out of the arm blade of a Tarkatan warrior. Erron can use this sword in his combos, gaining some decent pokes as well as a command grab, where he breaks off the blade in the enemy’s chest, doing damage over time but locking him out of his sword moves. He also gains the use of pocket sand, which he can throw to stun enemies and start combos. If you meter burn the sand throw, it does a full stun which can be a great disengage as well as a decent reset opportunity to do more damage.
His final Variation is Gunslinger, which focuses on his golden six shooters. In this form, he can shift into a standoff stance where he positions his hands straight over his guns, ready to fire. He cannot move in this stance but he can quickly perform a variety of revolver based special, including a low volley of shots, an anti air shot using both his revolvers as well as a barrage of shots with him walking backward, very similar to his rifle special. Finally, he gains a super cool Coin Toss special, where he throws a coin in the air and then ricochets a bullet off the tossed coin. This is a great tool for mindgames, as you can control the trajectory of the bullet and hit enemies from weird angles.
God, he looks so cool.
Moving onto fighters which have been seen in trailers and finally revealed, evil Elder God Shinnok is confirmed to be playable in Mortal Kombat X. His Variations range from being able to copy opponents’ moves, very similar to the absent Shang Tsung to summoning giant skeletal hands to do long range attacks. Imposter, as the name implies, is the Variation which allows Shinnok to steal select specials from opponents, through the use of a command grab. Once grabbed, Shinnok then gets a single charge of a stolen special and requires that he grab the enemy again if he wishes to use another. As an example on stream, Shinnok used the grab to steal Sub Zero’s Ice Ball, did a combo using the Ice Ball and then finished with the command grab to steal yet another Ice Ball. This Variation will require some work to get proficient with, but will result in some crazy character specific combos.
Another Variation was Necromancer, which gave Shinnok some spooky scary skeleton hands, as well as the ability to summon giant bone arms to do long range damage. This included a command grab where a large bony hand reached up from a portal in the ground, as well as a move which involved flicking the enemy across the screen which a giant bone hand. This Variation seems best against characters who like to get in close, as Shinnok can use these skeletal summons to push enemies back from him.
Shinnok’s final Variation was Bone Shaper, which had him summoning a number of bone weapons to do damage. His main two weapons seemed to be a bone scythe, which he could use to perform a ground pound and a scoop move, as well as a bone spear which was used in his throws. This seems to be his mid range Variation, as his scythe seems to have good reach compared to his Imposter form.
Finally, let’s go over Liu Kang’s Variations. He was finally announced in a trailer earlier this week and we finally got to see his full three Variations in action. First off was Dragon’s Fire, which is very similar to Liu Kangs from previous MK games. In this form, he gets his trademark Bicycle Kick, as well as a double hitting Flying Kick and the ability to charge up his Fireballs. In this Variation, his fireballs look like flaming dragon heads and he can even double enhance his ground fireball, resulting in a final powerful blast if you land the EX. This Variation seems best if you were a Liu Kang main back in MK9 and you just want to jump back into the game to kick some ass.
Flame Fist is his short range Variation, swapping many of his kick moves for punches. In this form, Bicycle Kick gets changed for the Windmill Fist, a quick barrage of punches, while Liu Kang also gains a parry. Along with these changes, the monk can set his fists on fire, which not only does more damage normally, but grants him more damage on block. This Variation is therefore great against defensive players, as his flaming fists can do a large amount of damage against an opponent who constantly blocks.
Finally, we get Dualist which is Liu Kang’s most technical Variation. In this form, Liu Kang gains a Light and a Dark stance, which vary up his specials and a Variation specific charge move. In Dark mode, his fireballs are replaced with orbs which can be placed on screen like bombs, exploding if a player hits them. In Light mode, this fireballs act as normal, but move a lot faster and can be fired off in quick succession. If Liu Kang charges up in Dark mode, his orbs and other specials deal more damage while in Light mode, he can heal himself for as long as he holds the charge.
In other news, fans finally got a look at the game’s Practice Mode which seems greatly improved from the last game. You can quickly switch Variations while training and can even load the specific interactable sets from different stages if you want to practice your stage specific combos. You can even record the AI doing certain moves and have them play back to you, which is ideal if you want to practice against a certain move or combo which seems to always beat you. It has also been revealed that Online Practice will return, and players will be able to practice in between matches if they are in a Lobby. Faction Kills were shown off a bit more, with players being able to unlock more by leveling up in their faction. As well as this, you will be able to unlock easy versions of Fatalities, if you are finding the traditional inputs too difficult or if you just want to style on a friend in a more efficient manner.
The next Kombat Kast will be next week and will show off Mortal Kombat X on mobile devices, so make sure to tune in next Friday if you wish to see more. Check out the Erron Black reveal trailer below and keep on watching VGU for MKX news right up until launch:
