Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios made some big announcements at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend. Much to fans’ delight, animalities are making a comeback.
First appearing in Mortal Kombat 3 (1995), animalities are when characters transform into animals to finish off the fight. Gory teaser footage revealed on Saturday includes a hyena, a scorpion, a gorilla and even a T-rex skeleton decimating their opponents.
The inventive ways of killing don’t stop there. A giant praying mantis bites off a fighter’s head and then rips them in half. A pufferfish even fills up with air inside someone in a particularly bloody ending. With an animality for every playable character confirmed fans are already speculating who will transform into each creature. Some are easier to guess than others, with Scorpion clearly going to be a scorpion.
This update will be free to all players of Mortal Kombat 1. The additional Khaos Reigns DLC, which was also included in the trailer, will be released on Sept. 24. It is available for pre-order now for $49.99
New Mortal Kombat 1 characters
Other announcements from NetherRealm Studios at Comic-Con included the Khaos Reigns story update. This will follow on from the plot of the Mortal Kombat 1 base game. Classic characters from the franchise like Noob Saibot will be given new backstories in the fight against villain Titan Havik, as was leaked earlier this month.
All of the leaks have been confirmed to be true after reputable Mortal Kombat leaker thethiny revealed the three new characters (Noob Saibot, Cyrax and Sektor) and the animality gameplay would be available in September.
If that wasn’t enough for fans, the trailer showcases even more characters from pop culture. Ghostface from the Scream franchise, T-1000 from Terminator 2 and Conan the Barbarian will all be playable.
Earlier this year The Boys’ Homelander joined the Mortal Kombat universe, as well as Peacemaker from Suicide Squad.