Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighters take player expression to new levels

Mortal Kombat 1 is doing more than just resetting the timeline; NetherRealm Studios is completely changing the game by taking the franchise in a new direction for story, gameplay, and more. This is best displayed by the Kameo Fighter mechanic, which adds in an assist and gives players more freedom than ever to express themselves through gameplay. 

Just from what was shown in the first gameplay trailer during Summer Game Fest, you could see the seamless ways NRS shows Kameo Fighters being implemented into combo strings to extend them, or even showing them tossed out as a combo breaker. 

Those elements are exactly what the developers needed to show in order to get me, someone who tends to stick to Street Fighter and anime fighters, a real reason to pay attention.

All of the Kameo footage looked great, and as someone who really doesn’t gel with NRS’ core mechanics as much as I would like to, the assist element felt like a perfect step into opening things up with a fresh concept. That is all by design too, as NRS doubled down on ways to give players options to express themselves and show their personality through gameplay in MK1. 

NRS community manager Tyler Lansdown confirmed a few additional details about the Kameo system to Dot Esports, such as Kameo Fighters featuring specific powers geared toward offense or defense. And the only real limitation you will face using them is that you can only call for a Kameo twice over a set period of time before the meter needs to recharge. 

“There’s a lot of stuff [Kameo Fighters] let the players do,” Lansdown said. “It’s just a mix and match. There’s so many iterations you’re going to be able to create. The creativity of our players can go through the roof with this. That’s what’s exciting to me. I love big, chunky combos.”

There is also an attention to detail that I feel a lot of games looking to reboot a franchise miss the mark on, which Lansdown notes the developers at NRS are aware of. 

Related: Tekken 8 goes global with first massive network test, stealthy character reveal

While this is a new take on the characters of Mortal Kombat in a fresh universe, the team has worked to find a balance between making sure the characters still feel like their previous selves without remaining stagnant. You can expect plenty of additions and tweaks to pair with all of the gameplay changes too, which include things like team up Fatal Blows, expanded aerial options, and more. 

For example, top MK player and multi-fighting game legend SonicFox gave their take on plenty of elements in the game, gushing over just how much the combo and defensive options open the game up for the creativity and player expression NRS was aiming for. In their eyes, this is a “love letter to MK9” if it was also an assist fighter. 

If someone who puts their whole personality and soul into the games they play like SonicFox is saying things like that, there isn’t much reason to doubt the product. And even if you are a bit skeptical, Maximilian Dood backed it up in a much more conservative way, saying MK1’s Kameos and changes show a “ton of potential.”

From everything I have seen, MK1 looks like it will iterate on elements of the last several games in ways that will please fans while the devs put a lot of effort into giving this reboot its own identity. It truly is a celebration of what was and what is to come, and you can likely find plenty of gameplay previews dropping out of SGF over the next few days.

The surprises will keep coming in the lead up to MK1’s Sept. 19 launch, with NRS promising Kameos and characters that will “blow the fans away, 100 percent.”