‘Mortal Kombat X’ Dev Reveals Details On Story Mode, Innovations, Invasion; First Few Minutes Revealed

Mortal Kombat X Jason — Jason Vorhees is coming to "Mortal Kombat X." Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

With “Mortal Kombat X” already releasing in April 14, developer NetherRealm Studios is already giving a few more insights and sneak peeks into what players can expect. Studio Creative Head Ed Boon had spoken to AngryJoe in a new interview and revealed some details on the story, the towers, new modes and an interesting tidbit about DLC characters for “Mortal Kombat X.”

According to Boon, the story for “Mortal Kombat X” will contain a lot more cinematic footage compared to all of the other “Mortal Kombat” titles. To accommodate the change in setting and time, they needed to jump from the present day to the past to retell the story, while also injecting a lot of detail into the narration.

“Mortal Kombat X” is without a doubt the most innovative in the franchise. Apart from the first MK title to debut on the next-gen consoles, it also introduces factions. Boon details that these are completely independent of the character, so it will not limit who you can play in a faction. In his words, it’s all about what kind of association you want to make when you are in a faction.

There is a benefit in joining factions, since there are varying rewards and brutalities, depending on the faction and the level that you win. There are also obtainable items that can be won when playing actions. For those who are familiar with NetherRealm Studio’s other game, “Injustice: Gods Among Us” on mobile, it has a similar system of having a season and winning a particular prize depending on the level. But this time around, winners of the season will have to defend their position when a new season debuts.

There are several challenges in the game, which are then broken up into towers called the Living Towers. Boon mentions three towers in “Mortal Kombat X.” One tower will see changes every hour, one will have changes every day and the last tower will be dedicated to characters who have newly appeared in the game. His example is a Jason tower, where players get to fight as Jason even without having bought Jason in the first place.

“You can even use that tower if you didn’t purchase Jason. It gives players a taste of what the character is like to play,” said Boon. What this does is not only allow DLC players to be sampled, but it also gives a new experience to players every time they sign in.

Interestingly, Boon also addresses the lack of tag mode for “Mortal Kombat X.” According to him, the feature has not yet been ruled out. For now, the developers didn’t include the tag mode based on the feedback received from “Mortal Kombat 9.”

In terms of more sneak peeks in the actual title, the Polygon managed to play “Mortal Kombat X” and share the first 30 minutes of the story. The link above shows off the sneak peek. Considering what Boon has revealed about the story mode being one of the most cinematic and the one that had been given quite the effort by the studio, the source corroborates that this is the case.

The first chapter immediately shows off some unlockable characters. It also features Johnny Cage and battles against Sub Zero and Scorpion. For those who prefer to see the brutality of the fatalities seen so far, IGN provides a sneak peek of the fatalities, as well as the different intros, tower mode gameplay and more.