Mortal Kombat 1: PS5 hands

Nov 29, 2023

Early hands-on details from NetherRealm's fatality-fueled fighter, and new nuggets of wisdom from series co-creator Ed Boon.

The Mortal Kombat series recently hit the big 3-0. And what a long, bloody trip it's been: Eleven mainline games over six console generations and somewhere between 75 and 80+ characters, depending on how and where you want to count them.

And now Mortal Kombat 1, which is looking to open the floodgates on that rich, gory history while serving as a chapter-one reset. It's a reintroduction of the entire IP, with one big, big gameplay twist.

While the visuals look stupendous, and the core fighting feels as tight as ever, the Kameo fighters are easily the star of this show. Using a combination of directional inputs and the R1 button, you can command your Kameo partner to bash an airborne enemy, juggle them, zap them from afar, throw them, execute a combo breaker… even perform a fatality.

So that's it… for now, at least. Based on my 30-minute play session, MK1 is a major series shakeup in more ways than one. With just three months to go, expect a steady stream of announces and reveals leading up to its September 19 launch on PS5.

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