Mortal Kombat 1 beta preview: The best, most gruesome action in the franchise

Mortal Kombat 11’s beta preview is wrapping up, and I spent some time this weekend getting hip deep in blood, bones, and gore. While I’m not personally a big MK player and haven’t been since Ultimate MK3, the series still has a soft spot for me. The ridiculous, over-the-top violence has always been something that keeps me coming back to at least try the latest game, whenever one pops up.

There are certain things I’m not crazy about in the franchise, but that’s the way it is for many fighting game players. I’m not wild about dash and block buttons, but that stems from my time in Anime fighters and Street Fighter. That said, I think Mortal Kombat 1’s beta felt amazing. There were some things that confused me and felt weird, but overall? Things are looking good.

Note: Some of the footage used in this review is incredibly violent and grisly.

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Who and what was available in the Mortal Kombat 1 beta?

Players had a nice assortment of characters to play as during the Mortal Kombat 1 beta. Sorry - no Scorpion though. My personal favorite character, Johnny Cage, was in the game, though. While I’m perennially bad at MK games, I felt like I could at least kind of compete with people online. Below is the list of everyone that players had access to in this limited-time window, from the God of Fire to the Hollywood A-lister.

Main characters:

• Liu Kang
• Sub-Zero
• Kenshi
• Kitana
• Johnny Cage
• Li Mei

Kameo fighters:

• Sonya
• Jax
• Kano
• Frost

Players had access to the Tower (PvE), where you could pick a variety of difficulties and throw down, as well as online battles. These were casual only - no ranked PvP. However, it did show you how many wins/losses people had. Mine was not great, but I still had a lot of fun.

Mortal Kombat 1 also names and shames people who are using Wi-Fi to connect - at least my Wi-Fi is Gigabit. You can see if people are using a hardline connection and who are linked via Wi-Fi easily. I wound up moving my PS5 to plug it in directly after the first match or two.

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How is the combat in Mortal Kombat 1’s beta?

One of the great things about fighting games is how each franchise approaches things differently. Mortal Kombat 1’s beta is a slower game it feels like, and I like that. It really takes getting used to having a block button. It’s the only game I occasionally play that uses one, so I had to really remember that it existed.

The normals feel good, and the special attacks are suitably flashy. It’s important to remember that Mortal Kombat uses button presses instead of rotations. The Kameo system allows you to break combos, and also extend your own, which is a neat idea for a fighter.

While on a personal level, I’m not wild about how jumping and moving feels in Mortal Kombat as a series. Mortal Kombat 1 definitely felt better than any game I’ve played in the series for years. The beta was strong, and the action felt like it had a smooth pace.

You also have a sort of comeback mechanic with the “Fatal Blow” system. It combines a comeback mechanic and sickening X-Ray moves. When you’re at about 10-15% HP, you can hit both L2/R2 to attempt a comeback attack.

It takes nearly 50% of someone’s health, so it’s incredibly powerful. However, it can be avoided or blocked. As a mediocre player, I loved it - but other people’s mileage may vary.

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The remnants of the Dial-a-combo system exist in Mortal Kombat 1’s beta, and that’s fine

A lot of people are talking about (and complaining about) dial-a-combo in Mortal Kombat 1. Does it really still exist though? I don’t think it exists in the same form and function as it did in earlier games. I will say that you still basically do shorter combos that lead into a super - or an assist to extend it. I’m sure you can still do longer combos too, if that’s your thing.

I’m a fan of shorter, more impactful combos, though. With as many fighting games as I play for work and for pleasure, having to memorize so many input strings can be frustrating. So these shorter combo systems? I’m definitely a fan. However, it's worth pointing out you can still do long, flashy combos in MK1.

I've seen some incredible work by pro players this weekend. But the ability to deal damage with shorter combos still exists.

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Is the Kameo system good in Mortal Kombat 1’s beta?

I’ve heard quite a few people complain about the Kameo system, but that’s fighting game fans for you. Personally, I think it’s a refreshing take on the assist system. You have classic, memorable characters that you can call in to deal a quick attack, prolong your combo, or simply play defense for you.

However, one thing I didn’t understand was the timers on abilities. I don’t mind having extra inputs for Kameos, but I didn’t understand why each move seemed to have a different timer. It always felt like my opponent’s Kano always had an eye beam for me. It may simply be something I need to learn more about, but the cooldowns felt clunky.

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The look and feel of the finishing moves in Mortal Kombat 1’s beta were incredible

Perhaps the most important thing though - how are the fatalities in Mortal Kombat 1? You probably won’t be surprised to hear, but they’re just as gruesome as ever. Some characters get a little more violent than before. Liu Kang, in particular, as the God of Fire, is not messing around with people.

One thing that I think is fascinating is that the Kameo characters also have fatalities you can perform! If, for whatever reason, you don’t feel like your finisher is the right option, you can ask Sonya Blade to come in and do the job for you.

I also appreciate how simple the fatality inputs are. Sure, there will be more of them in the full game, but here, everyone had one. I also appreciated how easy it was to use Brutalities in the game, but I wonder if future ones will have more complex setups.

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In Conclusion

Mortal Kombat 1’s in a really good place right now, and the beta confirms that. I’m sure people are going to complain about several of the features, but that’s the nature of fighting games. There are little things I like, such as being able to adjust the time you need to input things like combos and special abilities.

The actual moment-to-moment gameplay was strong. While it’s personally not the kind of fighting game I obsess over, I see the appeal. I think the gameplay felt like the next natural evolution from Mortal Kombat 11, enhancing the system already in place instead of throwing it all away.

Mortal Kombat 1 releases on September 19, 2023, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows, and the Nintendo Switch.