NetherRealm is adding plenty of content to Mortal Kombat if you want to do more than punch your friend’s head off.
For NetherRealm’s upcoming reboot of Mortal Kombat, the ninth game in the series, the studio is adding a massive amount of content in the form of a 300 mission tower challenge. Completing these missions could be more fun than fighting up the ranks of the Outworld tournament.
Though NetherRealm senior designer Mike Birkhead says many people like Mortal Kombat because it lets friends “beat the shit out of each other and then rip their heads off,” he thinks players will also enjoy the tower challenges. The 300 will start off with basic missions that train players how to mount a proper offense, defense, use a fatality, etc. As players move up the tower, the missions get more interesting.
For example, one mission puts you up against the zombie version of Goro, whose aura weakens you over time. Others involve a shooting gallery where you must use special moves against advancing enemies, throw grenades into a bucket, or fight with no arms. In addition to classic segments of “Test Your Might,” “Sight,” and “Strength” from previous titles, Mortal Kombat‘s tower adds “Test Your Luck,” which introduces a slot machine with reels that determine a fight’s combatants, random modifiers like “no jumping,” environmental hazards, and more.
Higher up, the missions will get even more complicated, such as one that gives players control over both Scorpion and Sub Zero and has their opponent change from orange to blue. Only Scorpion can damage the orange version, while only Sub Zero can damage the blue. NetherRealm says that the last mission, “End Game,” will be extremely tough and challenges anyone to complete it with a full life bar in one try. The image of the mission shows Goro and two silhouettes behind him, so it could be an endurance fight with other factors thrown in. For beating the tower, players will get a “major reward.”
The Mortal Kombat series on consoles has become known for its interesting side-activities, which have included a kart-racing mode and Chess Kombat in the past. Mortal Kombat‘s challenge tower looks like it’ll bring back the feeling of those modes but keep it all about the fight to the death.
