Mortal Kombat 1's PS5 Character Intros Are Unbelievably Awesome

And fight

by Sammy Barker Sat 10th Jun 2023

We love the walkouts and goofy face pulling versus screens in Street Fighter 6, but it looks like NetherRealm may have Capcom beat when it comes to the character intros in Mortal Kombat 1. GameSpot has captured a ton of transitions from the fighter select screen into gameplay, as we get close-ups of the likes of Kitana and Kenshi psyching each other out before segueing into combat.

These are really, really smooth – demonstrating some outstanding motion capture and the overall fidelity of the character models, before bringing the beautiful backdrops into focus and transitioning straight into gameplay. Obviously, we suppose seeing some of the same bits and pieces of dialogue may tire over time, but for now we’re incredibly impressed with the novelty.

YouTube Video — Subscribe to Push Square on YouTube156k

How are you feeling about Mortal Kombat 1 now high-fidelity 4K footage is beginning to emerge? Finish them in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
ErrantRob
Sat 10th Jun 2023

I’m really digging this as a loading screen transition. Feels more natural. Although I imagine after 100 times of the same commentary it’ll get old like other intros do.

2
Splat
Sat 10th Jun 2023

I want Injustice to get this love so bad. I know MK is the money maker though.

3
get2sammyb
Sat 10th Jun 2023

@Splat I love Injustice but I just feel in the mood for Mortal Kombat 1 for some reason. Hopefully we do get Injustice 3 later in the gen, though.

4
MFTWrecks
Sat 10th Jun 2023

When I see stuff like this I instantly wonder how much more expensive it could TRULY be to add a couple more variations. I have to guess those dialog options will remain static. So every time you get the same matchup, it'll be the same dialog/animation combo. (Liu Kang seems to always throw a fireball, knocking his opponent back, for instance.)

But how much better would it be if there even just, say, 3-4 variations of each matchup? So that you'd get slightly tweaked dialog, maybe a different attack animation transition... it'd go a long way to keeping it from getting stale. And would likely take minimal amounts of extra work since most of the animations would be in place.

It's like reload animations in FPS titles. I love when games throw in slightly different animations even on the same gun, because in the real world you won't be a robot performing the EXACT same move every single time in every situation. Just adds that little bit of extra detail.

5
EvenStephen7
Sat 10th Jun 2023

@MFTWrecks MKX and MK11 had around 4-6 intro dialogue variations that were all character-specific, and they kept adding more over time with DLC characters.

I’d bet my bottom dollar MK1 will do the same (if not more).

6
get2sammyb
Sat 10th Jun 2023

@MFTWrecks There's a few different ones for the same characters in this video alone, so safe to say there will be some variety, but obviously you will have seen most of them after a few days of play.

7
Nei
Mon 12th Jun 2023

It looks incredibly cool but also something that you could get bored really really soon. Can’t imagine sitting through these intros every time a fight is starting, so hopefully it is skippable

8
z0d15g0d
Mon 12th Jun 2023

You could buy new character intro animations from the Krypt in Mk11 i'm guessing it will be the same with this. Dunno about the specific voice lines though. Would be nice if you unlocked new ones after reaching certain points in the story modes or after completing arcade mode.