Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon appeared at Summer Game Fest to explain how Mortal Kombat 1’s new Kameo fighters will work. NetherRealm finally revealed the next installment in the legendary Mortal Kombat franchise with a pulse-pounding teaser trailer in May. As its title suggests, Mortal Kombat 1 will restart the series’ timeline from scratch, with Fire God Liu Kang creating a peaceful new world following the events of Mortal Kombat 11. This harmony doesn’t last long though, and he soon must gather EarthRelam’s strongest warriors to defend the world against a returning Shang Tsung.
A new timeline isn’t the only change Mortal Kombat 1 brings to the series, as NetherRelam also revealed that the game will introduce a separate set of characters called Kameo Fighters. Not many details were given about these supporting Kombatants during the initial Mortal Kombat 1 reveal, but they were said to be NPC characters that can be called to assist the player during combat. There has been much speculation already about how Kameo Fighters will impact Mortal Kombat 1’s gameplay formula, and now fans have a deeper insight into this fascinating new mechanic.
One of the first games shown off in today’s Summer Game Fest 2023 livestream was Mortal Kombat 1, with a new gameplay trailer giving eager players a closer look at the upcoming reboot’s roster, storyline, and grizzly Fatalities. After the trailer, host Geoff Keighley welcomed Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon to the stage to give more insights and information. When asked about the new Kameo Fighter system, Boon revealed that players can select a Kameo Fighter from a secondary roster following their main pick. This second character will grant the player access to a classic fighter’s moveset, allowing them to mix and match the skills of two different Kombatants.
Boon went on to describe how players can summon Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighters with a single button press. If the player pushes a certain direction while calling out their Kameo partner, they will perform a different attack, and Boon states that players will be able to perform combos with their main fighter. However, players will only be able to do this a certain number of times, as there is a meter limiting how often the Kameo Fighters can be called out.
Lastly, Boon revealed that some Kameo Fighter options will overlap with the main Mortal Kombat 1 roster, with the former representing classic Kombatants like Sub-Zero, Kano, and Sonya Blade in their older incarnations from the original Mortal Kombat. This means that players can mix the rebooted version of Sub-Zero with his younger self, for example. Boon also promised that the Kameo roster will dig into the series’ past to deliver some fun surprises for fans.
Mortal Kombat 1 looks to take the iconic fighting game franchise in an exciting new direction, and part of that is represented in the game’s Kameo Fighters. Players now have a better grasp on how these assist characters will work, and it seems like Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighter system will allow for more creativity in how a player can shape their own playstyle by mixing and matching warriors from across Mortal Kombat’s branching timelines.
Mortal Kombat 1 launches September 19 for PC, PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series X.
