Once considered by many gamers to be a series on its last legs, NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat franchise has experienced a massive and much-welcomed renaissance in recent years. The positive reception of critics and fans to 2019’s Mortal Kombat 11 and its Aftermath expansion makes it clear gamers still love the long-running series, but as it faces new competition it may be time to make some changes to keep the franchise in fighting form in Mortal Kombat 12 and beyond. With a recent earnings call revealing that Mortal Kombat 12 is NetherRealm’s next game, one way to keep evolving the series could be to look to MK’s past.
Like other franchises that began life in the age of arcades, the Mortal Kombat franchise sometimes struggled to stay relevant as consoles grew to dominate the gaming market in the early 2000s. Though spin-offs like Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks managed to earn some fans, the franchise’s mainline entries struggled for years to find their footing before 2015’s Mortal Kombat X took a back-to-basics approach to characters and gameplay and served as something of a soft reboot. But as NetherRealm looks ahead to the next entry in the series, taking cues from one of the most innovative titles from the 3D era of Mortal Kombat games could help revitalize the franchise once again.
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance Could Provide a Blueprint for the Next MK Game
Released for consoles in 2002, Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance marked the franchise’s biggest move yet into the realm of 3D fighters. Taking cues from popular franchises like Virtua Fighter and Soulcalibur, Deadly Alliance introduced full 3D movement and distinct fighting styles to the Mortal Kombat series for the first time. Players could seamlessly switch between three different fighting styles on the fly, transitioning from melee combat to using each character’s distinctive weapon with ease.
With new Street Fighter and Tekken games set to release this year and each featuring gameplay that doesn’t stray far from those franchise’s roots, now would be a perfect time for NetherRealm to bring some of Deadly Alliance’s most unique features to Mortal Kombat 12. By reintroducing and refining gameplay mechanics from the 3D-era Deadly Alliance, similarly to how the last two Mortal Kombat games expanded on the franchise’s 2D roots, Mortal Kombat 12 could establish an identity distinct from its competitors while remaining true to the series’ past.
Mortal Kombat Needs to Keep Evolving to Stay Competitive
Just as Mortal Kombat X helped revitalize the ailing franchise by taking the best elements of the series’ past and distilling them for a new era of fighting games, Mortal Kombat 12 could incorporate mechanics like fighting styles and weapon combat from Deadly Alliance. This would not only pay homage to the series’ roots, but also give the game a distinct feel compared to other upcoming fighters. While the Heat system in Tekken 8 promises to offer players the ability to switch up their fighting style during key moments of a match, a Mortal Kombat 12 with distinct, easily swappable fighting styles for each character could offer far more strategic depth.
With the future of the Soulcalibur franchise still up in the air, the reintroduction of weapons to Mortal Kombat 12 could also stand out as a differentiator against other upcoming fighting games. The return of weapons as a core gameplay feature would also fit nicely with the series’ recent history of entertaining and unexpected crossovers. It'd let NetherRealm come up with unique weapons for the pop-culture cameos that have become a staple of the franchise.
By taking some of the best elements of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and reintroducing them to the franchise with the same level of polish and care that was shown to the 2D-inspired elements of recent entries, NetherRealm could move the series forward while still honoring its past. With franchise co-creator Ed Boon hinting that Mortal Kombat 12 will include more 3D-era characters, there’d be no better time to bring back some of the gameplay mechanics that made that era so memorable.
Mortal Kombat 12 is in development.