New Mortal Kombat Game Announced!

Following up on yesterday’s news that a potentially brand new Mortal Kombat movie could well be in the works, comes an official announcement of a completely new game in the franchise. Coming to both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year is the currently self-titled ‘Mortal Kombat’, a game that delves deep within the series roots hoping to deliver the MK experience that fans have been waiting for since Midway threw out the rulebook with ‘Deadly Alliance’.


‘Mortal Kombat’ will feature a brand new graphics engine, an art style looking to continue right after MK4 left off - with some elements of later games, gruesome fatalities, and a complete overhaul of the classic 2D gameplay the series is known for. A deep and comprehensive story is promised, along with a cool 2 vs 2, 4-player tag team mode in which players battle it out in teams much like Marvel Vs Capcom.

Series co-creator Ed Boon excitedly stated: "We can't wait for players to get their hands on Mortal Kombat," and added "This game really is a response to what players have been demanding: mature presentation, reinvented 2D fighting mechanic and the best, most gruesome fatalities ever!"


Despite the IP being purchased by Warner Bros last year, ED Boon and the rest of the series flagship development team remain at the helm with the newly re-named NetherRealm studios.

Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment commented: "We are bringing the Mortal Kombat franchise back to gamers with the talented NetherRealm Studios team creating the game fans long to play," also adding "Re-establishing the brand with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Mortal Kombat innovates on past games while staying true to the brand's legendary characters and fighting style."


A trailer for the game was released to go along with today’s announcement, and by all accounts the game is looking pretty damn good. Faithful, authentic, these aren’t the words associated with ‘Mortal’ and ‘Kombat’ in recent years, but all this looks to change.

We’ll be sure to follow this one closely.

New Mortal Kombat Movie spotted?

Reports about a third movie in the Mortal Kombat franchise have been doing the rounds since the release of Mortal Kombat Annihilation back in 1997. Threshold Entertainment were originally poised to start production on a second sequel subtitled ‘Devastation’ several times over, hitting delays each time the green light had been given.

Production was supposed to start a few years ago in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina ravaged the area in which this was to take place, after which the project was put firmly on hold with only scant rumours of the wheels finally being put back into motion. However, with Warner Bros. recent acquisition of Midway, the Mortal Kombat IP, and some legal wrangling between the two companies, Threshold’s severely delayed sequel may never see the light of day.

Instead Warner is planning to make an MK film of there own, one that is said to be a complete reboot of the franchise. New cast, new characters and a different take on the story. And yesterday, we may have just seen it in action.

An interesting video was sent to blog site Kotaku.com by a user known only by the name of Kai depicting a trailer for either a new Mortal Kombat movie, or the next instalment in the bloody videogame series. A still from the trailer can be seen below along with a direct link to the trailer itself. I strongly suggest that you check it out.


See the trailer here

The trailer stars Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan (Jax and Sonya respectively), and the production is pretty slick, looking halfway between something like a gritty Hollywood thriller and a gruesome version of the Matrix. The tone is perfectly suited to something belonging to the franchise as a whole, although the trailer doesn’t look or feel like any MK movie that’s gone before. What we have here is a far more grounded approach to tackling the series on film than the cheesy, low budget styled affairs of the mid to late ninties.

So is it real? Well it definitely relates to some huge being readied behind the scenes that’s for sure. Various reports have stated that Warner was looking to create a more ‘realistic’ take on the franchise for its feature film, which ties in with the grounded feel of the trailer, and the degree of professionalism and acting talent shows that it certainly isn’t fake.

The question is whether the footage is just an elaborate trailer for a new game in the series, or the first glimpses of a big-screen cinematic reboot. That sadly at this point, goes unanswered.

Update:

Well, since the leaked video has been spreading all over the Internet, actress Jerri Ryan has since shed some light on the situation, via a comment on her Twitter account. She points out that "It's not a game trailer," and that it "Actually was made for the director to sell Warner Bros. On his vision for a re-imagined MK film”. She also stated that she doesn’t know what the studio thinks of the clip, but did elaborate in saying that she did the work as a favour to a friend.