Where there’s Smoke…
A fan-favorite is confirmed to be returning to the Mortal Kombat grinder. Today’s new trailer for Mortal Kombat 1 reveals both Rain and Smoke will appear in the new entry.
Smoke is a well-liked member of the Lin Kuei, who finally gets a human re-debut in Liu Kang’s new era. Here, Smoke is a fellow member of the Lin Kuei who joins with Scorpion and Sub-Zero to defend Earthrealm.
Also arriving is Rain, a High Mage of Outworld who wields water magic. He’s looking a bit more robed and wizard-like, compared to his original palette-swapped appearance.
Some Kameo fighters also make an appearance here, too. Scorpion pops up, of course. But the cyborg side of the Lin Kuei appears, too; Sektor and Cyrax are in as Kameos, as well as a human version of Frost.
For our two main roster fighters, both look pretty excellent. Smoke is obviously a highlight. His teleportation and quick jabs look fantastic, and that knife looks devastating in the X-ray attacks. Rain, meanwhile, is like a Waterbender that gets to actually do some damage with their aquatic magic. I really dig the big lightning ball attack that he can call down from a raincloud.
Kombat history
The Kameo fighters bring their own flavor too, and it’s nice to see the cyborgs appear. I was curious about whether they would. With a new era and re-envisioned versions of characters, having the robo-fighters reappear or not felt up in the air.
After playing it at SGF 2023, though, it definitely seemed like Kameos are NetherRealm’s way of including more fan-favorites from its ever-expanding universe without having to make them fully fledged fighters right away. If it keeps up the nostalgia and klassic references, I could see this being a really enjoyable experience for long-time MK fans.
Mortal Kombat 1 arrives on September 19, 2023.
