E3 2014: Mortal Kombat X's Gruesome Display at the Sony Press Conference

Mortal Kombat X was officially unveiled recently, but we had to wait until today’s Sony 2014 E3 press conference to get our first glimpse of gameplay for the upcoming brawler. And yes--what was shown certainly looks like Mortal Kombat of old, except it was a much prettier, squishier, and more gruesome Mortal Kombat than we’ve ever seen before.

Of course, that’s probably not surprising, given this is Mortal Kombat’s debut on current-gen consoles (in this case, obviously being shown on a PS4). A battle between perennial enemies Scorpion and Sub-Zero showcased the duo’s classic moves, but what really stood out was the added ick factor of seeing all this brutality running on a beast like the PS4. X-ray moves such as spines breaking, eyeholes being ruptured, or rib cages splintering were wince inducing, as were the various fatalities showed off during the brief gameplay look. Scorpion and Sub-Zero’s fight also showcased some environmental abilities cribbed from the Injustice series. At one point, Scorpion used a branch to swing around and launch an attack, while a little further on, Sub-Zero grabbed a much larger branch from a nearby tree and used it as a club.

But perhaps the most interesting thing about our first look at Mortal Kombat X was the unveiling of two new characters. The two characters--who were unnamed during the demo--were shown fighting on a dock near the seaside. One was a female character who seemed to have some affinity with bugs given the amount of critters flying and crawling around her, while the other newbie fought as a duo--one was a hulking brute, while the other was a little person who rode on his larger buddy's back (think the duo from Master Blaster from Mad Max 3). Check out our video above to see both of these new additions to the Mortal Kombat X in action.

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