Ed Boon: Next Mortal Kombat aims for M-rating
Fighting franchise creator's Twitter says newest installment leaves superheroes behind in favor of "sick" fatalities.
Last year's Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe represented a huge departure for the Midway fighting franchise. Not only did it devote half of the game's roster to the comic book maker's star heroes and villains, but it also toned down the series' violence level in order to get a T for Teen rating.
No more. In a series of posts on his Twitter page, Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon confirmed that the next installment of the series (referred to as Mortal Kombat 9 for the time being), will go for the jugular.
"People want an M-rated MK," Boon said. "Dammit, we will give them an M-rated MK."
The post came shortly after Boon discussed a motion-capture session being done for the game's special moves and fatalities. It appears the designer is pushing his own comfort zone with the new fatalities, as he referred to them as "sick," before musing, "I hope we aren't taking these too far."
An M-rating would certainly preclude the game from being a sequel to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and Boon confirmed that Mortal Kombat 9 would not feature any superheroes. When asked by another Twitter user if the motion-capture session was for a new game or rumored downloadable characters for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Boon joked they were actually "for the next MK9: Attack of the Nuns: Get in the Habbit!" (sic)
Whatever shape the next Mortal Kombat takes, it might be some time before gamers get to see it. Earlier this month, Boon posted that the game is "over a year away." Similarly unknown is who the game's publisher will be. Midway recently declared bankruptcy, and while Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has put in a $33 million bid for most of the company--including the Mortal Kombat license--other bids can be submitted until later this month.
MK deception was the best of MK series.I hope this surpasses that. i wanna freeze that Lu Kang's butt:P
I really hope, they go back its roots 'cause they truly are superior.
Maybe both?
@accesdenied I disagree. The 3D feature adds to the experience in my opinion. Eespecially in Armageddon, the environmental auto-fatalities were pretty sick. I'd love to see that same formula, but with more varied unique movesets to each respective character.
I'm not a big fan of MK but i'm glad its going back to its roots
they need to get rid of that wanna be tekken 3d free roam engine it's not working for the MK series. They should take notes from capcom's sf4 and ssf4.
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I lost my faith in the MK series since MK4,ahhh well,...we'll see!
Can't wait! I have a feeling that this might be the best MK version yet!
Mortal Kombat on the Gameboy was some of my best years of primary school. Now the Mortal Kombat IP is with Warner Bros. does that mean another movie might be coming soon??!!! We can only hope.
I havent enjoyed a MK game since MK3 on my Genesis. Don't get me wrong, I really want an awesome MK game to come again, I loved the first three(and the first movie) and always considered myself a fan. I do think its a sin that Boon is "aiming" for the next to be rated M. MK should ALWAYS be rated M, no excuses for the last installment. I also agree with people like Bigbacon87, they need a new approach to the combat, and I dont like the whole switching in and out of different fighting styles and weapons system either. That needs dropped. I think it would do the franchise some good to add some "brighter" characters as heroes and not always be so dark. Models need completely redone as well. I also think a single player or coop "beat'em up" style mode would be perfect for this franchise. It'd be so easy to do. You fight different mobs as you make your way to the "boss" at the end of each level and they would be the fighters we all know from the series. But dont go lazy on level design like the uninspired single player modes in the last generation games. Here's to a solid MK game in the future. I will pray.
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Good. as much as I like DC I'd rather have an M rated MK game.
Beg the question why are the nuns attacking MK characters?
please boon please we need MORTAL KOMBAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too little, too late. The could have easily done this with MK vs. DC. Sorry Boon you lost me as a customer last year.
And just like that I invent a UFC/Mortal Kombat style hybrid in my brain, imagine the 2 combined properly.
Im on the fence when it comes to 2D vs 3D. Im definately not when it comes to M ratings though. I was pumped on MK vs DC just because I could play as Batman, even though they didnt give me Adam West or Michael Keaton :( In the end though the novelty wore off and I was left with a Mortal Kombat game with bunk fatalities, and I reverted to MK2 online and even Armageddon for my PS2 a few times. MK is about the gore man. Im getting more satisfaction outta UFC and nobody dies! Hoping for a solid reboot in the end... hoping.
My thoughts on all this is, MK vs DC was a mistake by Midway and this is a way for the franchise to hopefully redeem itself as a brutal fighting game and not some lame ass comic book/fighting game. No offense to DC fans:)
They should not have tried to toned down MK from the beginning. I abhorred MK vs DC. If I wanted watered fighting I would have played Mario Bros. I am glad they are going back to what made MK, MK........FATALITIES 8)
we need an updated 2D MK with more GORE/FATALITIES than ever before....!!!!
maybe fatalities that actually don't suck...they need to get gruesome with the deaths instead of trying to make them funny. take a page out of eternal champions challenge from the darkside. 2D would also be a huge plus...just look at SF4...2D with 3D elements just works better for these types of games.
No 2D!!!!! 2D sucks ass!!!! Keep it 3D and make it like Deception. Deception was the last truely great MK game.
This brand isn't even running on fumes anymore; it's running on the ghosts of fumes. Besides, how can they top Blitz 2, with close-up spinal ruptures and exploding scrotums?
@Kcube Agreed. Deffo needs to go back to its 2D roots, with an HD look. And plenty of unlockables too.
@AxL_2k7 I am aware of that, numpty. After all I was a teenager in the early 90's and bought the freaking game for my SNES after all! I said 80's STYLE game. There were a lot of martial arts movies back then that had that sort of gory combat feeling and characters. Look at Johnny Cage for example; basically modelled on the early Van Damme characters.
cool i have allways been a big fan .and did not like mk v dc now hes going back to wot mk all about it wont be the best fighting game out ther .but it will be a lot of fun
@ PlayTogether - that's actually a really good idea.... although I said myself 3D visuals on a 2D plane, I hadn't even thought of still keeping 2D visuals with a 2D plane, just making those 2D visuals extra, extra sharp and photo realistic... it could be inspired by the originals FMV look, but with much better up to date detail. Either way I can't wait to play a new MK game with proper gore.... and @ soITYger - awesome, just awesome. My Mrs collects Care Bears and would be suitably horrified, like she was when she saw that Care Bear shot in the head on South Park's Imaginationland episodes... ha ha
I wanna see MK vs Care Bears! w00t!!!
Y'all know what? I find it ironic that so many people diss MK. Because EVERY TIME there's an articles about MK, all these damn comments start racking up. Stop hatin'!
I still feel that MK2 was the best MK. Deception did a great job of bringing what made MK2 awesome to 3D. That being said, I think Boon & Crew need to go the Deception route with Fatalities, Hara Kiris, Multitiered Arenas, Death Traps and the minigames. Then throw in Friendships, Animalities, Babalities from MK2&3. Go "3D look with 2D gameplay" a la' SF4. And have "arcade-perfect ports" of their 2D predecessors as fan service. That would soooooo rock.
It would be cool if they went back to 2D over 3D.ALso add more stuff to the crypt..I loved unlocking stuff.
For the people who's CURRENTLY underestimating MK's goodness, MK came from hell (I mean below scorpion's hell) and back with the series. YES when MK3 thru MK: DA showed up, it went to deep crap. But now, the fanbase (I included) got back on the saddle of Kombat when Deception and MK vs. DC respawned the series as it was. Games nowadays, we can't just "expect" it anymore because we can't predict HOW it turned out, but WHY did/do we love it so much. Faith my peoples, give them time... and YAY! more blood!!!
Atta Boy!!! It's like coming out with new coke and when people went "Bleh" they came back with Coke Classic. The DC stuff was fun! But we want Mortal Kombat KLASSIC! And now we're dying for some bone snapping... blood spraying FANTASY violence!
i got bored of mortal kombat awhile ago, there gona have to go all out in this game or its gona flop
Can't wait to see a real Mortal Kombat. it should have a great story awesome gameplay and many many gore :D
From what I can tell, most people don't seem optimistic about a new MK title. I hope they can midway can pull it off, I love this series.
I think the older versions in the series can just do an HD makeover and be done with it. I don't need anymore Mortal Kombat games.
Je je, just to say something but... the first Mortal Kombat was released in 1992, so is a 90's game not an 80's game ^-^
Go back to the roots of the franchise with the 80's style and Chinese-ness of the first 2 games. I want to be shocked by the level of brutality. Maybe set it a few hundred years ago to give the characters a primitive aggression. Samurai's, monks, ninjas, barbarians, knights, native Americans, African tribesman, Vikings and the odd demon. That sort of thing. Probably sounds a bit corny but I think Booney could make it work.
MK started sucking b4 the vs DC one...its gona suck again.
I thought Armageddon was suppose to be the last MK game, because it probably should have been.
Maybe if they re-programmed the dated gameplay, people might actually play again. Or maybe they just need to develop a new fighting franchise.
"People want an M-rated MK," Boon said. "Dammit, we will give them an M-rated MK." this sounds like they'll just focus on it having lots of blood, leaving the gameplay like its been lately (read cr.ap)
I can't believe some people think MK vs DC was too slow. You can actually speed up a characters attack by how fast you input the combination. It doesn't get any more personalized than that. The movement in that game was near perfect and the fighting system from MK vs DC is a good system to build on. I loved it and there are still lots of people online having fun with it. I also don't know why some people say they should stop making MK when there areso many people who still love it. If you don't, why even bother. If you still love MK and want it to be the best it can, you should join Ed's twitter and respond when he asks for fan input.
I think it would be a sweet change (although unoriginal, as it will be copyiny SF4) if they left the 3-d fight mechanics behind and went for two dimensional fighting with 3-d characters...maybe then montaro could actually have all his legs.
@ thenephariouson: Yea, because if they did that they woulda just had, oh what's it called...A GOOD FIGHTING GAME! o_O
I think they should keep the 3-D look, with the 2-D fighting inspiration like they did in MK .vs. DC Universe, only make it fast paced. No slow attacks and weak combos. Also I hope they have a brand new arsenal of fighters, maybe with some exceptions like Scorpion and Sub-Zero ...etc. Remember almost all of them died in Armageddon!
I actually enjoyed the combat of MK vs. DC. But the finishers were lacking to say the least. Well, some of them gave me a chuckle. This time around, I hope they take a back to basics approach.2D kombat. None of that side-stepping crap. AND REAL FATALITIES!!!
Maybe this Mortal Kombat won't completely suck balls like MKvsDC. At what point did they actually think that making that game would be a good idea!??! please get rid of that ridiculous fighting in mid air too, and swap it for the old school uppercuts through the roof etc... all the stuff that made the old games so brilliant! and i agree with some previous posts - make it the style of the old games (upto mortal kombat trilogy, as that was essentially all the games put together). However I think instead of going for the Street Fighter IV style I reckon they should go for FULL 2D like the originals, just with immensely detailed HD graphics for all the characters/arenas etc
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