The new Mortal Kombat is bringing back a classic finishing move, the brutality, developer NetherRealm confirmed today in a livestream where it debuted the feature. The return of brutalities in Mortal Kombat X will bring back some of "that humiliation factor," NetherRealm says, because of how the finishing move is designed.
Unlike fatalities, which require a sequence of inputs to execute, brutalities in Mortal Kombat X will have various conditions that players must meet in order to pull them off. Players might have to win a match with a throw, for example, or not use the block button during a match, NetherRealm's Brian Lebaron said.
He said there are "over 100" brutalities in the game, each with varying levels of difficulty.
Players will be able to combo their way into a brutality, Lebaron said, but the flashy finishing move won't cause extra damage or give players an unfair game advantage. It's really just a new finishing move option that's based on existing special moves and a way to show off your Mortal Kombat skills.
Brutalities were introduced in the console versions of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and were originally a lengthy combo that resulted in the gory explosion of one's opponent. Lebaron said NetherRealm wanted to design something that was "much more accessible and fit with the gameplay" of MKX. In the video above, you can see some brutality examples, like Kung Lao tossing his hat into the chest cavity of his opponent and newcomer Cassie Cage crotch-punching someone so hard that her head flies off.
The brutalities showcase kicks off around 17 minutes into the replay of today's Mortal Kombat X livestream, embedded below, or we've clipped out the montage reel above if you're only interested in new ways to kill the cast of MK.
Mortal Kombat X comes to PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One on April 14.
