Mortal Kombat X was definitely a game I was hoping to get a look at when I was heading to E3. Standing in line for Batman Arkham Knight and seeing the line for Mortal Kombat stretching ridiculously far into the convention center after the place had been open less than an hour made me realize I needed to do that first thing the next morning. I did just that and I was not disappointed by what I saw.

There were only about six characters revealed in the game play footage that we were shown. Two were Scorpion and Sub-zero and the rest were new characters. The most notable of these, and she was really only shown on the character select scene, was Cassie Cage who is apparently the daughter of Johnny Cage and Sonya. Briefly glimpsed in a compilation trailer they showed at the end, she looks likes a hybrid of the two characters with a para-military look and Johnny’s splits move. The two other characters that were highlighted were the insect like D’Vorah and the combo character Ferra/Torr that consists of a dwarf and a brute who fight together. The fourth character was not revealed save for the thumbnail pic on the character select screen.

Aside from the new characters, one of the major changes this time around is that each character has three variations that adds new moves to that character’s standard move set that changes the way the character plays. Each variation includes visual cues that will let you know which variation your opponent has chosen. We were shown the different variations for Sub-Zero and Scorpion and they ranged from Scorpion gaining weapons, summoning a demon, and his whole body being engulfed in flames to Sub-Zero emphasizing ice clones and summoning ice swords. Ferra and Torr’s variations were also shown, one of which including a variation in which Torr fought by himself and one in which Ferra stabs Torr in the back to make him angrier and fight more brutally.

In addition to the variations, Mortal Kombat X has taken a page from Injustice’s book and added environmental leveraging that allows the player to use the environment as a weapon or as a way to escape tight spots like being backed into a corner. The level of interactivity with the background and environment in Injustice was extensive and I hope that Mortal Kombat follows suit here. There was no word on stage transfers or any of that but I am hopeful that those will be added as well.

Returning to the mix are the brutal X-ray moves that debuted in the ninth iteration and they are very welcome here. Also present is the persistent damage in which bodily injuries remain on the character throughout the whole fight. Given the level of brutality on display here, characters look pretty torn up by the end regardless of whether or not the fight ends with a fatality.

The team teased us a bit with the fatalities in the fights they were playing before showing a quick montage of several fatalities and X-ray moves in quick succession which were a little mind numbing but at the end they went back and showed us Scorpion’s fatality and it was straight crazy. Words are not going to do this thing justice but it included a shot to Sub-Zero’s chest that blew a hole clean through him with his heart dropping down into the hole before Scorpion uses a sword to slice Sub-Zero’s face in half and when the body hits the ground what is left of his brain slides out onto the ground.  This is just one example of how hardcore the fatalities are here and how high the bar has been raised.

Everything shown looked very solid and the fighting looked to be a step up from the last title and looked like faster paced and more dynamic. The new variations add a lot of depth to an already loaded fighting system and will give players a lot more options especially when the environmental elements are added in. There was no talk of other modes or the story but it looks like standard fights will have a fair amount of replay value on their own. I cannot wait to get my hands on this thing.