What you need to know
- Mortal Kombat 1 is a 2023 fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and published by WB Games.
- An expansion called Khaos Reigns is on the way, bringing new characters and story chapters to play.
- Khaos Reigns deals with the threat of an alternate-universe Havik, as well bringing six DLC characters: Conan the Barbarian, Cyrax, Ghostface, Noob Saibot, Sektor, and the T-1000.
- Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns is slated to launch on Sep. 24, 2024 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch.
Test your might, or your knowledge of scary movies.
NetherRealm Games and WB Games' 2023 fighting game Mortal Kombat 1 is getting a big expansion. Titled Khaos Reigns, this expansion adds new story chapters that continue the saga of this reboot to the Mortal Kombat universe, as well as bringing six new characters for players to utilize with Kombat Pack 2.
You can check out the trailer below, but be aware there are some light spoilers for the main game:
The story DLC revolves around the threat of the alternate-universe Titan Havik, whose presence (which was teased at the end of the main game) introduces new challenges for the residents of Fire God Liu Kang's new world.
Meanwhile, the new characters being added delve into Mortal Kombat classics as well as classic 80s and 90s films, bringing Conan (from Conan the Barbarian), Cyrax, Ghostface (from Scream), Noob Saibot, Sektor, and the T-1000 (from Terminator 2: Judgment Day).
That's not all that's new, as Animalities are also returning after being absent from the franchise for years. Players will able to transform and obliterate their opponents as a giant praying mantis, a skeletal T-Rex, and more.
Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns is slated to launch on Sep. 24, 2024, across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. Cyrax, Sektor, and Noob Saibot will all be included at the expansion's launch, while the guest characters are being added at a later point.
In my review of Mortal Kombat 1, I wrote that "The story mode is NetherRealm at its best, with funny moments, great pacing, and a ton of action. Most of the performances are top-notch, while the visual detail here puts Mortal Kombat 1 up as one of the best-looking games available right now."
Analysis: Gearing up for round 2
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Mortal Kombat 1 performed well at launch, quickly selling over 3 million copies and becoming the eighth best-selling game of 2023 in the U.S. Even so, players have raised numerous complaints around monetization, and the lack of a gap between this game and its predecessor, 2019's Mortal Kombat 11, has also raised some questions.
The launch of this expansion can help to serve as a relaunch for the game, allowing it to find stronger footing as other fighting games like Street Fighter 6 are chugging along and Riot Games' 2XKO is on the way.
