I think the fans influence the game more than they realise. How much do you, or are you able to, take on-board fan requests and include things at the suggestion of the MK community? "If you tweet at Ed Boon today about a character you want in MK11, it’s too late for the on-disc roster for sure, but maybe DLC" NetherRealm's Shaun Himmerick
Fatal Blows can only happen when the player’s health reaches below 30%, and it can only be used once per match, it’s really a nice comeback feature that can tilt the match in either direction if you can land it. Before, players were required to decide on whether to use their meter to perform an X-ray, combo breakers or to enhance special moves.
Fatal Blows are similar to X-ray moves that we had in Mortal Kombat X, however they no longer require the player to use meter. The player also regains meter over time, it no longer requires the player to take or receive damage to fill up their meter. By separating the meters, players can break out of a combo and still have meter to amplify special attacks. Before, the player was forced to manage one bar of meter for both offensive and defensive attacks. The big changes we made to the core fighting mechanics for MK11 were separating the players’ meter and having Fatal Blows not require meter. There are lots of changes to the core fighting for Mortal Kombat 11 – what’s been your goal this time around? What ‘feel’ is the team going for? This is something we have never done before, but all still fits in the MK universe.
Take our new character Geras for example, he can actually take time off the match timer, add time to the match timer and even rewind time. We do try and give new characters mechanics that haven’t existed before, but still have that MK feel. We don’t want them to feel any different than the rest of the established characters. The most important part about bringing new characters into the MK universe is making sure they feel like they have been a part of the universe all along. On that note, how do you handle bringing new characters into the fold? Are certain things dialled up to make them more appealing? I think fans would go crazy if they could see Ed Boon’s spreadsheet of that process. Who was in the last game? What does the story need? Who hasn’t been in a game for a while? Who have the fans been clamouring for the most? Who are the must-haves for this game? Who does the design team have gameplay ideas for already? Who do the artists have ideas for already? Are we looking to bring any new characters into the MK universe? Do we have enough heroes? Do we have enough ‘evil’ characters? Just getting those lists together is always more characters than could fit into a game, so we have to cut it down and make some hard choices because there are so many characters we all want to be in the game. That is a harder and longer process than I think people would imagine because there are so many factors to account for. How do you go about deciding which characters make it in and which don't? "We try and give new characters mechanics that haven’t existed before but still have that MK feel” Shaun Himmerick How do the developers choose who to include? How closely do they monitor fan feedback? What determines each character's importance to the plot? Official Xbox Magazine (opens in new tab) spoke to NetherRealm studio head, Shaun Himmerick, to learn about their selection process, and series' creator Ed Boon's mysterious character spreadsheet. With Mortal Kombat 11 (opens in new tab) launching on all console formats and PC this April 23rd, its developer NetherRealm Studios have had to make some tough choices to trim the playable roster back to 22 (currently confirmed) characters. 27 years later, the series has expanded over 11 games - and multiple comic, TV and movie spin-offs - to incorporate 78 characters (opens in new tab), from stalwarts like Scorpion and his legendary refrain of 'Get over here!', to oddities like Hsu Hao (opens in new tab), who resembles a Hulk cosplayer from the North Korean army. Mortal Kombat (opens in new tab) has come a long way since its 1992 arcade debut, with its initial roster of seven playable characters, three bosses (including the iconic multi-limbed Goro) and the once-shocking concept of a fatality.