If you missed yesterday’s #kombatkast, don’t worry. We all received a bit of a unique Valentine’s Day gift this year in the form of NetherRealm Studios’ latest Mortal Kombat 11 reveal trailer. Popular character Jade returns as an undead assassin and showcases some gruesome staff moves that culminate in a pretty gnarly fatality. Her opening quip used on Baraka makes her sound pretty bad ass as well! Check it out below.
Armed primarily with an extendable Bo staff, Jade is also seen utilizing a new version of her Cyclone Thrower that she has used in the past. She can enter a stance that seems to allow projectiles to pass through her, as well as spin her Bo in order to return projectiles to her attacker. She has teleport abilities to close the gap as well, making her appear to be a fairly decent utility character. In yet another graphic fatal blow, Jade runs her Cyclone Thrower down the spine of Baraka, then teleports in front of him to slit his throat and throw the weapon into the air. She jumps up and catches it to bring it down into his skull. Ew, right? Plenty enough, right? Wrong, she ain’t finished. For her fatality she then spins him around and extends her Bo through the back of his skull, popping out an eye, then teleports in front of him to cut him in half and spin him on the staff like a toy. I think he’s got the point, Jade.
Jade’s last appearance was in Mortal Kombat (2011), where she met her end at the hands of Queen Sindel. She was later revived as a Revenant by the evil sorcerer Quan Chi alongside Kung Lao, Liu Kang, Kitana and many others. She was then mysteriously absent from Mortal Kombat X even though the rest of the Revenant gang was in attendance. Now that her best friend Kitana is in charge of Netherrealm she is set to make her return. It will be interesting to see if her absence is explained in any way, or if she was just taking a nap (do the undead nap?) during the events of the last game. Her armor has also gotten an upgrade since we’ve last seen her, with a more (yet still barely) functional outfit donned.
The series’ over-the-top violence has gone from controversial, to cringe-y, to the accepted norm for the genre. In the franchise’s latest re-imagining in 2011, NetherRealm Studios has since embraced that excessive savagery and outlandish story lines to bring a fresh take on a series that prior had grown a little stagnant for me. I know I just called a retcon a “fresh take”, but I feel like it was done in a way that both recognizes what it is and keeps it fun and engaging to play. I know most players aren’t picking it up for the plot, but myself have found the new timeline fun to follow along with.
Mortal Kombat 11 is set to release on April 23, 2019 on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
