Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat 1 was previewed on a Playstation 5 build.

Mortal Kombat’s newest entry turns the mayhem into a party with a new partner system called Kameos, a tag-in assist characters system that has legacy Mortal Kombat characters jump in to throw out some of their patented special moves. The playable demo at Summer Game Fest featured Kano, Sonya Blade, and Jax Kameo characters, each dressed in their MK 1 & 2 attire. The moves vary with directional inputs and allow for anti-air attacks, projectiles or regular attacks. When used mid combo, they can prove to be incredibly deadly and visually stunning.

Anyone who's played Mortal Kombat 11 will know largely what they’re getting otherwise. The fighter still feels heavy, but is a sliver more quick feeling than MK11. The rest of the toolkit returns, including the match-ending fatal blow special moves, and the incredibly gruesome fatalities. Everyone gets drenched in blood each match, and the fatalities continue to feel like an ongoing escalation of violence that defies logic in the best way possible.

The new slate of characters in the playtest were (the now God of Fire) Liu Kang, razor sharp fan wielding Kitana, the perennial iceman Sub Zero, and blind telekinetic swordsman Kenshi. Their new physical outfits are true to their characters roots but have minor adjustments that feel fresh. The levels have depth and little details that you can get a glimpse of through the matches. The bit of audio we heard in the hands-off portion of the demo was well designed, matching every impact with a kind of booming thud that is part of what gives the game its heft. The voice acting is well done, with writing that’s largely serious in tone but carries just a bit of humor to keep the scenes from feeling campy.

While we did not have access to the Switch version, representatives confirmed it will release day-and-date with the other platforms on September 19 and targets performance on-par with them. The new Kameo system promises to add a new wrinkle to the series, but it remains to be seen how cleanly you can see Kano blowing a snot rocket out his nose on Switch.