Fighting game fans have been waiting for more news about Mortal Kombat 11 with abated breath, and now we’ve got just the news they’re looking for. NetherRealm Studios has teased one more addition to the roster of the next mainline entry into the iconic fighting game franchise, and it’s an interesting one at that.
The developer has announced another character to be jumping into the ring in the game. This time it’s the masked and mysterious wielder of two swords, Kabal.
Since his introduction in Mortal Kombat 3, Kabal has been a very strange character. He’s a long-time member of the powerful Black Dragon clan, and he’s long had ambitions of assuming the mantle of leadership in that organization. His ruthless fighting style blends elements of Sun Bin, the Chinese martial art, with a pair of vicious-looking hooked blades. The masked warrior has fluctuated between different loyalties and moral stances, switching between good and evil sides, throughout his history in the franchise. It will be interesting to see what lore backdrop NetherRealm gives the fighter in this new iteration. Seeing as how he flipped from defending EarthRealm against Kahn’s forces, to instead furthering his own ambitions, it will likely mean he’s either changing sides again, or he’ll fulfill his ambitions.
In terms of gameplay, he’s long been a more minor story character with an incredibly powerful stable of moves. His first introduction into the series was arguably one of his best, as many fans considered Kabal one of the most powerful characters in Mortal Kombat 3.
And in case you were wondering, Mortal Kombat 11 will feature 25 fighters in total, of which we know 12 currently. There’s the ten main fighters everyone expects. Then there’s Kano and Kabal, who are the most recent announcements to be joining the roster.
In other news, good news actually, NetherRealm is currently looking to add cross-platform play to their latest game. There’s also a kool Kollector’s Edition of the game, including a really great Scorpion mask as a bonus.
Mortal Kombat 11 will launch on on April 23 for PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Switch. We’ve included both the reveal trailer and some gameplay footage of Kabal down below, if you want to take a look at that.
