Mortal Kombat Legacy, Episode 1 debuts online

By Ryan Fleming April 12, 2011

It is shaping up to be a big month for the Mortal Kombat franchise. Next week the series will return to consoles with the eagerly awaited and aptly named Mortal Kombat, something that should delight the game’s gore loving fans everywhere. The game which is not a reboot (although it kinda is), will serve as a starting point for new fans of the series, as well as a way to simplify the storyline which has gotten somewhat unruly of late. Realism has never been a major influence on the story of the series, but things were getting a bit out of hand with robots, dead assassins and cyborg cops.

But before you can get your hands around the throat of Kano in the game, you can watch a live action version of him, Sonya Blade, Jax and more in the coming weeks, thanks to the recently debuted web-based series, Mortal Kombat Legacy.

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The series began thanks to Kevin Tancharoen (Fame), a former music video director who had an idea on how to make Mortal Kombat work as a live action film grounded in a sense of gritty realism, in the same way that Christopher Nolan’s Batman avoids the comic book pitfalls that could have plagued the Batman universe. Tanchareon’s Mortal Kombat would be to the old MK films, what Nolan’s Batman was to the Burton.Schumacher films.

To prove this, the director decided to create a short-film set in our world, but using Mortal Kombat characters. The film, titled Mortal Kombat Rebirth, starred Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight, Black Dynamite) and Jeri Ryan (Star Trek: Voyager, Down With Love). Paid for with his own money, the director then took the video to Warner Bros as a pitch for a possible new film series. You can see the original video here, although be warned, it is somewhat gory and not safe for work.

Warner nixed the movie idea, but commissioned Tancharoen to create a series of 10-episodes to be aired online. Each episode will be over 10 minutes, but no set release schedule has been given.

The episodes will debut exclusively on Machinima. Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan return to their roles as Jax and Sonya Blade, and Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse) joins the cast as Stryker.

Check out the first episode below, be beware of NSFW language and adult themes.

[Warning: The Following trailer may not be suitable for all ages]

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Entertainment

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

How to unlock all Kameo Fighters in Mortal Kombat 1

Rain stands next to Sektor in Mortal Kombat 1.

Despite always sticking to the traditional one-versus-one format for the main series, Mortal Kombat 1 has introduced a secondary system using Kameo Fighters that you can call in to assist you during a fight. This helps expand the roster from its already impressive ranks by including some fan favorites, but more importantly, it adds a new level of depth to the fighter to consider when picking your backup. These assists even have their own unique Fatalities as well! Even so, just like Havik, you have to do a little work to unlock these Kameo Fighters. If you want to take the fight to the online ranks, you will need to have all the Kameo Fighters at your disposal. Here's how to unlock them all in Mortal Kombat 1.
How to unlock all Kameo Fighters
Unlocking Kameo Fighters is tied to your overall profile level. You level up your profile by doing basically any activity in the game, such as playing Invasions mode and the Tower. Whatever you pick, every five levels you reach will reward you with one new Kameo Fighter. Here's which ones you unlock at each milestone:

Level 5 - Scorpion

Gaming

Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities: how to do every character’s Fatality

Shang Tsung stealing someone's soul in Mortal Kombat 1.

What set the Mortal Kombat franchise apart when it first hit arcades was just how brutally violent the games were. It looks tame now, but the Fatalities of the original game were some of the most shocking things anyone had seen in a game up to that point, pixelated graphics and all. With Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm continues to churn our stomachs with some of the most disgustingly detailed ways to dismantle your opponent. Everyone loves seeing these creative ways your favorite fighter can definitively end a fight, but if you want to show off to your friends and humiliate your enemy, you have to know the specific button input to pull it off for each character. There are more that you can unlock, but here is how to perform every character's basic Fatality in Mortal Kombat 1.
How to perform all basic Fatalities
Here are all the default inputs for every character's Fatality on PlayStation and Xbox controls in alphabetical order, as well as what range you need to be at to trigger the Fatality. Once you have reduced your opponent's health to 0 and they are susceptible to a Fatality, which you will know from the announcer calling out "Finish him" or "Finish her," you will have five seconds to input the correct sequence.
Ashrah - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, Triangle/Y
Baraka - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
General Shao - Mid range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
Geras - Mid range
Forward, Down, Down, Circle/B
Havik - Close range
Down, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Johnny Cage - Close range
Forward, Back, Down, Triangle/Y
Kenshi - Close range
Forward, Down, Down, Triangle/Y
Kitana - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Kung Lao - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Circle/B
Li Mei - Close range
Forward, Back, Forward, Cross/A
Lui Kang - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, Circle/B
Mileena - Close range
Back, Forward, Back, Square/X
Nitara - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Square/X
Raiden - Close range
Back, Forward, Back, Triangle/Y
Rain - Close range
Down, Down, Back, Circe/B
Reiko - Mid range
Down, Down, Back, Triangle/Y
Reptile - Mid range
Forward, Back, Down, Circle/B
Scorpion - Mid range
Down, Forward, Back, RT
Shang Tsung - Close range
Back, Down, Down, Circle/B
Sindel - Mid range
Down, Back, Down, Square/X
Smoke - Any range
Back, Forward, Down, Square/X
Sub Zero - Any range
Forward, Down, Down, Triangle/Y
Tanya - Close range
Down, Back, Down, Cross/A
All Kameo Fighter Fatalities
Cyrax - Mid range
Forward, Back, Forward, RB
Darrius - Mid range
Down, Back, Forward, RB
Frost - Mid range
Back, Down, Back, RB
Goro - Close range
Back, Forward, Down, RB
Jax - Far range
Down, Forward, Down, RB
Kano Mid range
Back, Down, Forward, RB
Kung Lao - Mid range
Forward, Back, Forward, RB
Sareena - Mid range
Back, Down, Down, RB
Scorpion - Mid range
Down, Forward, Down, RB
Sektor - Mid range
Back, Forward, Back, RB
Shunjiko - Mid range
Down, Back, Down, RB
Sonya - Mid range
Back, Forward, Down, RB
Stryker - Mid range
Forward, Down, Forward, RB
Sub-Zero - Mid range
Forward, Down, Forward, RB

Gaming

Mortal Kombat 1’s story mode shares strengths and weaknesses with superhero movies

Key art for Mortal Kombat 1 shows Liu Kang.

NetherRealm Studios has perfected the cinematic fighting game story mode.

Ever since 2008’s Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, the Chicago-based studio has played a critical role in fleshing out what single-player, story-focused narratives in fighting games should look like, forever changing a genre that historically focused on multiplayer. By now, the formula for these story modes feels like it’s down to a science. They’re split into multiple chapters, each focusing on one character and featuring four fights between cinematic action and character-focused scenes.