As we await the much-anticipated release of Mortal Kombat 11 on April 23, 2019, there’s no lack of good info coming out. The latest Kombat Kast didn’t show off any new characters we didn’t already know about, but it did take a deep dive into the gameplay of Kotal Kahn and Jacqui Briggs. Kotal Kahn is looking like a hard-hitting sub-boss while Jacqui brings a blend of gunplay and that classic Briggs muscle and confidence.
The March 20 Kombat Kast started off with Kotal Kahn. Kahn is built to be an overpowering brawler in Mortal Kombat 11, supplemented by various buffing mechanics. The team at NetherRealm happily showed off a ton of Kotal Kahmbos that have a ton of advancement, complete with various command grabs that can really put the hurt on enemies. The basic idea of Kotal can be seen in the clip below.
In addition to his aggressive basic moves and combos, Kotal has the use of various buffing in his movelist. One set makes use of summonable totems, each with their own affect. One totem will buff Kotal’s special bar regeneration, while another will draw blood from successful damage Kotal lands, healing him after a certain time. In another loadout, Kotal has a blood drinking command grab that makes his tattoos glow and buffs his damage for a time. With these and other command grabs (one of which turns him into a vicious and hungry jungle cat), Kotal looks like when he gets rolling, he’ll be difficult to stop.
For Jacqui, the team at NetherRealm took a new approach to her. Where MKX’s Jacqui Briggs was rather heavy on range, Mortal Kombat 11’s Jacqui has a lot more options to get up close and personal. The team described her as “almost an entirely new character” that is rather complex. As someone that can cancel into a lot of unique moves and features a ton of intricate options, Jacqui is a character that will be a bit more complex to learn.
Jacqui comes equipped with a few moves coming from her dad Jax, such as the dash punch, as well as some new tech for her legs to make one of her strongest starters. Her rapid kick special can pop enemies up and get her close-up combos going strong. Of course, Jacqui has her ranged options as well. She comes equipped with rockets, throwable grenades that make energy walls, and more. Her loadouts will be a blend between various grappling, brawling, and projectile options which make her look pretty versatile in addition to her complexity. Between Kotal’s more straightforward aggressiveness and Jacqui’s complexity, it’s a solid spread of character style for one Kombat Kast.
Jacqui and Kotal Kahn were among the list of confirmed characters for Mortal Kombat 11 already, but on Friday March 22, we’ll be getting more when Mortal Kombat has a panel at C2E2 that shows off a new regular character and the first DLC character. Stay tuned for more MK11 coming soon.
