One of the most beloved characters from the diverse and character-rich fighting universe of Mortal Kombat is Kung Lao. The hat-wearing monk is making his return to Mortal Kombat X when the game launches this spring for home consoles and PC.
IGN spotted a forum thread with a translated roll out of new information and details of Mortal Kombat X that revealed Kung Lao.
One user translated the Finnish gaming magazine that nabbed the exclusive, detailing some really interesting new details. The story for the game takes place 25 years after Mortal Kombat 9.
We still don't really know what Kung Lao's story is in the game, but he's obviously a bit older and more grayed. We also see that his hat's design has changed a bit from how it was designed in the previous iterations, looking more like a hollowed out blade saw rather than a hate with a razor-rimmed edge.
Even though a trailer for Kung Lao hasn't been released like some of the other pugilists that have been revealed for Mortal Kombat X, such as Quan Chi, Raiden or Kano, he does have his three fighting stances detailed. As mentioned in the forum thread...
"The differences between Kung Lao's Tempest-, Buzz Saw- and Hat Trick -variations happen to be the biggest ones yet. With Tempest Kung Lao uses more spinning attacks and has the ability to set his hat to spin around him as a shield of sorts. In his Buzz Saw variation his hat is sharpened with razor blade edges and allows the player to control his hat throws more. Hat Trick is the most experimental of the three, because you can throw and call back your hat at any point you want. This keeps the opponent on their toes, because the hat can extend combos."
That Hat Trick style seems wicked. I can easily imagine that a lot of people will use that during expert tournament play to completely throw opponents off. The idea that the delayed hat could be used at any time to call back and completely destroy someone who isn't paying attention is a brilliant way to keep someone off their game.
I really have to admit that the three fighting styles per character helps expand the game's versatility tenfold. It gives each character a new opportunity to become dangerous based on their moves and abilities. I really, really want to see how well this game will fair during the FGC tournaments and big events like Evo.
The spinning attack with the Tempest set is already a popular style of play with Kung. A lot of times during tournament play we get to see how players utilize the spin move to work as both a defensive and corner-offensive attack to keep players off their game. It would be awesome to see two Kung Laos go head to head using the different styles, given that we already know how Tempest can be played (more defensive and camping) where-as something like Hat Trick is entirely based on combo-timing and trapping. I can't wait to see what Kung's video looks like for Mortal Kombat X.
The game is set for release this April for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC.
