Summary
Mortal Kombat 1gave eager fans who pre-ordered the game an exclusive beta this past weekend, and it provided the perfect tease of what’s to come. A slight step up from the earlier stress tests,Mortal Kombat 1’s closed betagave players a total of six fighters to choose from, along with four Kameo characters, and two stages. Though there are still plenty of tricks upMortal Kombat 1’s sleeve, the beta did a great job of giving players an insight into how this new entry is going to work, and the general reception has been incredibly positive.
On the surface,Mortal Kombat 1plays very similarly to the last entry in the franchise, and that’s far from a bad thing.Mortal Kombat 1doesn’t just translateMK11’s mechanicsone-for-one, but tweaks and refines them to the point of near-perfection, ensuring that every character feels balanced and fun to play. But that being said, a beta is a beta for a reason, and there are just one or two tweaks that the Fire God himself Liu Kang could use beforeMortal Kombat 1’s full release next month.
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What Mortal Kombat 1 Should Change About Liu Kang After the Beta
Generally speaking, Liu Kang is one of the best and most accessible fighters inMortal Kombat 1. Liu Kang is a jack-of-all-trades, and he’s extremely proficient at just about everything.Mortal Kombat 1’s Liu Kanghas a good few long-range projectile attacks, a decent number of close-range special moves, and plenty of options to cycle through those with attacks that both close the gap and maintain distance, such as his Dragon Kick and his own version of Raiden’s teleport. Liu Kang can keep his opponents exactly where he wants them with ease, and his varied moveset paves the way for some simple but highly effective combos.
The vast majority of Liu Kang’s combos can be achieved very easily, with a lot of his basic kick and punch combos requiring just three inputs, and usually involving just two separate buttons, clicked in a simple rhythm. This makes Liu Kang an incredibly accessible character, and he should be the first port of call for anyMortal Kombatnewcomer. That being said,Mortal Kombat 1’s Liu Kang isn’t quite perfect, and the beta certainly highlighted the fighter’s, admittedly very few, weaknesses.
Liu Kang’s biggest weakness inMortal Kombat 1is his lack of low-hitting basic combos. While staple special moves like the Low Fireball are still there,Liu Kang’s regular combosoften see him hitting his opponent’s mid and high sections, meaning that if the opponent is ducked, they likely won’t land the majority of the combo. This isn’t a huge issue, as Liu Kang players can simply perform a low kick to force their opponents to stand up, but it is a noticeable weakness in a kit that’s otherwise well-rounded.
WithMortal Kombat 1releasing in less than a month’s time, it’s unlikely that any significant changes will be made to Liu Kang, and nor do they necessarily need to be. Liu Kang, in the right hands, can be an incredibly difficult fighter to play against, and him having a slight weakness to low guards is a good way of keeping the character balanced. In the long term, it may help new players learn that sometimes they’ll need to open up an attack opportunity for themselves.
Mortal Kombat 1will be released on August 05, 2025, for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
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