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NetherRealm’s gear system was a revolutionizing mechanic in fighting games that only served to improve the genre, and it deserves to return.
While developer NetherRealm Studios made their name with the iconic and disturbing fatalities of Mortal Kombat, they needed something tamer. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe was hampered by the restricted use of fatalities, and the Injustice series was going to need something to give it an edge. While Injustice made do with a cinematic story mode, it wasn’t until the gear system that they landed on their new niche.
The gear system was introduced in Injustice 2 and allowed players to customize their favorite fighter in aesthetics and statistics to create a fighter unique to anyone else’s. Mechanics like this were largely unheard of in the genre at the time, and it took players some time to get used to. While the player base remains divided on Injustice 2‘s use of gear, it still made a return for Mortal Kombat 11, more refined than ever before. Now that Mortal Kombat 11 has officially wrapped up its development cycle, fans are already starting to wonder if the gear system will make an appearance in the next NetherRealm title.
In Injustice 2, the gear system features a variety of customizable pieces that could change the look of a fighter. However, aside from aesthetics, this also alters the statistics of each fighter. When initially introduced, players felt that this hindered the integrity of the game as now skill wasn’t a factor so much as whoever had the bigger number. While this was true to a point, the game remained balanced enough to never have players run into that problem too often. Mortal Kombat 11 later changed this by keeping aesthetics and skill largely separated, with MK11‘s gear being purely cosmetic.
While MK11 may have limited the cosmetic changes a character had, they expanded upon customizing a character’s moves. Each character had a few base special moves that were always present, but they also had three slots for custom abilities. Now, each player could change their special moves, such as Scorpion’s teleport punch with a flaming charge or giving a character the ability to teleport. In addition, the unlockable features incentivize players to spend time with the characters to learn the best move set for a character. An XP meter attached to the gear also unlocked some mild power-ups, but these had a minor effect on gameplay.
Both Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat 11 put the gear system to great use with an AI battle mode, as well. In this, players could pit their AI fighters against each other by customizing habits, gear and abilities in order to unlock gear or, in Injustice 2‘s case, Mother Boxes. The level of freedom a player has in making a fighter inadvertently benefits the community because now each opponent, even if it’s the same character, plays differently than the last. The number of variations created by the variety of gear and bonuses keeps the online community fresh in ways that couldn’t have been done in earlier installments.
NetherRealm’s gear system is one of the most unique and unprecedented mechanics in fighting games. However, because of its scarcity in the genre, it has had the freedom to expand and evolve into various facets of online battles. There is still a lot of potential left in the tank for the system, and by returning in their next title, it could have the opportunity to evolve even further.
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