While Mortal Kombat 11 has its highs, it’s no doubt that the series had drawn some criticism over its toned down gameplay. The same can’t be said for Mortal Kombat 1, which launches next month and had its Closed Beta this past weekend.

Look, when you’re talking about Mortal Kombat, chances are you’re usually discussing overblown violence instead of actual system mechanics. And while the lovingly gruesome fatalities of recent entries are still plentiful in their presence and gore, what really impressed me with Mortal Kombat 1 is just how fresh it feels.

LIGHT PUNCH, MEDIUM PUNCH

The star mechanic for the title is, of course, its Kameo system. While previous Mortal Kombat titles have been strictly one-on-one affairs, the latest title has added tag fighting- letting you call in other characters to do attacks or get you out of trouble. It’s fairly flexible, with each character having a variety of moves they can do that will usually cover a variety of options.

Of course, just tagging in Kano wouldn’t do nearly as much to Mortal Kombat 1’s gameplay as you’d think. These work great with the reworks the cast themselves have gotten. While classic roster picks like Sub-Zero and Liu Kang still have a bunch of their iconic moves, the overall DNA of Mortal Kombat has been reworked. The game feels so much lighter on its feet, letting you do things like air combos much easier than before.

I cannot stress how big of a jump this is from Mortal Kombat 11. Where the previous title had many characters feeling similar, the few that we’ve seen in this one are aggressively unique. Newcomer Li Mei has setplay in the form of lanterns she can throw out, and with the proper Kameo picks can potentially juggle you infinitely. Kenshi himself is a stance-based puppet character now, being able to summon a ghostly samurai who moves after certain attacks. Meanwhile Johnny Cage has seemingly turned into Beowulf from Skullgirls, building his hype meter to unlock Installs.

It’s not accurate to say that 11 characters had nothing unique going for them, but the game’s focus on alternate styles and customizable moves definitely made it harder for each character to feel unique. Here in Mortal Kombat 1, you can tell what each character is about much sooner. Johnny Cage’s Hype meter is a visible part of the UI, and way more of Kitana’s moves will launch herself into the air compared to your Kenshis and Sub-Zero.

More importantly, what these characters do is fun. Every move feels like it has so much more potential than it initially lets on, and being able to do things like 50-50s with Kenshi or lantern setups with Li Mei just make you feel smarter for thinking of it, especially if you can do them reliably.

The Mortal Kombat Juice You Love

That being said, if you just loved Mortal Kombat for the gratuitous violence (who wouldn’t, honestly), there’s plenty in it for you as well. Kameos are also a big part of these displays, with each Fatality letting you choose between having your point character or their Kameo do their finishers. There’s also the Fatal Blows- the comeback mechanic that performs long, cinematic supers to blow out a chunk of your opponent’s health. These are now broken up into two portions, one performed by the Kameo and one by the point character.

It’s a really neat decision for the casual player, since you can kind of create your own bloody horror here since two similar fighters can have different looking Fatal Blows if their Kameos are different. They’re just as cartoony as they were in 11 too, so you can see Jax destroy a guy’s spine before Kenshi runs them through with two swords, only for them to somehow still get up and fight after.

Nothing Short Of Excitement

With Mortal Kombat 1 dropping next month, there’s a lot to get hyped for. This is easily the most inventive Mortal Kombat game in years, retaining a lot of the modern MK identity while still giving it a splash of exciting mechanics and a breath of fresh air thanks to the Kameo system. As a Beta, there are some gripes to be had- the lack of anything  even resembling a tutorial means having to unravel any of the game’s mechanics on your own, while the lack of any kind of simple control option makes it stick out compared to titles like Tekken 8 and Street Fighter 6.

Still, if you’ve any love for magic ninjas, hype-powered movie stars and the kind of God that would still create a universe with Shang Tsung in it, it’s definitely a fighting game to add to your party game rotation.