NetherRealm Studios’ Injustice video game series has long featured several similarities to the developer’s flagship Mortal Kombat franchise. Both series are primarily 2D fighting games, featuring vast rosters of skilled heroes, villains, and monsters with complex fighting mechanics, enthralling multiplayer, and challenging PVE modes. Fighters from both franchises have additionally crossed over between one another with Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Raiden appearing in Injustice and Joker appearing in Mortal Kombat. Both series' campaigns have further dealt with multiversal threats in recent entries. While Injustice 3 may be years away from development, NetherRealm could feature several DC Comics heroes and villains in the game by introducing one feature from Mortal Kombat 1: Kameo fighters.
Whether It’s Injustice 3 or a New Mortal Kombat, NetherRealm’s Next Game Should Revive This Feature
NetherRealm has a few options for what their next game could be, and one past game mode is absolutely worth bringing back for either Injustice or MK.
Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo Fighters Explained
2023’s Mortal Kombat 1 was a spiritual reboot for the series in many ways. For one, the game is set in an entirely new universe created by Titan Liu Kang following the events of Mortal Kombat 11. Here, several characters' backstories, appearances, and genders were changed due to Liu Kang striving to make this timeline more balanced and peaceful compared to his past universe. This can be seen with Scorpion being Kuai Liang instead of Hanzo Hasashi, Sektor being a woman, and Shao Khan being a mere general instead of a conquering emperor, to name a few differences. Despite these narrative changes, the new timeline also introduced a fresh way to combat foes with the debut of Kameo fighters.
Unlike the main roster of fully playable fighters, Kameo fighters cannot be utilized completely by players and instead can only assist players in battle. Each player can assign one Kameo fighter to join them in matches where they can be deployed to briefly attack the opposition, defend the player from an attack, or help perform combo attacks and fatalities. Another difference from the main roster of fighters is that most Kameo fighters are alternate iterations of classic and niche Mortal Kombat characters from across the near 33-year-old franchise. So far, only 21 Kameo fighters have been introduced in Mortal Kombat 1 compared to the 35 main fighters available in the game, including:
- Darrius
- Ferra
- Frost
- Goro
- Janet Cage
- Khameleon
- Madam Bo
- Mavado
- Motaro
- Original Cyrax
- Original Jax
- Original Kano
- Original Kung Lao
- Original Scorpion
- Original Sektor
- Original Sonya Blade
- Original Stryker
- Original Sub-Zero
- Sareena
- Shujinko
- Tremor
Potential Kameo Fighters For Injustice 3
While the Kameo fighter mechanic wasn’t universally received well by Mortal Kombat players, it’s still likely for NetherRealm to re-introduce it or another mechanic like it to Injustice 3 if the game eventually happens. Given the wide range of characters found in Mortal Kombat 1’s Kameo fighter roster, Injustice 3 could similarly host a wide range of Kameo fighters from not just the Injustice universe, but from all of DC Comics. No Kameo fighter released so far has been from a separate movie, game, show, or comic book franchise, despite many pitching Chucky the killer doll to be one, so it’s probable Injustice 3 would feature a similar pattern with its Kameo roster.
With Mortal Kombat 1 featuring some Kameo fighters from the series' past, Injustice 3 could do the same with some previously playable characters in Injustice 1 and 2. For example, Captain Cold and Killer Frost could appear as Kameo fighters and function similarly to Kameo Sub-Zero. Doomsday and Solomon Grundy could also appear as Kameo fighters and function similarly to fellow heavyweight combatants Goro, Motaro, or Tremor. Kameo fighters could be another way to keep previously deceased characters in Injustice 3, such as Gorilla Grodd, Lex Luthor, and Shazam, without having to mess up canon or have them appear in dream and past sequences. It could also be a way to feature notably less popular prior fighters in Injustice 3, such as Ares and Enchantress.
Possible New Injustice 3 Characters as Kameo Fighters
NetherRealm could additionally use the Kameo fighter mechanic to introduce DC Comics characters into the Injustice series who haven’t appeared in the Injustice games yet. These could both be characters found within the Injustice universe and characters from alternate Earths, such as the villainous Owlman from Earth-3, Kingdom Come Superman, and the comical Captain Carrot. One potentially fun Kameo fighter could be Animal Man, who has appeared in the Injustice 2 comics and could feature abilities similar to Mortal Kombat’s animalities. NetherRealm could further include characters as Kameo fighters who might not play well as regular fighters on their own, such as Detective Chimp, Adam Strange, and Alfred Pennyworth. Some notable villains could also be featured as Kameo fighters, such as Doctor Polaris, Talia al Ghul, and Mister Mxyzptlk.
Injustice 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 87 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
- Released
- May 11, 2017
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Alcohol Reference, Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- NetherRealm Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Games
- Engine
- unreal engine 3, unreal engine 4
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Injustice
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Fighting
