Mortal Kombat: Rain DLC Trailer Analysis
by Julian Williams, posted on 12 July 2011 / 2,662 Views
Next confirmed character for Mortal Kombat is Rain, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 veteran and weather demi-god. Trailer after the jump, and my analysis soon after.
Rain was always a joke character. He was a fighter with lots of hints dropped about his presence in MK3, but he never showed up until the sorta-sequel UMK3. It was later revealed that he was intended to be a gag - clad in purple, and with the name Rain, he was a reference to a Prince song. Most of his attacks were kind of crappy, with a single lightning bolt and his water balls able to move his opponents, but he had a fierce roundhouse kick. All of these have returned, but now he's no longer a joke.
The waterball he fires controls the opponent, even raising them into the air for a setup, with the enhanced version able to control them for even longer. This would be nice to bring them in closer from long range, as the standard version lacks any real longivity. His water blast returns from Armageddon, but instead of knocking them down only keeps them away. This should allow you to keep yourself out of close-quarters until you want to, which Rain specializes at with his waterball.
His lightning bolt, like most of his special attacks, returns mostly unchanged from UMK3, but enhancing it gives it a three-hit punch. This attack 'bounces' them in the air, setting them up for a waterball or even his semi-new teleport. Speaking of which, the teleport is an uppercut attack, similar to Sektor's, and the enhanced version looks lightning-fast (pun not intentional).
One of the attacks he was most known for returns, his super roundhouse. This is an infamous attack where he roundhouses you and it sends you through the other side of the screen at his feet. It's fantastically unique to him, and it's a great escape tactic for cornering. It keeps opponents constantly switching sides and, with his teleport, could keep them very confused.
His X-Ray deserves special mention, as he summons it under the opponent's feet and teleports them to him. Most of the X-Ray attacks are standard hits that lead into a combo, which can be frustrating when you use it and it's either blocked or whiffs. This one can be extremely sneaky, especially with all of Rain's positioning attacks. A long distance waterball could set you up for a teleport, or he'd just wait until you move in then activate the X-Ray.
His normals look like fairly heavy hits, similar to most of the Lin Kuei. Lots of juggles and kicks, which makes sense for him since he's the guy who can kick you across the room. His fatalities are a lot more creative than Kenshi's, too - Kenshi usually just cut people up with his sword, which for DLC is a little bit of a letdown. Rain collapses their legs and cuts their heads off with a water sword. Awesome.
Rain is available July 19th for both consoles.
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