There's a whole lot of action in the new launch trailer for Mortal Kombat X. The X-Ray hit's arguably comical evisceration is toned down for this more mainstream trailer — but fans of the game needn't worry.
There are bits of gameplay mixed into the the trailer, which focuses primarily on the game's story mode. All of the Kombatants who have been slowly teased appear in the video that still hits hard.
The age-restricted trailer isn't completely free of skull-cracking X-Ray hits and body-splitting slams, as well as a decapitation of two, but it's almost tame in comparison to some of the Mortal Kombat X trailers that came before it.
To replace a bit of edge lost in the edits – which take out the game's gorier scenes – NetherRealm turned to System of a Down for some fierce music.
The band's bassist, Shavo Odadjian, calls the song anchoring the action of the trailer "really, really strong." As the director of the launch trailer and a lover of the game himself, Odadjian said that makes him excited.
"Our label didn't want a song on our album called 'suicide,' said Odadjian of the iconic track. "So we chopped suicide in half and got 'Chop Suey.' This is like making the song even crazier."
As for the rest of the trailer, Odadjian says the game's fans will love it because "it's top notch."
"Editing it was so fun, just because there's so much to use," said Odadjian. "I felt more like I was editing a movie. I kind of forgot that it was a videogame during the edit."
Mortal Kombat X will be released on April 14, 2015 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A companion app is scheduled to launch alongside the core game, while PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game are slated for the summer of 2015.
Half-man, half-dragon Goro rounded out NetherRealms' series of character reveals, which saw the introduction of series mainstays as well as some free faces for the X-Ray cameras.
Check out Mortal Kombat X's launch trailer below and then let us know who you plan on choosing as your go-to Kombatant!
