Mortal Kombat X DLC: Predator Hands-On

NetherRealm Studios has been having a good track record with guest characters for their recent fighting games. From Freddy Krueger and Kratos in the Mortal Kombat reboot, Scorpion for Injustice: Gods Among Us and Jason Voorhees in Mortal Kombat X, it's always nice to see Ed Boon and crew go nuts with characters from other universes. The latest guest character as DLC for MKX is arguably the most anticipated one yet with the Predator and boy does he live up to the source material of the movies.

Predator's various looks in the movies are his gameplay variations. Across all variations he can throw a disc (two for his EX version) at opponents that can be used for setups or extending combos in the air. He also can cloak that can take less chip damage for a limited time. One of his important moves is a lunge attack that can launch in it's EX version that can lead to big damage. The Warrior variation is the most basic of the three with more special moves for rushdown and combo purposes. However, he gets a self-destruct move in this one where he can sacrifice some damage to cause an explosion that launches opponents. This is also one of his brutalities if set up right, but he loses the self-destruct if he does get hit before exploding. It's still one of his most satisfying moves especially if you got nasty setups going for it to happen consistently.
Hish-Qu-Ten is the "zoning" variation where Predator fires lasers at the opposition. There are low and high shot versions for pressure, mixups, and extend combos in the corner for big damage using meter. He can even hold the button to aim at foes with a red dot sight just like the movies. Lastly, Hunter lets Predator throw traps that can capture opponents or even explode remotely launching them. He even can heal himself a small percentage as well. All three are easy to learn along with his easy combo strings, but playing effectively well with them is a whole different story.
Out of the three variations, I'm using Hish-Qu-Ten the most for now because of his zoning options, but I hope that is the go-to variation among the tournament level crowd. For most of the cast currently, the most boring variations end up being the go-to one with higher level players, so I hope that isn't the case for Predator, which is the Warrior one personally because of how the game is designed more for rushing your opponents down. Hunter has the most potential especially for those that like trapping foes. Also, there is a likely chance that his damage output is gonna be nerfed in a future patch and don't get me started with NetherRealm and their constant patching with this game. That can be talked about more for another time.

For Kombat Pack owners that got Predator this week, another costume pack came out alongside the new character. This one includes Carl Weathers Jax, Commando Johnny Cage and Infrared Scorpion. While Scorpion's new costume is completely left field, the new Johnny and Jax ones will satisfy movie fans as they even shake each other's hands in epic fashion at the character select screen. Carl Weathers Jax also gets new voice acting too especially for the intro against Predator. Free for everyone else is Kold War Scorpion and the first Klassic Fatalities pack where Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Johnny Cage and Sonya have their MK1 fatalities back with the same inputs from the original game.
Predator is definitely worth the wait as a fighter in Mortal Kombat X. NetherRealm did a great job living up to the source material from the movies with his variations that cater to all players' fighting styles and special moves. His finishers are what you expect especially for fanservice. He deals out damaging combos right now when you include his disc throw, but that output could change by the time Tremor, the last character of the season pass, comes out if their style of patching is any indication. Predator is out now for Kombat Pack folks and everyone else on Tuesday. Unfortunately, he's banned from Evo 2015 next weekend, the biggest fighting game tournament in the world, due to coming out so close to the tournament itself, but I can't wait to see what else players can come up with this character in the coming days and weeks.