Mortal Kombat Playable in 3D and 2D at the Same Time

The Mortal Kombat demo, as well as the full game, will be playable in both 3D and regular 2D at the same time, thanks to a special rendering mode implemented by its developer, NetherRealm.

The use of 3D in games is increasing these days, with plenty of developers opting to use the rendering mode in their new titles.

Mortal Kombat will also take advantage of this technology, but it will customize it for its unique 2D fighting game experience.

According to series co-founder Ed Boon, the game can run in 3D, but the effect will be made to the background, rather than the actual fighters.

"We didn't want 3D to change the basic mechanics or complicate things needlessly" he said, adding, "Our 3D implementation makes the characters pop from the background a little more, helps you focus on them."

The actual fighters will continue to be rendered in 2D, and retain their details, according to Sony's post on the PlayStation Blog.

"By rendering the fighters in 2D for its stereoscopic 3D mode, Mortal Kombat’s action remains visible even if you’re not wearing 3D glasses. This is a handy detail if you’re playing with a group on a 3D TV and find yourself short of 3D glasses — everyone will be able to play and watch whether they wear 3D glasses or not. If you’re not wearing glasses, the 3D backgrounds will look a bit blurry but the characters will appear crisp and clean."

The first taste of Mortal Kombat will arrive today for PlayStation Plus subscribers, who are getting a special demo of the game ahead of everyone else.

The demo comes with four playable fighters: Johnny Cage, Mileena, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. Two environments are included, The Living Forest and The Pit, and you can play both against a computer or against another player locally.

The rest of the platforms will get their demo in the following weeks.

Mortal Kombat will appear for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 19, in North America, and April 21, in Europe.