Killer Instinct: Season 2 Reveals T.J. Combo, Combines Classic with New

Developer Iron Galaxy Games told Xbox Wire during an exclusive preview at E3 2014 that “Killer Instinct: Season 2” has been designed specifically to let new players feel powerful right away. It’s easy to start doing combinations, for example, but according to Iron Galaxy’s Adam Heart, “the ceiling is very high,” meaning that even though that first taste seems easy enough, mastering the whole lineup of combos is a challenging task indeed.

This blend of ease of entry with elusive ultimate mastery is the holy grail of fighting games, and it’s something players will get to experience more of with “Killer Instinct: Season 2’s” new characters. But make no mistake, not everything is geared toward new players; the game has plenty of nods toward the series’ glory days, too. According to Heart, some of the returning characters play very similarly to their original iterations — so much so that veterans will be able to jump in and play them using almost the same move sets and timings as they used at the series’ inception. Others, like Sabrewulf, bear less resemblance to their old selves and will need to be relearned somewhat; but that presents an opportunity for newer players to adopt them as go-to characters right off the bat.

We were able to get some hands-on time in Versus mode using arcade sticks. New character T.J. Combo proved to be a fantastic choice for new players, offering great combos, fluid movement, and a real sense of power. Sure, the veteran players won out in the end, but for the newer players it was gratifying to be able to come in and feel like button-mashing wasn’t necessary to have a chance right out of the gate.

“Killer Instinct: Season 2” doesn’t have a release date just yet, but stay tuned to Xbox Wire to learn more when we know!