We’ve known about a second season of Killer Instinct since Double Helix was purchased by Amazon, but today Microsoft gave us a taste of what to expect and when. At the company’s pre-show for its pre-E3 press conference, a quick teaser video of TJ Combo was shown. If you’ve seen any of the other Killer Instinct character reveal trailers, this was more of the same. At the end of the trailer we got a tease of Cinder, who is expected to be unveiled at the Evolution Fighting Game Championship in July.
In addition to TJ Combo, we got a few tidbits of information about the Iron Galaxy-developed season two of Killer Instinct. The second season will feature eight additional characters, new modes of play, and an enhanced combo system that adds Aerial Recapture to the mix. While we don’t yet have details on any other characters or what Aerial Recapture is, we can make some educated guesses. Aerial Recapture will likely allow airborne characters to be caught in a full combo. Up until now, aerial characters could only be hit a few times in the air. This change would essentially give the same combo options to an opposing character whether they’re on the ground or in the air.
It’s fairly safe to assume that Riptor will round out the remaining Killer Instinct 1 characters. While not as likely, but still a safe bet, the KI2 characters of Tusk, Kim Wu, and Maya should also make an appearance. If that’s the case, we’ve got six of the eight characters right there. Add Aria, the boss teased in season one endings, and one more new character to round out the roster. It’s also assumed that Shadow Jago will get a playable custom move set, so by the time season two comes to a close, there should be a total of 17 playable characters (eight from season one, eight from season two, and Shadow Jago).
The second season will begin releasing this Fall (probably in segments similar to season one character releases), but TJ Combo is playable on the E3 show floor. We’ll have hands-on impressions in the near future so stayed tuned to Prima Games.
