Evo 2016: Killer Instinct Panel

ello once again, we continue our coverage of Evo 2016 at 12:00pm Friday afternoon as we find out what is new at Iron Galaxy and the Killer Instinct team. KI is close to rapping up their third season of content for the game and with the release of the PC version and a retail release of all three seasons upcoming, the team at IG and Microsoft are still rolling out crazy characters as well as content that will continue to make the Xbox One exclusive a mainstay in the fighting game community. 

Shadow Lords DLC was announced first, which is a team of three characters squaring off against the Gargos boss character with game breaking buffs and overpowered abilities. The player and their team of three will have to defeat the boss and the boss's omens to remove buffs and additional abilities off of the boss and add buffs to their team. It's an interesting new mode with plenty of replay value that would be ideal for the player that may not enjoy playing online or competitively that wants more gameplay. Buffs and items earned will stay with the player, similar to a roguelike where you have to start over after death. Crafting will also be in the newly created mode to create buffs that can used in gameplay, and daily rewards will be earned for active players.

The next and crazier announcement perhaps is that there will also be a multiplayer component to the new mode that will let you use the buffs you earn in single player DLC to play against other players. It was also confirmed by a question in the crowd that the Shadow Lords DLC will require an internet connection to play. The new DLC will be available September 20, the same day as the physical release of Ultra Edition with all the content available. The last bit of information for the team at Iron Galaxy was that the final DLC character would be Eyedol, the original boss from Killer Instinct all the way back in 1994. Eyedol returns for Ultra Edition owners on July 22, and for all other players a week later. 

The next group to take the stage at the panel was Power A, who were there to announce and show the Killer Instinct Component Kit for the Xbox One Elite controller, which will retail for $29.99 this fall. While the kit is very well made and great for players that use the Elite controller, it was unfortunate that there was no announcement of either a six button controller for KI or more selection in fightsticks for the Xbox One. Perhaps I am biased on this issue because I of course have a particular fondness of arcade fightsticks.  The last group to present was iam8bit, who were at Evo to announce that the Killer Cuts Soundtrack is being rereleased on vinyl with a special edition Fulgore cover only available for preorder during Evo weekend.

The other versions will have Spinal or Saberwolf on the cover. As a fun side note, a locked groove was created on Side A that plays the "Combo Breaker" sound effect on an infinite loop. Also announced was a seven inch vinyl that will be released called Killer Scratches for DJ use. Someone should call BallsRog and Commander Shepard about a new rap once this releases.