'Mortal Kombat X' News: See Character & Environment Concept Art From Development [IMAGES]

Mortal Kombat X is a great-looking game, and it's not just the high fidelity of the graphics that makes it so.

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The team at digital art and design studio Atomhawk put a lot of effort into artistically carrying the game's gritty, dark universe into the new generation. A selection of concept art (some shown below) has been posted on the studio's official website, showing off some of its work on the title.

Despite the series' signature over-the-top violence and gore, the characters and settings have always maintained a somewhat realistic look, one that Atomhawk emphasized even further in the new entry.

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"The biggest challenge for us was creating a new, more believable Mortal Kombat universe than we had worked with on Mortal Kombat 9, while still building on the game's well-loved heritage," said Atomhawk Director and Founder Ron Ashtiani. "Fortunately, our long standing relationship with Nether Realm meant they afforded us a large amount of creative trust to explore and develop new ideas."

The environments are just as much part of the action as the characters, and Atomhawk's artists made sure the universe's folklore and background were shown in the objects and locations they designed.

"Thinking of fight lines as being intractable also was a fun challenge; no longer are the environments just a backdrop, they contain objects that influence the fight," Ashtiani explained.

Check out some of the images below, and visit the link above for the full selection.