Iron Galaxy Studios has released an extended trailer for one of Killer Instinct’s new fighter’s the Arbiter. The iconic Halo character is one of many new fighters headed to Killer Instinct for Season 3.
Along with the Arbiter, Rash and Kim Wu were announced to be included in the DLC. Now a fourth new fighter, Tusk the Barbarian from Killer Instinct 2, has been teased at the end of the Arbiter’s trailer.
343 Industries also revealed a little bit more about Killer Instinct’s version of the Arbiter and why it’s not Keith David, the voice of the original Arbiter, but it’s more of an “amalgam of Arbiters past.”
“[Keith] David of course, IS ‘The Arbiter’ from the Halo game universe for all intents and purposes, and will continue to be as long as he’ll have us.” 343 Industries’ Frank O’Conner explained, “But in Killer Instinct, we wanted to create multiple visual variations of the combatant archetype in the classic fighting game style, and so we leaned heavily on the ‘Hall of the Arbiters’ concept from the games, where we see armors and costumes from historical Arbiters in a kind of mausoleum.”
O’Connor continued, “So our KI Arbiter is in some ways an amalgam of Arbiters past, as well as more modern Sangheili warriors. And further, like Spartan Nicole-458 from Dead or Alive 4, it helped to insert a subtle canonical buffer between their game and ours, so that players aren’t scratching their heads when the Covenant’s historical champion is fighting a Battletoad in Chicago…”
The Arbiter’s abilities are featured below.
Type-51 Carbine – The Type-51 Carbine holds 18 rounds of radioactive ammo and fires three-shot bursts. Once the magazine has been emptied, gunshots are replaced by melee attacks.
Plasma Grenade – Sticky anti-personnel plasma grenade that detonates after a three-second delay. Throwing distance can be changed by pressing Forward or Backwards. Grenade blast can harm both players. The Arbiter carries three grenades, replacement grenades are salvaged over time.
Energy Sword – The Arbiter carries a master-crafted Covenant Energy Sword or Thel ‘Vadam’s personal blade – the vicious Prophets’ Bane.
Combat Evolved – Arbiter can tack on a Plasma Grenade or fire his Type-51 Carbine to deal additional damage after performing a Throw, Command Throw, or any Ender.
Killer Instinct Season 3 launches on Xbox One and PC in March.
Source: 343 Industries, via EGMNOW