Killer Instinct Season 3 will soon be upon us, and while fans are no doubt looking forward to the likes of Battletoads’ Rash and Kim-Wu entering the fray with its arrival, developer Iron Galaxy is keen to make sure you know that the additions to the roster isn’t the only thing to get excited about.
An update to KI‘s Ultra Combo website has revealed that new lighting techniques and visuals have been created for Season 3, bringing a whole new level of sheen and shine to the already-pretty beat ’em up.
Art director Chad Greene said in the statement that:
We are excited to be adding several new elements to KI Season 3 that we believe really improve the overall experience, and I’m going to be speaking to the ‘Art side’ of things today,
In terms of visuals, we are adding new graphics technology; reflection tech for the stages; re-introducing screen space colour adjustments that work with gameplay; adding an all-new dynamic lighting system that provides greater realism and interaction for the characters and stages.
The changes, Greene says, has resulted in the development team being “able to get realistic bounce and fill lighting on the characters and we are using strong rim lighting (from behind) to further pull the characters out from the background.”
To make sure there’s no discrepancies between the existing game and Season 3, Greene also confirmed that all existing characters and stages will be given the same treatment to bring them in line with the higher quality of the impending update.
Killer Instinct Season 3 begins in March for Xbox One and Windows 10. Iron Galaxy have yet to confirm how each character in the season will be released (whether individually like previous seasons, or all at once for one price), but we’ll be sure to keep you updated when it comes.