Score
Gameplay:	8
Graphics:	9
Sound:	8
FunFactor:	9
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	8.2

Mortal Kombat: Deception Review
March 13, 2005 by Matt Wetsel

by MattW - March 13, 2005

A succession of disappointing, mediocre titles in a game series is enough to alienate any fans. After the attempt to expand Mortal Kombat into a side-scroller with painful Sub-Zero Mythologies and the decent though forgettable MK 4, it was slightly surprising when MK: Deadly Alliance was announced. Even more surprising was how good of a game it turned out to be, and that�s where MK: Deception comes in. While it doesn�t reinvent the series quite the way that Deadly Alliance did, the addition of online play could be enough to lure gamers back for a second helping of blood-stained kombat.

Get Over Here!

For those of you who played DA, you�ll find that not much has changed. For everyone else, let me bring you up to speed. The series now features fully 3d characters and fighting arenas, and the fighting itself has a whole new level of depth. Every character has 3 fighting styles taken directly from real-life martial arts, 2 involving hand to hand combat and 1 with a weapon. These styles can be switched at any time, even during combos, and as a result the sheer number of moves and combination moves that you have access to is a little overwhelming. This game is NOT a button-masher, and will take a little while for you to feel capable with most characters. This isn�t a complaint, though - it�s nice to see so much depth in a fighter.

Changes from Deadly Alliance are as follows:
-characters can no longer be impaled by weapons or take damage from blood loss
-all characters now have 2 fatalities instead of just 1
-fighting arenas are now slightly interactive - death traps, breakable walls, and new areas open up as battles progress
-online play and a few new modes

MK: Deception brings us Puzzle Kombat, Kombat Chess, and Konquest Mode. None of them add a significant amount to the actual game, but they can be fun in their own ways if you need a break from all the fighting. Puzzle Kombat feels like a shout-out to so many puzzle games before it, namely Kirby�s Avalanche and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo. Different colored blocks fall from the top of the screen, as do the occasional detonators which correspond to the various colored blocks. You group as many same-colored pieces together and then blow them up, sending your opponent a bunch of random blocks in the process, and you can link together explosions to do some serious damage. Gameplay can get pretty hectic and on the higher levels and the game could almost stand on it�s own as a puzzle title if they fleshed it out some more. Kombat Chess is a distorted game of chess full of MK characters who assume the role of chess pieces and have 1-use spells and abilities to use against the other player. It�s interesting, but not nearly as fun as Puzzle Kombat but not nearly as boring as the 3rd addition: Konquest mode. In Konquest mode you assume the role of Shujinko in a 3rd-person perspective �adventure.� You�ll collect treasure, keys, and coins which can all be used to unlock hidden characters, fighting arenas, and more developers artwork than you could ever imagine. It�s an interesting idea, but the gameplay in Konquest mode isn�t all that exciting. You�ll run from dojo to dojo training with other MK characters who teach you some of the ropes about the combat system in Deception. However, there are also a ton of sidequests and errands to run for the villagers which feel very repetitive very quickly. It wouldn�t be so bad if Konquest mode didn�t take a significant amount of time to complete, and to make matters worse it�s the only way to unlock the hidden characters. Most importantly, though, VS mode, Puzzle Kombat, and Kombat Chess can all be played online, which is probably the most significant addition from the offerings in Deadly Alliance and definitely ups the replay value.

With the exception of the bland textures and blocky designs of Konquest mode, MK: Deception is a very nice-looking game. With so many different fighting styles, it�s impressive that Midway took the time to more or less accurately represent each fighting stance. Character animations are fluid, hit detection seems very reliable, and the colorful arenas will get covered in blood rather quickly. Few games squeeze these kind of graphics out of the Playstation 2, and if you have any interest in fighting games this one is worth your time for the eye candy alone.

The sound isn�t anything to get excited over, but staples of the series will make you feel right at home. Scorpion still cries, �Get Over Here!�, and the announcer�s �Finish Him!� sounds like it was practically lifted from the first MK. The music is nice background filler but never really get�s repetitious or annoying, which can happen kind of quickly in fast-paced games like this one.

New Life to a Klassic

Because the fighting system has so much depth, between the amount of characters and the amount of moves/fighting styles between them all, MK: Deception has a lot to offer. Since a little bit of strategy is required unless you�re on the easiest of skill levels, this game can get a whole lot of fun once you get familiar with the controls. Even then, MK: D can get rather difficult rather fast, especially since the last 2 fights in arcade mode are a 2 on 1 and the incredibly cheap boss, the Dragon King. Multiplayer fights, both online or off, seem to be the most enjoyable assuming that both players are relatively equally good (or bad) players. Even if you get bored, there�s always Puzzle Kombat or Chess, so there�s always something to do.

The only real complaints that can be generated about MK: D would have to involve the controls. Most games which involve complete 3d movement sacrifice extensive jumping for the ability to rotate around the other player, but Deception tries to incorporate both with mixed results. More than once I�d find myself sidestepping when I wanted to jump, or vice versa, and when you�re cornered or facing off against a cheap boss, these kind of problems can cost you a match. Also, you can�t move in 2 directions at once: you�ll have to take 2 steps back and 2 steps up instead of just moving diagonally, making the otherwise fluid movement feel a little clunky.

 

Mortal Kombat: Deceptions is a decent addition to the series. Although not much has changed since Deadly Alliance, gamers who didn�t get enough blood and gore the first time around will get more than their share with the replayability that comes with online play. Those of you who missed DA altogether will find that the MK series has evolved quite nicely into a beautiful fighter with a surprising amount of depth. If you can get over the poorly executed Konquest mode, you�ll find a game that is otherwise quite entertaining and worth checking out.