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Certainly the best Mortal Kombat game yet. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance gave a much-needed jump-start to the series, which didn’t really handle 3D very well with Mortal Kombat 4. Dead Alliance was an excellent, smooth and deep fighter, and Deception builds on the excellent fighting but adds online play, an actual story mode, and odd modes like chess and a puzzle game.
One thing that changed much from Deadly Alliance is the game’s Konquest mode. Konquest is still a mixture of training and learning the background of Mortal Kombat but now it is a fully functional third person action-adventure game of sorts complete with a predictable but sort-of engaging story. You’ll need to, as an aspiring martial arist Shujinko, travel around to many places, where you’ll meet many of Mortal Kombat’s characters and unique locations. Along the way, you’ll also be introduced to the game’s fighting system, which is helpful if you’re new to the series or simply need to have a refresher. Unfortunately, the mode isn’t perfect as the graphics are much more inferior to the fighting portion and the control system is a bit clunky and awkward.
Much like Deadly Alliance, Deception’s unlockables are all located in the Krypt. Here, you’ll be able to trade in the koins you collect in Konquest (but also in the other, offline modes) for unlockables but you’ll also be able to find keys in Konquest, which unlocks the best secrets like characters.
Aside from the new Konquest mode, you’ll also find a new puzzle and chess mode in Deception, both of which can be played online. The puzzle mode is similar to other puzzle games. You need to match up blocks of the same colors next to each other in order to clear a line. The line you cleared is then added to the opponent’s pile, whether that be another player (online or offline) or the AI. The puzzle mode is overall an interesting addition, but the slow-paced nature doesn’t really fit in with the overall MK style of gameplay. On the other hand, Chess Kombat is like chess but when two pieces meet in one spot, you’ll need to fight to see who retains the spot. There is a bit of strategy in the game, but for the most part, it is just many fights until one player can overtake the other’s leader.
While an adventure mode, a puzzle mode and a riveting game of chess is all great, Mortal Kombat: Deception is a fighting game and unsurprisingly that is its best feature. Each of the characters in the game includes three martial art styles of fighting, each complete with its own moves and such. Additionally, the characters have their special moves and two fatalities to pull off at the end. One new addition is the combo breaker, a limited move which allows you to effectively cancel the combo of your opponent. A very handy feature, it can only be used sparingly in battle. Nonetheless, the major change in Deception is the more interactive stages, which allow you to pummel opponents through several layers or a death trap like the spikes from earlier games. Lastly, in an interesting twist, Midway allows defeated gamers to do fatalities on themselves to save themselves the embarrassment of having an opponent do a fatality on them.
The game allows you to play the arcade mode with your characters to unlock decent endings and hone your skills but this is simply an appetizer for multiplayer and online play. Online play is extremely smooth, and Deception is the first 3D fighting game to go online, a very memorable feat. Like all fighting games, multiplayer (and online) enjoyment will be highest when going against an opponent of similar skill.
The game’s visuals, for the most part, are pretty good. The numerous arenas and characters are very detailed. The characters in particular pull off insane moves in a semi-realistic fashion, and of course, they spill a lot of blood while doing so. The frame rate doesn’t drop often, a prerequisite of a fighting game. Unfortunately, when the game leaves the fighting arenas, things go downhill. The Konquest mode has embarrassingly bad, vague graphics.
The game’s sound is excellent. The background music is pulsating and keeps you on your toes, as do the loud slams, screams and cries you’ll hear during the matches. The announcer adds to the ambience. Unfortunately, the Konquest mode’s shoddy voice acting keeps the game from achieving perfect audio status.
When it comes down to it, Mortal Kombat: Deception is an good fighting game elevated by its fluid visuals, unique modes (for a fighting game anyway) and superb implementation of online play, which easily elevate it to great status. Unfortunately, the poorly implemented Konquest mode keeps the game from soaring too high. -- Jose Liz, PGNx Media
---- Oct 22, 2004
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