Mortal Kombat: Deception

"Not as bad as people claim"

Mortal Kombat Deception is the sequel to 2002's Deadly Alliance, and is one of my favorite MK games, even one of my favorite fighting games.

Gameplay
Throughout the years many have criticized the fighting engine in Mortal Kombat. And claim it's popularity only for the fact of it's extreme violence. Sure it may not play as well as Street Fighter, but MKDA has a very solid fighting engine. Each fighter has numerous attacks they can preform in battle. Pretty standard. But each fighter also has 3 different fight styles, 2 forms of martial arts, and 1 weapon. The fighting styles can be changed by just the click of 1 of the shoulder buttons. Not complicated, and doesn't interfere much in fights. Except sometimes, when you're using your first style, and want to use a weapon, you'll have to click twice. Still no big deal.
Single player, Mortal Kombat: Deception is very enjoyable, and will probably have you playing for hours. But like most fighting games, Multiplayer is where it's at. Get together with a friend one afternoon and play 2 Player, you'll have a superb time.
Gameplay: 8/10

Minigames
Deception features 3 minigames: Puzzle Kombat, Chess Kombat and Konquest Mode. Puzzle Kombat is basically just the MK version of the Street Fighter puzzle game released several years back. You pick from a character from several to choose from, and you go through several battles. The object is to place the same color blocks together. Puzzle Kombat is a great minigame, and I always felt if they added a bit more, it'd make a great stand alone game. Chess Kombat plays like a Chess Game (obviously). You choose different MK characters to act as different Chess pieces. And when one character collides with another, instead of just knocking him out to take his place, the 2 have to fight and the winner gets the spot. You can play this single player, and it's not bad. But play with a friend, and this is one of the best parts of Deception.

Konquest Mode is the biggest of the 3 minigames. You start off controlling a teenager named Shujinko. After an encounter with an Elder God, Shujinko sets off for a journey that will take him many years. His objective: to collect the 7 Kamidogu (a magical crystal-like object). It takes him so long, that by the end of Konquest, he's an elderly man. Throughout the mode, you'll travel the realms and do missions. There are also a nice amount of side missions too. However the mode doesn't really have fighting. Instead, you do training courses. All you do here is, do the button combos they tell you to do. Sounds easy? Well it is at first. But eventually the combos get as large as 8+ buttons. Very challenging, and you'll probably have to retry many times. It's rewarding though once you beat Konquest Mode.
Minigames: 8.5/10

Story
After John Tobias's departure in the Mortal Kombat development team, a lot said the story went down hill. I disagree. Deception picks up right where Deadly Alliance left off. The Deadly Alliance defeated all the MK Kombatants with the exception of Raiden. Raiden squares off against Shang Tsung and Quan Chi. The 2 kill him. But greed takes over The Deadly Alliance, as they fight each other. Quan Chi ends Shang Tsung's life. He is ruler. Well not quite. The Dragon King, Onaga (former Emperor of Outworld) returns to claim his throne. And then in good 'ol MK style, all characters are magically resurrected. How nice.
Story: 8/10

Graphics
First all I'll say that Deception is a great looking game. Very detailed character models and environments. The opening CGI scene looked excellent. During fights, after a character gets damaged a lot, you'll notice things such as bruises and cuts appear on their skin, and blood flow down their body. The arenas are detailed as well, and are (for the most part) very dark, and have that "old school" Mortal Kombat feel to them. It's isn't all great though. The graphics in Konquest Mode are pretty poor and lack detail, so I'll cut off a point because of that.
Graphics: 7.5/10

Audio
The audio department was always a factor that MK did certainly not lack. Background music is pretty awesome. You can even listen to them in the Extras Mode. Sound effects are just as good too. Who doesn't love hearing someone scream for their life after an extremely painful maneuver.
Audio: 8.5/10

Replayability
Of all the Mortal Kombat games, Deception may have the most replay value. Like all MK games, each character has their own ending when you defeat the final boss Onaga (who really isn't that hard). Puzzle and Chess Kombat together may offer up to a couple hours. Konquest Mode can take around 5-15 hours, depending on how skilled you are, and whether or not you do side missions. The Krypt returns in this game after its appearance in Deadly Alliance. It contains hundreds of items. If you spend the time to unlock them all, add several more hours in. I spent 25+ hours playing this game, and I loved every minute of it.
Replayability: 8.5/10

The Final Word
I know MK has its share of haters. And if you're not one of them, there's no reason not to get this. It's only 2 years old, so the graphics still hold up fairly good. Really fun minigames that'll take hours to complete, and improved gameplay from its 2002 predecessor.

Final Rating: 8.5/10
Buy/Rent/Burn: Buy, no doubt about it!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/13/06