Mortal Kombat: Deception

"The best Mortal Kombat in 10 years!"

The Mortal Kombat franchise has been critically acclaimed for its violence, awesome fatalities, and interesting characters, but it has been criticized by hardcore fighting game fans and blamed for society's ills by the likes of Joe Lieberman. However, I have been a huge fan of the franchise ever since the first one came out when I was a little kid. I have bought all the MK games and thoroughly enjoyed most of them. MK2 has always been my favorite though. Does this game top that one in my eyes? Almost (not quite), but it is a step up from the good-but-not-great Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance.

Gameplay: 8/10
This game has four modes: Arcade, Chess Kombat, Puzzle Kombat, and Konquest.

Arcade mode is basically the standard arcade-style Mortal Kombat tournament. Applying the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" principle, the basic fighting mechanics remain unchanged from MKDA. Each character still has three different fighting styles, two made up of punches/kicks and one with a weapon. That was the main innovation of MKDA and I'm pleased that it returned in this game. As always, since this is Mortal Kombat, each character has their own unique special moves and fatalities. However, whereas in MKDA each character only had a few special moves and one fatality, in this game the characters seem to have more special moves and they have two fatalities. Also, this game introduces a new finishing move called the Hara Kiri. It is a suicidal move initiated by the player who lost the battle. It's pretty pointless, but at least Babalities, Animalities, etc. are permanently gone now.

The stages in this game are, in a word, awesome. They're the best in any MK game. They're not just there for show - they can impact the battles. Most of the stages in this game are interactive, harkening back to some of the MK games of yore. Some of them are multi-level (similar to MK3), some of them have a weapon in the background that you can pick up and use, and others have traps that you can knock your opponent into to instantly kill (similar to the old stage fatalities, but it can be done anytime during the round).

Also, the Krypt is back. You will have to buy half of the characters and stages with the "koins" you earn from all the modes, as well as the keys you get in Konquest Mode.

However, I do have a few gripes about the basic fundamentals. The A.I. is not that great. It can be very cheap. It can range from dumb to unbeatable. I have come to accept that as a shortcoming of the franchise as a whole. Also, the combat is paced a bit too slowly. I miss the fast-paced combat from the old 2D games. Nevertheless, the battles are still fun.

This game's main innovation is the addition of online multiplayer. I'm not really a fan of online gaming, but it is refreshing and fun to compete against other people online.

Chess Kombat is an interesting new mode. It is chess (with a few tweaks) with Mortal Kombat characters. However, to make it fit in with the rest of the game, you have to battle to take squares from your opponents. You will need a good strategy and skill at combat to succeed in Chess Kombat. It is a cool extra.

Puzzle Kombat is the other all-new mode. It is not very original (it directly rips off Super Puzzle Fighter), but it is a fun diversion nonetheless. You have to match up blocks of the same color and use breakers of the same color to destroy them. The first player to pile their blocks to the top of the screen loses. It is pretty simple, but it will take quite a lot of skill to master. Also, each playable Puzzle Kombat character has his/her own special move to use to their advantage. Puzzle Kombat is a nice addition for its gameplay, plus the super-deformed characters are funny.

I am a bit mixed about Konquest Mode. It is definitely better than the pathetic Konquest Mode from MKDA, but has some flaws. You roam around the realms as Shujinko. You get to learn Shujinko's story, complete various tasks, and train with other characters. If this mode were made its own game, it would have been bad. The graphics in this mode are so dull, it is very repetitive, and there are way too many training sessions where you have to do complicated combos. In short, it fails as an adventure game. However, it is interesting to see all the cameos by many MK characters and roam around the MK universe. Many players will want to skip this mode, but you will never be able to unlock many of the important Krypt items if you make that decision. If you're not good at doing complex combos, you will struggle through this mode because of all the training sessions. It will be worth it in the end, though, because of all the unlockables.

Story/Characters: 8/10
An often overlooked side of the Mortal Kombat games is the intricate storyline. This game's story is probably the most complex one yet with many subplots. The main plot is very simple: the Dragon King comes back and conquers Outworld again. However, if you read the individual storyline of each characters, you will find that this game does not have a weak or simple story.

As for the characters in this game, I am very mixed. I am most thrilled to see the return of some long-forgotten old favorites (Baraka, Mileena, Jade, Nightwolf, Kabal, Sindel, and Ermac). Also, the main fan favorites (Sub-Zero, Scorpion, and Raiden) and the most popular new characters from MKDA (Kenshi, Bo Rai Cho, and Li Mei) return. However, most of the main heroes (Kung Lao, Kitana, Johnny Cage, Sonya Blade, and Jax) are not playable characters. I do not have too much of a problem with that since all of them were overused and the storyline justifies their absence, but many MK fans may be terribly disappointed by this. Still, don't let that prevent you from buying this game. Another bad thing is that none of the new characters are interesting or cool in any way. I cannot see any of them becoming fan favorites. I'm not really a fan of any of them. I especially think that Shujinko is not a good protagonist. Overall, this game has a pretty good character lineup, but it does have those two flaws that I mentioned.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics are sufficient, but they're not really anything great. The stages are beautiful and the character designs are pretty good, but there are noticeable graphical imperfections. It's also worth noting that Konquest Mode has PS1-quality graphics. This game is visually pleasing in most of the modes, but don't be expecting anything exceptional.

Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack is pretty good, but the audio is not up to par. The voice acting is downright horrid, especially the monotonous vocals. Midway definitely should have hired better voice actors. Then the narration and the Konquest Mode cutscenes would have been much more bearable.

Play Time/Replayability: 10/10
This is this game's biggest strength. You will get a lot of playtime out of it. Online gameplay adds on to the already good multiplayer experience. The added extras, Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat, will add on plenty of extra playtime as well. Also, Konquest Mode will take at least twenty hours to complete. In addition, there will be lots of things for you to unlock. Plus this game is just plain fun and addictive. It will take a long time for you to run out of things for you to do.

Overall: 9/10
Hardcore fighting game fans may be disappointed by this game, but long-time MK fans will love this game as I did. If you ever liked even one Mortal Kombat game, you will enjoy this one. I highly recommend it. Don't rent - buy. This game will keep you busy for at least a few weeks.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/04