Mortal Kombat: Deception

"The most popular misspelled franchise comes back with another great one!"

*WARNING*

This is my first review.

*END WARNING*

The Mortal Kombat series has inspired mixed emotions with me for awhile. The emotions ranged from love and joy (MKII) to anger and disgust (MKIII and IV). To me, the Mortal Kombat series, until Deadly Alliance, had fallen from grace since MKII. Then, Deadly Alliance came back and I was a believer again. Liking Deadly Alliance so much, I decided to give this game a shot. I was not disappointed to say the least.

Well, let's get to the review:

GRAPHICS

Score: 8/10

Boy, this game looks great. The effort put forth by the developers really shows. The opening cinematics are spectacular, but not quite Final Fantasy spectacular. However, the fighting, where it all matters, looks great. Some environments, like the Portal, look great and others, like the Deadpool, could have been better. My only real gripe with the fighting graphics is that the blood is a little too cartoonish. In Konquest, the same can be said. Some realms really could've used a little more time (Outworld comes to mind) and others (like the Orderrealm and Edenia) have a wondrous look to them that really makes them stick out and make you wish to explore it a little more. On the other hand, Konquest mode does an excellent job in making each of the realms different from the other. Still, it left me with the feeling of that a little more time could've been spent to add some polish. That alone makes me give graphics an 8/10.

SOUND

Score: 10/10

The sound overall is awesome. Raiden still utters his gibberish while doing his Torpedo attack. Bo' Rai Cho's attacks still sound utterly repulsive (one of the main reasons I don't use him a lot). The powerful roundhouses and devastating punches accompanying sounds really do make you yell "THAT HAD TO HURT!" while you smack your buddy through a wall. When you smack your opponent across the face with a mace, it sounds like you smacked him in the face with a mace. The voice acting in Konquest may not be the best, but it isn't terrible (in fact, I really feel that it could have been MUCH worse). Also, the music is excellent. Ranging from fast-paced and frantic to solemn and slow, the music is well done and above exceptional for a fighting game. In all, I couldn't find much to complain about soundwise, earning it a 10/10.

GAMEPLAY

Score: 10/10

Sound and looks are good. But, let's be honest. Sound and looks don't make a game. Rejoice fanboys and fighters alike! Mortal Kombat: Deception definitely does not fail to deliver where it all counts. This time around, Mortal Kombat offers five different modes of play.

You still have Arcade Mode, where, like the classic MK games, you go through fighting various opponents until you come across the final boss who will put your skills to the test. Happily making its return from Deadly Alliance are the individual fighting styles for each fighter. You can alternate between them freely or change them up in the middle of a combo for an extra punch. Often the way you change between and use your different martial arts styles will be the determining factor on whether you will win your match or not. Of course, you still have your special moves to help give you the edge over the opponent. Also, the fan favorite Fatalities return. Yet, there is one new fighting feature in the fights known as "Hara Kiri", or, as me and my friends have grown to call it, "The Glorified Suicide". Basically, instead of giving your buddy the privilege of ripping your head off, you can do it yourself this time. Yes, the computer can be unbelievably cheap, but it wouldn't be an MK game without a cheap ass AI. If you create a profile, you will also earn Koins that can be used to purchase goodies from the Krypt. These goodies range from production art to movies and music from the game, some of which was not even used.

This time, you also have the revamped Konquest mode, where you will journey with MK newcomer Shujinko as he embarks on a quest for the Elder Gods. This is where you will earn the majority of your unlockables and where you can learn to use each of the game's individual characters. This added some depth to the game and gave newcomers a great opportunity to learn how to best use the characters. Overall, this serves as a good training experience to some who either are just now starting to play Mortal Kombat games or those who haven't played the series in awhile. While at times frustrating trying to get some of the combo timing right, the payout can be big. As said before, this is where you will earn most of your Krypt goodies. In fact, some things cannot be unlocked without playing Konquest.

New to the series are two sidegames, Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat. Chess Kombat is basically a reworked version of chess where you choose fighters to be your pieces and when they collide, you engage the other piece/fighter in a fight instead of just taking it. Also, you have spells that can be used to turn the tables on your opponent. Puzzle Kombat could be considered Midway's answer to Puzzle Fighter. This is easily the most overall enjoyable sidegame to the casual gamer. Like Tetris, you have to line up blocks of the same color. Unlike Tetris, though, they just don't simply disappear. You then need a properly colored MK emblem to cause all interconnected same-colored blocks to vanish and cause more blocks to fall over onto your opponents side. Occasionally, bombs will be dropped that can be used to destroy all blocks of the same color of the original block the bomb was dropped on. All the while, you and your opponent have your fighters duking it out on the bottom of the screen. Also, your little kombatant has a special move that can be deployed against your opponent once the meter is filled. While both of these games are mildly enjoyable with the computer, they are a blast with friends.

Last but definitely not least, MK: D takes the experience online. Now you can kick a person's ass from across the globe in your living room while eating Wheaties on a Saturday morning. Noticeably absent is a keyboard, which makes chatting a pain in the ass, but the game does provide headset support. Also, you will run across the occasional cheater, loudmouth jackass, loudmouth n00b, and all of your other stereotypical Internet personalities, but its not nearly as bad as Halo 2's online crowd *shudders*. Overall, the online play was good, but I'm not much of an online player (I am online with all three consoles and rarely use any of them online anymore).

With so much to unlock and do, replay is in the bag. With that mentioning, the whole gameplay aspect itself is in the bag. An easy 10/10 for this category.

OVERALL RATING

Score: 9/10

Mortal Kombat: Deception brings back the great aspects of Deadly Alliance and adds and improves the experience. I give it my highest recommendation to casual players and fighting game fans alike. It's fun and makes a great party fighter.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/05