Having not played a Mortal Kombat game since the dreadful MK Gold on the Dreamcast, I was pretty excited to get back into the series. Back when there was actually an arcade in my town, I plunked much of my allowance into the early Mortal Kombat games. The fighting itself wasn’t on par with the other major contenders, but the over-the-top violence and the (at the time) amazing visuals made for some fond childhood memories. Mortal Kombat: Deception is the latest in the series, but I’m actually a bit surprised at how little it has progressed.

Like the Mortal Kombat games of olde, the fighting is based largely on “dial-a-combo” principals. Pulling off devastating combos is a matter of dialing in the appropriate scripted button presses. There’s very little flexibility here, as the fighting is based around this very rigid combo system. Once your opponent has you in his combo, the only way to stop it is for either him to screw up his button presses or for you to use one of your Combo Breakers. This easy maneuver stops any combo instantly, but you can only use three per match. I would’ve rather seen a more complicated counter system that I could use freely, which would’ve created a little more depth.

Each character has access to three fighting styles, and the player can switch between them instantly, even within some combos. The styles play differently enough, especially the weapon-oriented ones, and it helps add some variety to the fights. Some styles are more useful than others, but there are appropriate situations for each one. Each character also has a few special moves, which are mostly standard fare. Most characters have a projectile and some close-range moves for extra damage. Sub-Zero can launch ice balls, and Scorpion still has his harpoon attack.

The arena design is much more interactive than before. It’s possible to knock your opponent off ledges or into acid vats during the matches. Some of these are instant kills, while others just do additional damage. The arenas themselves are pretty stylish, and each one is distinct. My favorite throws players onto a crumbling cliff edge, making for an intense match. Being knocked off is death, so positioning is really key. My only complaint here is that sometimes I could’ve sworn I knocked my foe off, but somehow he hung on, only to send me flying.

In typical Mortal Kombat fashion, the winner of each match is given the opportunity to finish off their opponent with a gruesome fatality. These are as amusing as ever, but I wish the AI would do them more often. It would also be nice to see more of them, too, seeing as this kind of thing defines the franchise. As a twist, the defeated player can now execute themselves, denying the victor any further glory. It’s kind of a fun button-pressing race to see who can pull it off first.

The fighting itself almost takes a back seat to all the bonus modes here. Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat are two bonus modes worth playing more than a few times. Chess Kombat takes the basic rules of chess and adds in some MK fighting. Each time someone tries to capture a piece, a standard MK fight starts. Stronger pieces get more health, giving them serious advantages. Even if the positioning is correct, it’s difficult for a pawn to take out the queen. Damage is cumulative, though, so if enough pawns damage the queen, the piece will go down. This mode is fun, but a bit slow-paced, especially with all the fight-loading. Puzzle Kombat is a blatant rip-off of Capcom’s excellent Puzzle Fighter game, but isn’t nearly as good.

Deception has what is probably the most involving single-player game in a fighter ever with its Konquest mode. It’s basically a huge tutorial/adventure game, in which you’ll do a whole lot of running from point A to point B, fighting a few guys, then returning to point A. It’s engaging and addicting for reasons I cannot explain, since the actual gameplay isn’t very exciting. The story told here is compelling, despite the horrid voice acting, and I earnestly wanted to see it through to the end, which takes a good 20 hours or more.

Within the Krypt, you can unlock hundreds of different bonuses with Koins earned in the other modes. There is concept art, alternate costumes, and plenty of surprises I wouldn’t want to spoil. It’s hugely addicting, and when combined with the Konquest mode, gives the game more single-player legs than most fighters. It’s just a shame the fighting gameplay isn’t up to par, because all these unlockables don’t mean anything if you don’t want to play the real game.

One of the big highlights of this release is the online play, which is thankfully pretty smooth on our connection. Most matches played remarkably smooth. The interface is simple, and it’s easy to find and start games. You can even play Chess Kombat and Puzzle Kombat online. More options online would have been nice, but the simple ability to take the fight online is worth the price of admission for fans of this series.

Deception’s visuals are impressive, with well-rendered characters and some interesting blood effects. It’s not realistic at all, but fits the universe quite well. Blood pours from the characters with the slightest hits, and drips down their clothing onto the ground. It doesn’t really stick to the characters; it just runs right off them onto the ground. As mentioned previously, the environments look great and are well designed. The frame rate manages to stay consistent the whole time, too. The special moves look suitably special; fireballs produce light and chunks of ice fly off of Sub-Zero’s ice moves. Konquest mode, on the other hand, looks pretty shabby. The characters are far too blocky to belong in this generation, and there’s an abundance of fog in each area.




Article By: Joe Mackie