Mortal Kombat Deception review

Mortal Kombat has never been the most in-depth beat‘em up to appear on the shelves. During all the various incarnations of the series there has always been another beat-em up available that that could be classed s technically better either in the graphics or just in the pure gameplay department.

MK1 had Street Fighter to contend with and in that era there was no clear winner. Beat-em-up fans were split right down the middle. Fights literally broke out as people debated which one was better. As years passed on and we moved into the 21st century MK for a while took a backseat. The 3D beat-em-up genre then evolved into what we have on our screens today.

Last year Deadly Alliance tried to bring MK kicking and screaming in to the 21st century and when it succeeded in many areas it also suffered a criticism that has plagued many a MK game throughout history. It felt hollow, robotic and lifeless compared to the likes of Soul Calibur and Virtua Fighter but somehow through all this adversity it still managed to hold it own some way, some how. Maybe it is just nostalgia or maybe it is popular just because of what it is; Mortal Kombat.

Get over here

Why Deception you may ask? The subtitle infact has some significance to the game, it refers to the collapse of the once Deadly Alliance between Quan Chi and Shang Tsung that occurred in the previous title.

This is where Deception begins, no sooner than you have turned on your PS2 you will see Quan and Shang trying to knock each other into next week. After a small battle between then the games boss will be introduced in a mildly spectacular way and we all know you are going to have to face him in a few hours time.

MK:D fighting system is not like the others available today, if you haven’t played last years MK effort then you better prepare to put in a few hours training before you get the best out of it. Without at least an hour's training most of your fights will resemble a headless chicken fighting a one legged man and we all know that could never turn out good.

Combos are the meat and bones of MK without them the game is rather boring, you may win some matches with a few well placed kicks or punches but if you up the difficulty or fight a weathered human opponent prepare for an ass kicking following by a deadly fatality. Like last year, each character has three fighting styles, two normal and one with the characters choice of weapon. Critics of the game may argue that the MK series may lack depth but during the last two years Midway has gone to great extents to try and prove them wrong.

Added Kontent

The most significant addition to this year's MK is the addition of the cleverly named Konquest mode. Now before I go any further let me tell you the graphics contained within are PSone quality and the voice acting is comparable to Resident Evil, but though all this adversity Konquest mode is actually fun.

Konquest mode begins with you controlling a young boy named Shujinko who is busy training to improve his skills. Before you exit this mode Shujinko will have aged to 60 years old but there is an assortment on this for you to do on your 25+ hour quest before that happens.

Once you enter Konquest mode you will notice that koins are scattered throughout the world, as you venture you can collect these which can be used to unlock goodies from the Krypt. You will also explore the many realms during you quest and meet many familiar faces. If you are long-time MK fan you may break a few smiles before you reach the end.

Puzzled?

Deception also includes two puzzle modes. One is a Tetris clone with mini MK fighters trading blows depending on how well you match up you blocks. This mode is great for two player competition and is enjoyable enough to pass the time if you have nothing else to do.

The other puzzle mode is a form of chess, which is once again played with MK characters that you select before you begin. These pieces the surreally meet up for a battle to end all battle on the chessboard.

At face value these puzzle modes may seem like added extras that Midway tagged on at the last minute but once you play them you will see they're are well implemented and significantly improve the game's lifespan.

Other new additions are arena fatalities; these are similar to the ring-outs in Soul Calibur but a much bloodier version. Some MK veterans may find these annoying as it ends battles very quickly when you fall out of the ring and land back first on a very sharp stalactite. Thankfully these fatalities can be turned off.

Finish him

If you were not a Mortal Kombat fan and have not picked up and enjoyed any of the numerous titles over the last decade then this title is not for you.

However if you are of fan off the long running controversial series then this game does everything right to make all MK followers happy. The phrase fan-service has never been so apt.

Deception is bloody good fun but maybe, just maybe, it could have been better but if it was better would it still be Mortal Kombat?