Mortal Kombat: Deception (Second Opinion) Review

Speaking of Arcade mode, it is virtually identical to any MK game in the past that had it. You go through a series of different fights with random game characters until you reach the final two bosses. The sub-boss in Deception happens to be the Noob/Smoke combination, sort of like how Zelda and Sheik work in SSBM. It is rather odd for them to be the second to last fight though, since they really have no relation to the actual boss. That happens to be Onaga, or the Dragon King. He is the one that you see take back Outworld in the introductory FMV, and thankfully he’s not insanely difficult to beat. There are actually six special items surrounding his battle arena that will stun him each time you grab one, allowing you to unleash your deadliest combo every time. Then using your weapon takes down his health pretty well, so beating him isn’t the hardest thing in the game to do. But as always, with each fight progression comes increased fight difficulty. It starts at 25% and ends at 65% with the Dragon King. Each fight takes place in a different arena, and of course your Fatalities and brand new Hara Kiris are available to use each conclusion. Fatalities more or less “kill” your opponent for good and Hara Kiri is basically the losing fighter taking his or her own life so no Fatality can occur. Some of them are rather uninspired and unoriginal, but others like Noob’s are really painful looking!

Konquest is the game’s main mode, so obviously it’s the most expansive. In it, you take the role of Shujinko, a young teenage boy who is aspiring to become the next legendary Earthrealm warrior. His dream is to take out Shang Tsung in his traditional Mortal Kombat tournament. However, very soon at the beginning of the game while you’re receiving your initial training from Bo’ Rai Cho, you are presented with your “secret” mission. You are greeted by an orange glowing entity that calls himself Damashi, claiming to be a messenger for the Elder Gods. He basically explains to you that the Elder Gods are looking for a champion to utilize for the daunting mission of saving all the realms. You are asked to explore each of the six realms (Earthrealm, Netherrealm, Outworld, Orderrealm, Chaosrealm, Edenia) for a unique artifact known as a Kamidogu. Apparently when you acquire all six, you will help the Elder Gods put a stop to an evil being trying to take over ruling of the realms. This will take you through a fairly long journey, having been given the special “ability” to acquire the fighting techniques of any combatant you encounter. It’s a rather cheesy way to make your “training” seem more interesting, but it works at least. So you will explore the six realms, meet hundreds of people, train yourself in various fighting techniques and do sidequests along the way! Sidequests normally come from actual realm citizens who ask that you fetch something for them or deliver something to someone. They do normally result in nice rewards of Koins so they can be worthwhile to accomplish. Also during your journeys, you will collect Koins as they randomly appear in the areas you navigate, as well as in the buildings you can enter. The same works for treasure chests, which can contain hundreds of Koins, as well as Krypt keys to unlock specialties. The Krypt is essentially a main menu area in which you use your keys and Koins to unlock a huge field of graves that contain all the game’s unlockable materials. They can include anything from the six hidden characters to alternate bios and costumes.

Finally, we have Puzzle and Chess Kombat. Puzzle is essentially a fight between two people to make the other player’s blocks rise above a certain line on the screen. There are different color blocks as well as MK icons called “Breakers” to assist you in getting rid of them. When you use a Breaker on the right color of blocks (the blocks also must be touching each other in some horizontal or vertical fashion), those blocks will disappear from your side and reappear on your opponent’s side. You will also occasionally receive bombs, which will eliminate all blocks of whatever color you happen to place yours on. Then depending on which MK character you choose for your side, there are special abilities you can use to make things harder on your opponent. They can range from making you unable to see your blocks for a time, to actually relieving yourself of a good number of the blocks you currently have. But when those blocks do reach past a certain point in your area, you will win that particular round. The winner of two rounds “kills” the opponent’s avatar through some nasty little death trap that appears onscreen.

With Chess Kombat, you choose four classes of fighters to take into battle. They range from Grunt to Commander. Each class has different attributes in accordance to what happens to battle, so you should choose wisely. There really isn’t any “right” strategy for this mode, since the Grunts have 50% health loss even though they are the most plentiful pieces. Then most actual chess rules apply, with a little bit of a Midway twist. Not all piece movement is identical to real chess, and actual “killings” are determined through actual MK battles. Both modes do have their entertainment value, but more often than not you’ll find yourself returning to Konquest and Arcade mode.

So with having the fighting engine being a little easier this time around, Deception is really a lot of fun to play. Konquest mode is an excellent way to train yourself to be good at the game as a whole, and Arcade mode will bring out that beautiful MK nostalgia. Chess and Puzzle Kombat are interesting and entertaining additions that have their merits, so that’s always a nice thing if you wish to do something else for a change. Of course the entire game isn’t without its frustrations, but that’s pretty much to be expected with any kind of fighting game.

Depending on what mode you play, you can see endings of each character in accordance to the game’s story in Arcade, as well as Shujinko’s mission in Konquest mode. Experiencing each character’s ending in Arcade mode most certainly is a daunting task, and many probably won’t even bother trying to do so. But with the characters that you actually do take through Arcade, you’ll be treated to about 30 seconds of ending story with how each player reacts to defeating the Dragon King. They are pretty nice, but it’s not essential to see them all in order to enjoy Deception as a whole.

However, experiencing and ending Shujinko’s mission in Konquest mode will not only unlock him as a playable character in Arcade mode, but seeing how it all unfolds is very intriguing. Now of course if you really understand and pay attention to the introductory FMV, you will more than likely be able to predict just what happens at the end in accordance to Shujinko, Damashi and the Elder Gods. It was rather discouraging to have been able to guess it so easily, but experiencing such a great story like that was very cool indeed. Players of Deception who enjoy the MK franchise shouldn’t be at all disappointed by the endings that you are treated to!

Mortal Kombat: Deception has great replay value. There is so much to do in Konquest mode in terms of unlocking special things and completing all kinds of sidequests so you’ll almost always have something to come back to. Then the fun you may very well have playing the nostalgic Arcade mode and playing the quirky Puzzle and Chess Kombat modes also add a nice touch to the replayability factor. If you’re a big MK fan or loyalist of any measure, you will definitely want to come back to this game pretty often. However, if you’re picking this game up just to have some fun with it while you can, then there probably won’t be much motivation for you to do everything the game has to offer. But being able to play your friends one-on-one to really determine “who’s boss” is another great feature that helps the multiplayer aspects along. So if you want a game with a lot to do and a lot of great fun awaiting for you when doing it, Deception is an excellent pick!

Overall, Mortal Kombat: Deception could easily be considered the best MK franchise iteration to have been birthed since Mortal Kombat II on the SNES. There is a great number of fighters to choose from, and each bring their own unique style of kombat to the game’s atmosphere to prevent boredom from possibly ever happening. It’s no shocker that with a story as good as Deception has, there is a lot for you to experience and want to come back to. It was nice to see Midway take a better direction with Konquest mode with Deception than they did with Deadly Alliance, as it definitely immersed you into the game a lot better than it may have if it wasn’t how it was. Arcade mode will appeal to any MK fan, and the new side games of Puzzle and Chess Kombat will help the entertainment value stay consistent throughout the game’s entire experience. So any fans of MK should definitely check this title out, and any people interested in the genre altogether are strongly encouraged to do the same! Plus, we have Goro and Shao Kahn, we get to laugh at the Sony and Microsoft supporters!