by:	October 30, 2004

Mortal Kombat is one of the few fighting genre franchises that have stood the test of time. It is an even bigger achievement that after an over exposure of the game in the late nineties, and a near death of the entire series that with Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance it could reclaim it’s once lost glory. Mortal Kombat: Deception continues the newly created legacy and offers more than Deadly Alliance had and sticks with the Mortal Kombat formula. The game falls short in keeping up with today’s 3D fighting genre in some instances but coupled with a lot of extras you will find something for everyone in this one title.

Mortal Kombat Deception ends were Deadly Alliance left off, and we find Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi now joining forces (along with the other “Kombatants”) against the returning Dragon King of the Outworld. The story of how this happened is told through the introduction of a Konquest Mode and so continues the deep mythos within Mortal Kombat. I will quickly say that when I was younger Mortal Kombat was series—I watched the shows, movies, and loved to guess what was going on in the universe of MK at recess with my friends. In the late nineties when series turned into a huge confusing frenzy I lost track and came back just in time now. The mythos that were once predominantly the bulk of the lure of Mortal Kombat in those days has now worn off, and the story will just get confusing.

The game features many modes—The Arcade Mode has no other purpose than to reveal the endings to the characters. The AI in the Arcade made is your basic fare, reminiscent to the difficulty and style of AI in the old Mortal Kombat titles. The meat of the title is the games Versus Mode that is probably were people would spend most of their time after completing the Konquest mode. In here you can play with friends or you can go on Xbox Live to fight. The Xbox Live Chess Kombat is a mini-game set up exactly like the traditional game of Chess but with a Mortal Kombat twist- you have to fight in the traditional since to win your spot. Puzzle Combat is basically a rip of the Street Fight Puzzle game that was created a few years back, topped off with mini-versions of the combatants. Both games are executed well and can be played with another person on the Xbox or on Xbox Live and help to extend the game’s replay.

The Konquest mode is basically the Mortal Kombat version of Soul Calibur series’ story mode. You must go through the Mortal Kombat universe completing a series of tasks and along the way you unlock many secrets such as hidden characters and new arenas with keys and coins you gather along the way. With the keys and coins you then head to the Krypt to find out what goodies you can buy. The Konquest mode also helps you to learn combos as you meet new allies, since for some reason the Practice mode does not help you with learning them. The Konquest is were you will find most of the game besides the multiplayer aspect, and is entertaining for the five-six hours it last. The only downside to the Konquest mode is for some strange reason certain secrets only show up at certain times, and besides that the rest of it is pretty easy since the game easily directs you.

There are a wide variety of characters in the game, half of them you are able to discover by playing through Konquest Mode. There are a lot of old favorites like Sub Zero, Scorpion, Liu Kang as well as tons of new ones. The characters are for the most part balanced unless you’re using the duo character Noob Smoke. This character if used right is so fast and unpredictable that it becomes unfair to your other opponent. The actual combat is a mixed bag of tricks that could be interpreted in many ways. Mortal Kombat is totally different from today’s fighters such as Dead or Alive 3 or Soul Calibur 2 were you can improvise combos by a series of button pushes you make up yourself. Those games have a near unlimited spectrum of fighting possibilities.