Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance was released approximately 2 years ago to mixed feelings from gamers. Bringing the MK series into the next generation of 3D fighters wasn’t going to be an easy task for Ed Boon and Co. as MK’s 2D heritage was something that made the game stand out, especially with those digitised characters we all know and love, or perhaps hate if you were strictly into its closest rival( in the west at least) Streetfighter. Well 2 years is relatively short for another game to appear and so what we have here is pretty much the same fighting game as Deadly Alliance but with the inclusion of some entertaining extras. Enter Mortal Kombat: Deception.

Gamplay:

Mortal Kombat Deception can be broken down into 3 distinct modes of play which includes Fighting, Story and Extras. Let’s take a look at all of these and see what they have to offer.

Fighting as mentioned earlier is pretty much unchanged from Deadly Alliance and features a slightly different roster of fighters selectable from the offset. The premise is exactly the same where by each character has 3 stances which can be changed at the touch of a button (L trigger). The first two stances are based on a wide number of styles such as Vale Tudo or Hapkido and the third is a weapons stance which incorporates devastating weapons such as swords, axes, katanas and such. The first two stances allows players to link combos from one stance to the next, effectively performing a flurry of mid high and low attacks to an unsuspecting opponent, some times reaching in excess of 12 hits. Well maybe that’s not as high as Killer Instincts insane combos or Marvel vs Capcoms air combos but still remains impressive all the same.

What is new is the ability to counter an opponents attack and stop their combo. Therefore, blocking and pushing towards an opponent during a combo will stop them and save you from receiving a pasting. However for the default two rounds players are only allowed to perform these moves 3 times.

Fighting can be played verses the computer or against a friend plus there is a training mode which is useful for perfecting your chosen characters moves and combos. Another excellent addition is the use of online play via Xbox Live which allows players to fight others across the globe. I found this aspect quite appealing although became disheartened by the number of deliberate disconnects and laggy servers. However don’t let this put you off as once the UK sees a release of this game the issue of lag would be less of a problem.

Story mode or Konquest as it’s called here is an RPG type affair whereby your character Shinjinko starts off as a small boy who embarks on an adventure of a lifetime (quite literally). Shinjinko travels the lands learning the fighting styles from various in game fighters as well as performing simple search and retrieve missions for a wide variety of NPC characters. What is really a nod to long term MK fans are the wide number of Cameo appearances from MK characters of old such as Rain and Reptile.

While obviously not a fully fledged RPG Konquest mode is lengthy enough to keep ones interest and helps players to learn pretty much every move available in the game. Konquest is also key to unlocking the many hidden characters in the game for use online or in regular fighting so for many should be the first port of call in the game.

Extras come in the form of 3 very distinct modes which include Puzzle, Chess and the now infamous Krypt. Puzzle mode is a Tetris style game which sees miniature versions of the characters battle it out whilst players match coloured blocks to perform combos on their opponents. This is fun and a great distraction from the actual fighting. Chess is loosely based on the Chess game but features its own style and pace as players attempt to battle for supremacy of the squares and ultimately take their opponents King. Player move pieces across the board but switch to real-time combat when attacking. Again this mode is great fun and an excellent distraction from the basic fighting. What is also very good is the ability to play verses CPU, Human or Online for all of these modes.

Finally there is the dreaded Krypt whereby players get to spend their earned Koins (gained by winning fights etc). Each Koffin has an extra locked away beneath it, ranging from hidden characters to artwork, videos and much more. There are a lot of Koffins here and will take quite some time to unlock them all.

Graphics:

MK: Deception is a multi format release and it shows. Looking pretty much identical to the PS2 and Gamecube versions seemingly no extra effort has been spared for Xbox owners. That said, the graphics are clear and fighters are brought to life with some smooth motion capture. Rounds are fairly fast moving and so graphics aren’t really on the list of priorities for fighting games. Small touches such as fighters appearing bruised and beaten during the rounds make a welcome return as do the famous fatalities and stage fatalities. Whilst as gory as ever these tongue in cheek finishers always bring a smile to ones face although maybe not after you have seen them 100 times already.

The arenas themselves are pretty diverse and depict the evil nature of the game quite well. I especially liked the beach arena which would switch between light and evil. When in its evil form players are able to perform a stage fatality which involves seeing you’re opponent eaten by what look like piranhas.

Sound:

Sound is overall pretty average in my opinion as none of the in game music is particularly memorable. The sound of grunting combatants is what you expect as well as Scorpions “get over here” which sounds like he’s being strangled by a woolly scarf or sampled at 5 khz. Well ok, maybe I’m exaggerating but still the sound could be improved.

Longevity:

Fighting games are unique in that they can be beaten fairly quickly by most players, however the real learning comes from mastering the moves of most if not all characters. This process can take quite a long time depending on how in tune you are with your memory. Whilst many characters share the same button presses, mastering combos, juggles the stances and general game play tactics will keep players occupied for a very long time. The added bonus of playing with friends is great as is the online component. Couple this with the added games and Konquest mode makes MK: Deception one to keep and one that you will continue playing for quite a long time or until Midway release the next game in the series.

Overall:

I happened to thoroughly enjoy MK:Deception especially as fighting games on Xbox are still very limited (although this situation is getting better all the time). The added modes are a real breath of fresh air for the series and make the game far greater than its predecessor. The online is very welcome and hopefully here to stay for any future games, although I do wish they would make a better ranking system and disconnect penalty. MK is well worth a look for fans and non fans alike, although fans will obviously get a lot more from the game than others. For those not sure then I suggest a rental as you can be assured that you will have a blast playing with some friends over. A definite thumbs up and improvement over Deadly Alliance.