Mortal Kombat: Mystification

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Following on from the last game in the MK series,Deadly Alliance,it emerges that the defenders of Earth-Realm failed in their mission to stop evil-doers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung from taking control of Earth-Realm.In a last ditch attempt to stop them,the resistance's leader,Rayden,did battle single-handedly with them,but their combined might proved too much for him.However,both sides now face a new threat in the shape of Onega,the evil dragon-lord,considered to be the only true ruler of Earth-Realm...

The long-running MK franchise attempts to branch out with Deception,a game in which there is a 'puzzle' option in which you must control the movement of shapes and objects in order to win.There is also a segment entitled 'Chess Mortal Kombat',in which you must basically play Mortal Kombat in the style of,well,chess?!?Urrrgh,I've never played chess before in my life,let's just get to what we all came for,hard-core arcade style fighting!Here the game really blows hot and blows cold.There's a new selection of characters to choose from,none of them as appealing as with the previous game,but fairly adept fighters all the same.The graphics feel a little podgier than before,but where the game offers compensation is in scope.You can hurtle characters up high in the air,sending them up through glass roofs,you can knock them through wooden floor-boards and,to expurgate on this a bit,the death scenes are certainly a lot grislier.Characters are knocked from high cliff-tops and find themselves impaled on wooden spikes,they're knocked into spinning gurders,they're even just knocked from high heights,land on the ground,and splatter into a bloody mess just from the force of the impact.With recent publicity surrounding the effects of violent games and what they can lead to on young minds,it's a little nulifying to think that video game retailers may sell games such as this to youngsters with the 18 certificate being used merely as a precautionary measure!

Overall,for all it's catchy gimmicks,this still doesn't quite manage to better Deadly Alliance in any way.That's not to mention that the game's obsession with spelling every single word that actually begins with a c with a k is a novelty that's starting to wear off now (there's even a character called Kobra in it-yeeesh!)But I can't say that it's worse than it in any way,either.Maybe Santa'll bring it me for Christmas.***

In this case nostalgia is good. Old MK characters return and stage fatalities return. Konquest in this game is an RPG like adventure with the main character named Shujinko. Konquest does have some terrible voice acting in spots, but not everyone is bad. Midway has got the right idea with Konquest. It just needs to be fleshed out more. Shujinko's controls are slightly stiff when it comes to moving.

Most of the stories are good when you beat arcade mode. There is a couple that disappoint.

There is also a new addition to the MK series. Which is Hara Kiris. Its suicide basically. Most of the Hara Kiri's range from cool to bland.

All the characters have their own voices. Which is great and adds more depth to the game in my opinion.

The fighting feels more updated and not so clunky like in Deadly Alliance. There are multi-tiered levels now. There are two fatalities instead of one like in Deadly Alliance. Overall a major improvement over Deadly Alliance.

I decided to wait on commenting on the latest game in the long-running "Mortal Kombat" franchise, titled "Mortal Kombat: Deception," because I first wanted to see how things would pan out after it was beaten. Turns out, there's a whole lot of game, and a whole lot of frustration in there.

I won't bother with the plot, since there isn't much in the first place, and a lot of characters are missing. (The only recognizable characters in the beginning of the game are Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Mileena, and Baraka.) Other than that, you're stuck with these four familiars, plus a few characters that made their debut in "Deadly Alliance" and some brand-new characters.

This latest "MK" entry offers a whole lot of game, including "Puzzle Kombat," "Chess Kombat," and "Konquest," where you assume the role of "Shujinko" and you must complete a quest (not unlike what we've seen in dozens of martial arts movies before) and this section of "Deception" makes up about 1/4 of the bulk of the game.

It is here in "Konquest" that you pretty much learn about the whole "Mortal Kombat" universe and you train, learn special moves, and earn "kombat koins" to open up unlockables in the "krypt" (everything that's usually spelled with a "c" is spelled with a "k" in the "Mortal Kombat" universe).

"Deception" is undoubtedly fun, but unfortunately it's also quite maddening and frustrating. The biggest flaw the game suffers from is the maddening combo system. It takes the manual dexterity of someone with the quickest hand-eye coordination to complete some of the combo training tasks the game throws at you.

It's insanely frustrating, especially for a fan like myself who grew up playing "Mortal Kombat." But if you're not up for the B.S. that's offered in the maddening "Konquest," you can of course duke-it-out with the CPU or your friends in old-fashioned "Arcade" mode. But even here you're limited because you'd need to have beaten the game to get all the really cool characters.

It took me about two weeks to complete "Mortal Kombat: Deception" and I can honestly say that I took a DEEP breath of relief when it was done, especially after I made it through the impossible combo training sessions, ridiculous fights (ever tried fighting Scorpion while he delivers blows that cause 3x more damage than they normally do AND he heals at the same time, or tried fighting Sindel while bleeding to death at 50% health?), and a somewhat weak "reward" for completing the core of the Konquest mode.

Despite its ridiculousness, it's still a thorough and engaging entry into one of the most successful fighting franchises ever released.

However, the tag line is not B.S.; it will "Konsume" you!

7/10

A Kick ass game this was, it is my second favorite Mortal Kombat game behind Armageddon, Chess Kombat rocks, I am a huge fan of both Mortal Kombat and Chess, Onaga, who is the final boss of this game is the best main villain/final villain boss in my opinion and Second best Final Boss to Blaze, Puzzle Kombat was cool too, it is like Tetris, Konquest in this Mortal Kombat is probably my favorite Konquest since you can go back places basically anytime, I love how you can make your chess teams and save them to your profiles, the idea of different colored coins was very creative too, Noob Saibot and Smoke though should have been separate, it was not fair to either of them and they did not get to use weapons, there are only 3 of the 24 endings I didn't care for, the rest were good though. Characters in this game that rock are Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Noob-Smoke, Ermac, Baraka, Mileena, Jade, Li Mei (Her ending was just way out of her character there), Sindel, Kira, and Kabal, although I didn't like that the likes of Kitana, Reptile, Cyrax, Sektor, etc. weren't playable, but I also loved the story lines involving the realms and the Komidogu, overall a must have game for decades to come! S Ranking, 5 Stars and 1000/10 This series just keeps getting better.

You should get "Mortal Kombat: Deception." The "Mortal Kombat" games have always been the definitive games of the fighting genre. It's clear why. First of all, there are no annoying cut scenes before every battle. No cheesy trash-talking lines spoken by the characters before you can throw the first punch, just that familiar, near-demonic voice that says "Round 1. Fight!" before each battle, and you're off.

There's also the famous violence that has come to be associated with the MK series. I'm not usually a big fan of blood and gore, but the MK games have made the violence so over the top that's it almost comical. Characters bleed crimson, almost gelatinous blobs every time they're hit. The blood can be switched off on the options menu, but this takes away MK's unique sparkle, including the ability to perform a Fatality. As a finishing move, mash a few buttons you found on the Internet and your character will disembowel the opponent, removing generic organs and leaving a pool of blood. Even the bugs that are trodden underfoot in one arena leave behind a gratuitous amount of guts.

Of course, re-playability factor in very high. In the one player arcade mode, you will be randomly assigned a series of opponents and arenas to fight in each time, always climaxing with the ridiculously hard-to-beat Onaga, the Dragon King. And, of course, the two-player battles never get old, with each character having an incredible variety of unique combos and fighting moves to perform (as in the previous game, "Deadly Alliance", each character has two martial arts styles and a weapon.) Though some of the combos (especially the fatalities) are so difficult they'll make you swear your controllers are broken (especially in "Konquest" mode.)

"MK: Deception" is the peak of the series. There are some unfortunate changes from "Deadly Alliance", but unless you were a big fan of that game, you won't even miss them. The biggest change is the cast of characters. It's almost completely different, missing most of the classic characters that were featured in "Deadly Alliance", as well as the newly-introduced characters like Sub-Zero's protégé' Frost and vampire chick Nitara. However, perennial favorites Sub-Zero and Scorpion do return, as does Li Mei, my favorite "Deadly Alliance" fighter. There's also a handful of newcomers, including Kira, a sexy-redheaded member of Kano's syndicate.

Gone is the ability to impale the opponent with your weapon, forcing them to kill immediately or bleed to death. Arenas are also darker and less whimsical than in the previous game. However, "Deception" introduces some vast improvements, including interactive environments. Objects in the arenas can damage an opponent, or mangle them completely in graphic "stage fatalities." Also, some arenas contain weapons that can be picked up and used by the fighters. There's also a "blocker" feature, which will finally enable you to do something about that friend who uses the same cheap combo over and over, but only up to three times per fight. The best improvement, however, is the inclusion of multiple fatalities, including the Hira-Kira, or self-fatality. The Hira-Kira deprives your opponent of the satisfaction of a fatality and makes even the worst loss feel like a victory.

Also, "Test Your Sight" and "Test Your Might" mini-games are missing, but they are replaced by chess and puzzle games. The chess game is a complete mockery of the game of chess, taking away all of the strategic elements, but is a somewhat amusing way of putting a tournament together. The puzzle game, however, is strangely addictive for a generic "Tetris" knock-off. Finally, there's a Konquest mode, an RPG game that incorporates typical MK violence and provides a back story for the main game's tournament. Unfortunately, it requires you to learn every character's most ridiculous combos, and, unlike in "Deadly Alliance", must be completed in order to unlock certain characters and costumes in "the Krypt."