Excessive bloodletting

The Rest -
The fighting format is very similar to that of Dark Alliance. Ridiculously violent and malicious with quarts of blood dousing the area and finishing moves that make parents snatch the game from the console and fling it out the window. For the finishing moves, the developers seem to have maxxed out on ways to use sharp instruments to send chunks of body parts and organs flying every whicha’ way this time. There are now two finishing moves per fighter instead of one like in Deadly Alliance.

Humerous as the games moves might be they are downright disgusting (in a good way) and following the trademark of the series, they compliment eachother well. For instance, Sub Zero’s ice clone move is a perfect example of the deceptive moves that MK has always used - tricking your opponent into advancing just to attack a frozen clone that in turn freezes them. New move additions like combo breakers and the sudden death moves (such as impaling your opponent on a spike in the pit below) make strategy more essential to winning a match.

What makes Deception either too complex or completely innovative is the ability to switch between three fighting styles for each character. When you realize that each character’s long list of moves is supplemented by two more fighting styles and chain combos that often include more than one style, it gets a bit intimidating. Especially since the combos are difficult to pull of even within one style. The move commands are also not as intuitive as one would like. Keeping Soul Calibur’s move list in mind, MK: Deceptions commands sometimes seem overly demanding. Not to complain though - the amount of moves is amazing and a welcome addition to the series which was known for having a serious deficit. A long list of new characters to unlock makes you immediately want to go through the mission mode and secure all of the extras such as new fighters, costumes, stages and weapons, etc.

The standard “arcade” mode leads you through a hierarchy of fighters which get progressively harder. Online mode is the great to play although made non-essential by two player mode. Most impressive is the nearly lag free online play. Too much lag would render the online mode useless since MK relies so heavily on quick twitch attacks and reactions. The “chess” and “puzzle” modes, both available for online play, are questionable, yet not entirely worthless additions. Obviously added to up the replay value of the game, there is already more than enough to do to make these nothing more than a distraction.

As trite and annoying as the “Konquest” mode might seem at first, it is actually a rewarding method of opening extras and it serves as a pretty comprehensive tutorial mode that teaches you combos and a long list of abilities. Based around an aspiring martial arts killer, Shujinko, in his native town, it feels much like an RPG with chests and coins to be found all over and a variety of challenges to unlock and overcome. A bit drawn out and hardly entertaining, it is still one of the best realized modes of this sort in recent times.

I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed by the game’s visuals. Soul Calibur has spoiled me for fighters - the DC version of that game looked better than Deception. Character models are stiff, blood still looks nearly as bad as it did in the Genesis version and the arenas just don’t look as 3D as they should. Models and environments have been upgraded since Dark Alliance but on the scale of fighters, MK just doesn’t look as purty as it should. The activity in the backgrounds is a plus as are the multi-leveled arenas and death traps. The obscene yet creative design of the stages is still intact and interactable. The cynical announcer returns (with his cries to “Finish Him!”) as do all of the sounds of death (bones snapping and arteries slicing in half) and the sadistic audio accompaniement.

The Verdict -
MK is a fan magnet. Fans will likely always love it for the same reasons they loved it at first play. Quick, bloody moves and sadistic fatalities. The series’ longevity speaks volumes. Even with its flaws Deception is an exceptionally worthly follow-up to Dark Alliance and injects hope into a series that once seemed doomed.

Posted: December 12, 2004