Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004) (VG)

User Rating:

8.4/10   

Writers:

Alexander Barrentine (story)
Ed Boon (creator)

Genre:

Action | Horror

Tagline:

It will konsume you.

Plot:

An ancient evil has returned form beyond death and threatens the very existence of the realms. Will the Champion of the Elder Gods have the power to defeat this threat borne of deception?

Plot Keywords:

Deception | Dragon | Beautiful Woman | Fighting | Death By Falling

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Max Crawford	...	Shujinko (voice)
Carlos Pesina	...	Bo' Rai Cho (voice)
Herman Sanchez	...	The Narrator (voice)
Johanna Añonuevo	...	Additional Voices (voice)
David Allen	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Chase Ashbaker	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rob Berry	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Ed Boon	...	Scorpion (voice)
Laura Boton	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Rich Carle	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Nigel Casey	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Brian Chard	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Lina Chern	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Mike Dicillo	...	Additional Voices (voice)
Elías Figueroa	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Also Known As:

Mortal Kombat: Mystification (Europe: English title) (UK)
Mortal Kombat: Unchained (USA) (reissue title)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:M | UK:18

Company:

JGI Entertainment

Trivia:

Goro and Shao Kahn are exclusive playable characters on the Gamecube version.

Quotes:

Ashrah: At last I will defeat the demon Ermac. Your death will bring me closer to purification and ultimately, my release from this realm.
Ermac: We are no demon! Surely you can sense that We are not of your kind.
Ashrah: Nonetheless, there must be some evil residing within you or you could not have entered the Netherrealm.
Ermac: Enough! You have killed many of Shao Kahn's allies in your quest to purify your soul. You will pay for your insolence!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#33.4)" (2005)

"Deception" is right about one thing...

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