MK Deception can't be recommended. It is a fun, but only for a short time. The errors really over-ride the enjoyment
Yet all of that changed when it made its jump to 3D in 1997. Yes Mortal Kombat 4. I'm not saying it was bad, in fact it was brilliant, but we all expected more, and ever since, MK has been going down hill in this new vision.
Mortal Kombat Deception, the newest of the MK games, is probably best described as MK2 mixed with MK4 as quite a few of the arenas, characters, and features are from the MK2 universe.
It is not a bad thing Midway has added all the possible features that have been tried and tested in the past. For example, Midway has taken the puzzle kombat mode from Super Puzzle Fighter 2 (a classic Street Fighter spin off by Capcom).
Anyway its helps to jolt up the actual game's limited gameplay. So lets begin shall we?
Mortal Kombat Deception has good graphics, they can't be called the best yet the character models are still well detailed.
The textures in MK are still as shiny as ever, although I would of expected more from a Xbox version as it has almost twice the power and effects of its rivals: the Playstation 2 and Gamecube.
Again its in full 3D and takes a cartoony approach to support its almost realistic-but-not-realistic blood effects and environments.
This time around they interact better thanks to slightly improved animation that sadly still need some work on, even with the excellent motion capture by Midway's development teams.
The image sadly I've been given by this Mortal Kombat reminds me of Midway's efforts to resurrect once good games like the Rampage series or Gauntlet. Again too has Dan Forden, the renowned maker of MK's music managed to do his work well.
It actually is a credit to the series, they've even returned his old classics from the earlier MK games for the chess kombat game (The feel of MK2 and 1 has also been re-captured more on that later…).
The standards of today's beat'em ups music MK Deception could be classed as one of the best. Sound effects again are hilarious (their purposely done bad I presume?) and yes the voice acting is terrible I can forgive that though too.
Now today's standards of a beat'em ups have been quite rough on the 2D classics like Street Fighter and The King of Fighters. Unfortunately too, Mortal Kombat was no exception, The change of easy to animate motion captured actors to difficult motion capture for polygonal models was the reason why the earlier MK games gameplay were a little sloppy.
Again its upsetting to see MK a victim of such difficulty. Midways have indeed fixed the old problems with this and how the game works. However the formula is not. The boss fights are twice as frustrating in MK Deception.
The reason for this is because they have a much bigger advantage this time around (e.g. The Dragon King can kick you into the spike death trap but you can't kick him into the spike death trap). Back in the earlier Mortal Kombat games there was a possible chance of using multiple types of tactics to take down the boss at the end, and little problem doing so.
Yet in Deception…A corrupt combo system (that's incredibly difficult to master) allows the enemy commence a group of moves you would swear a human player could not memorise, nor push the buttons fast enough. Another problem with MK Deceptions gameplay is the konquest mode that puts you in the role of Shujinko (basically the new Liu Kang).
This mode is crucial to obtaining new characters and costumes among other secrets. The only problem with this is the method to obtaining each one is too specific to actually get without any help.
It's a shame as this turns off new players to the series. Because of this I can't really recommend MK Decpetion. It is a fun and engaging game but only for a short time as the errors and problems are too visible and common to let off.