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> Results: Mortal Kombat: Deception
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Long before Grand Theft Auto, or even Doom for that matter, Mortal Kombat became the bad boy of video games for its realistic depiction of violence and gore.
The 1992 arcade game pit two combatants against one another, each with their own unique fighting style. In order to mortally wound opponents, gamers could exact "finishing moves" before advancing to face another challenger. But controversy alone doesn't turn one video game into the most successful fighting franchise of all time. The Mortal Kombat series went on to generate more than a billion dollars in revenue, and has also spawned feature films, television shows and novels. Midway's latest, Mortal Kombat: Deception, is the most ambitious sequel to date because of its deep fighting system and numerous game modes. Toss in attractive 3D graphics and support for Internet play and you have one of the most impressive fighting games in recent memory. Players who want to engage in a straightforward martial arts fighting game against a computer-controlled character, or a friend on the same television, can select the Arcade or Versus mode, respectively. Along with familiar characters such as the long-toothed Baraka and tail-wielding Scorpion, the game introduces a new cast of male and female characters, though most must be unlocked through repeated play. Seasoned players will also find many new character moves, bonus areas to fight in (each lined with deadly traps and other interactive objects) and two "fatalities" per character that include impaling opponents onto spikes and breaking their backs by stepping onto their spine while pulling their arms back.  Fighting, which is very fast-paced, requires mastery in three areas: hand-to-hand combat, weapons and magic. Learning how to punch, kick, jump and spin, not to mention linking successive moves into "combos", takes some time to get right. Therefore, gamers who try their luck by random "button mashing" won't get very far in this title. Gamers with an Internet connection may choose to fight opponents online. In fact, this is the first 3D fighter to be playable over the Net via both PlayStation 2 Online and Xbox Live. It's a cinch to join or create a game to meet challengers for a quick match or a lengthier tournament. Friends can also be added to a list so when you log on, you can see if your listed friends are online. A leaderboard displays the top online players by name, rank and points. This would be enough to satisfy any fighting game fan, but Midway added three bonus games: Because of its depth, Mortal Kombat: Deception is a highly recommended fighting game for both longtime fans of the series and for mature newcomers in search of a fun and challenging title. 
Mortal Kombat: Deception is an ultra-violent game. Any game with multiple blood and gore settings as part of the options needs to be seriously evaluated for kid suitability. Furthermore, the game encourages and rewards excessive aggression in-game and includes two special coup-de-grace moves per character as well as a "hari-kari" suicide move designed to rob the victor of his own Fatality move. Realistically, these moves are over-the-top enough to be amusing to adults, though at the highest gore setting expect buckets of blood to be flying all over the placeļ¾not only while performing the special moves, but whenever there is any contact between the two combatants. Even with the blood setting in the "off" position, the backdrops can still be disturbing and include not-quite-blood colored water flowing through a skull as well as a gallows-like setting with numerous corpses swinging from nooses. The game treats females little better, with most female characters sporting outfits that break the decency laws in more than a few states and a few character models' alternative outfits leaving very little to the imagination.
Those problems aside, there are a few things to recommend the game over others in the Kombat series, as the game has several alternate play modes that are less violent and have some merit. The Kombat Chess mode is a first for the series and provides a strong strategy element. While it isn't exactly chess, it does have the potential to teach similar logic and pattern awareness skills interspersed between conventional fighting challenges. Puzzle Kombat is another alternate mode and is a competitive Tetris-like game that, like Tetris itself, is a fun and mostly harmless strategy game potentially teaching spatial awareness and problem solving. Finally, the Konquest mode focuses on exploration and collection tasks, which are also generally harmless diversions, but the mode still requires a healthy dose of combat to be successful. In the end, it is difficult to escape the fact that the core of Mortal Kombat: Deception is a brutal and blood-spattered fighting game with very little to recommend to kids. Kid Factor by John Pollock Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "Mortal Kombat" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Mortal Kombat: Deception |
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