#1086

A playthrough of the final boss Onaga in the PS2 version of Midway’s/Netherrealm’s Mortal Kombat Deception.

Hell yes, now we’re talking. Mortal Kombat Deception is so much better than its predecessor that it’s insane. I mean, this isn’t just a sequel. It’s leagues better than the rather basic Deadly Alliance. In terms of gameplay it’s pretty similar to the combat established in the previous game, it’s just that there’s so much more content now! Like, an insane increase over what was established in Deadly Alliance.

For a start, this game contains 12 hidden characters instead of the 9 unique hidden characters of DA. While some of them aren’t quite as iconic, some of these include the return of fan-favourites such as Kenshi, Raiden, Jade, Sindel and even Liu Kang, albeit with him being a little different to before. Characters have multiple fatalities, and even have the ability to steal their opponent’s thunder by performing a “Hara-kiri”, where they kill themselves so the opponent isn’t able to perform a fatality on them. A dick move to be sure, but it adds a little more variety to the matches regardless. The roster itself has been dramatically shifted around this time, something I’ll get into more in the later videos.

Bland stages are gone too. Not only are they a lot more interesting in terms of design, but they’ve also now become extremely interactive, with weapons which players can pick up as well as stage hazards. While MKDA had one stage hazard in the form of the acid-spitters on that one stage, MKD has taken that to much greater levels. More or less ripping off Dead or Alive, arenas now have ledges which an opponent can be knocked off of, causing them to fall to a lower part of the stage and take damage in the process. Unlike Dead or Alive however, levels also feature insta-kill death traps which you can knock your opponents into. While not a great idea for competitive play, these make the arenas much more immersive and fun in general, as you actually have to give a damn about your placement in the stage now, as opposed to it being an irrelevant thing. Stage hazards also make the levels look more defined and unique in general, and just add to the design of the game on the whole. And, hell, you can even switch them off in the options menu if you wish.

Then you have the modes. And there are an insane number of these compared to Deadly Alliance. Did you ever want to play pseudo-sequel to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo? Well now you can, as this game includes an MK-style clone of it known as Puzzle Kombat. Did you ever want to play as MK characters in an overly elaborate Chess mode, with spells and MK-style fighting? Well now you can, with this game’s Chess Kombat mode.

The magnum opus of the game however is its Konquest mode. With the exception of arcade mode, this is where you’ll spend the bulk of your time. Konquest is a pseudo Open World game with its own story, which sees you going across the various different realms of the MK universe in a story which actually ties into the main story itself. Konquest mostly consists of tutorial-type missions and boss fights, and the main draw of the mode is what MK does best. Hidden content. You unlock the majority of the hidden characters in this mode (including its protagonist, Shujinko) and it works really well. But then there’s the other hidden stuff. The insane number of cameos of MK fighters nowhere else in the 3D series. I mean, there are just tons, including ones for Kintaro, Motaro, Rain, Blaze; just tons! But then there’s the unplayable characters you meet during Konquest. There are quite a few. There are more unplayables than there are unlockable characters in the game, as insane as that is. And guess what? Most of them are characters from Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance. Including Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, which means they finally get the rightful videos they deserved in Deadly Alliance. If you needed any further proof that this game is more or less simply built on top of that game, then I don’t know what else to say.

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