Mortal Kombat: Deception

***Mortal Kombat: Deception*** is a fighting video game developed and published by Midway as the sixth installment of the *Mortal Kombat* (*MK*) video game franchise. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004, and for the Nintendo GameCube in March 2005. *Mortal Kombat: Deception* follows the storyline from the fifth installment, *Deadly Alliance*. Its story centers on the revival of the Dragon King Onaga, who attempts to conquer the realms featured in the series after defeating the sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, the main antagonists in the previous game, and the Thunder God Raiden, defender of Earthrealm. The surviving warriors from the previous titles join forces to confront Onaga.

Twenty-six characters are available to play in the game, with nine making their first appearance in the series. *Deception* contains several new features in the series, such as chess and puzzle games with the *MK* characters and an online mode. The Konquest Mode returns from *Deadly Alliance*, but follows the life of Shujinko, a warrior who is deceived by Onaga to search for artifacts to give Onaga more powers. In November 2006, Midway released ***Mortal Kombat: Unchained***, a port for the PlayStation Portable, which adds characters to the game from the previous title.

Series co-creator Ed Boon designed *Deception* to be an unpredictable fighting game, and included new features such as the minigames as surprises. Several parts from *Deadly Alliance* such as combos and arenas were redesigned to be more realistic as well as more interactive. *Deception* has been well received by video game reviewers, who praised the fights and the new features. The Konquest Mode, however, received criticism for poor voice acting. Several publications have called *Deception* the best fighting game of 2004.

## Gameplay

The game's arenas are similar to those in *Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance*, but include new features such as unique weapons which players can use, and instant-death traps which immediately kill a fighter who falls into them. The game also introduces the "Combo Breaker", a system which allows players to interrupt combos up to three times per match.[1] In contrast to *Deadly Alliance*, in which characters had only one Fatality, the *Deception* characters have two Fatalities and a hara-kiri suicide move. The latter is used when the phrase "Finish Him/Her" is shown on the screen and the player is about to lose.[2]

*Deception* introduces two minigames that use *MK* characters. "Chess Kombat" is a minigame similar to classical chess, but uses player-selected characters as pieces that must best each other in combat to take a square. Some pieces have certain abilities, ranging from impersonating their opponents to instantly killing one of the opposing pieces.[3] It also adds "Puzzle Kombat", a puzzle game similar to *Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo* which features super deformed versions of the *MK* characters that attack each other once a player gains an advantage in the game.[4]

The "Krypt" returns from *Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance* and serves as an interface to access extra content hidden in "koffins" (actual coffins named with the series' trademark misspelling). In *Deception*, the size of the Krypt was reduced from 676 koffins to 400 koffins. Some koffins also have locks that require keys which can only be found in the Konquest mode. The Krypt in *Mortal Kombat: Deception* includes twelve bonus characters (which was cut down to six characters in the GameCube version).[5]

### Konquest Mode

*Deadly Alliance*'s action role-playing game-style game called "Konquest" also appears in *Deception*. *Deception*'s Konquest mode explores the history of Shujinko, starting prior to his training with Bo' Rai Cho and ending with the beginning of *Deception*'s main story. While mostly an adventure game, the combat elements take place in the normal *Deception* fighting mode. In Konquest, a young Shujinko meets Damashi, a being who requests his assistance in collecting six powerful items, the Kamidogu, to send to the Elder Gods. By the time he collects the six Kamidogu, Shujinko is an old man, having spent forty-six years on his mission. However, Damashi is then revealed to be the Dragon King Onaga, who deceived Shujinko to obtain the six Kamidogu. Players seeking to unlock much of the bonus content in *Deception* are required to play through the Konquest mode.[6]

## Plot

In the final events of *Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance*, Raiden's warriors, who were meant to protect the six fictional universes (named "realms"), are killed by the Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi), who attempted to conquer the realms. As the last survivor, Raiden attempts to fight both sorcerers but is ultimately defeated. The deadly Deadly Alliance soon dissolves as the two sorcerers turn on each other for Shinnok's amulet. When Quan Chi wins, the Dragon King Onaga, the former emperor of the realm of Outworld, appears to regain his power. Quan Chi, Shang Tsung and Raiden join forces to stop Onaga, though Raiden ultimately unleashes all his powers in a colossal explosion that, apart from destroying both members of the Deadly Alliance, the surrounding palace and himself, has little effect on Onaga.[7]

Onaga now seeks to use six artifacts called Kamidogu (literally "Tool of God" or "divine clay"), which are able to destroy the realms.[7] Those fighters who survive the battle against the Deadly Alliance now stand against Onaga and his supporters. The latter include the forces of Edenia, now led by Mileena in the titular theme of deception as she masquerades as her sister, Princess Kitana. Other enemies include the former defenders from the realms, who were resurrected by Onaga and are under his control.

In the story explored in Konquest mode, a young man named Shujinko is deceived into spending his entire life collecting the Kamidogu for Onaga, who uses the guise of an emissary of the Elder Gods, the beings who created the realms, named Damashi. Onaga reveals his identity and intentions after Shujinko has gathered all the Kamidogu.[8] Shujinko, led to believe he was working for the greater good, decides to continue training to defeat Onaga.[9]

## Kombatants

* **Ashrah**
* Baraka
* Bo' Rai Cho
* **Dairou**
* **Darrius**
* Ermac
* **Havik**
* **Hotaru**
* Jade
* Kabal
* Kenshi Takahashi
* **Kira**
* **Kobra**
* Li Mei
* Liu Kang
* Lord Raiden
* Mileena
* Nightwolf
* Noob Saibot
* **Onaga**
* Scorpion
* **Shujinko**
* Sindel
* Smoke
* Sub-Zero
* Tanya

Shao Kahn and Goro are playable characters in the GameCube and Play Station Portable versions.

They were included to offset the lack of online play offered by the PS2 and Xbox versions. Both villains apparently survived the events of *Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance*; Shao Kahn by the use of a clone, and Goro was saved on the battlefield by Kahn after having been left for dead by his allies. Both characters follow the storyline of trying to return Shao Kahn to power.

## Arenas

* Beetle Lair
* Chamber of Artifacts
* Courtyard
* Dark Prison
* Dead Pool
* Dragon King's Temple
* Dragon Mountain
* Falling Cliffs
* Golden Desert
* Hell's Foundry
* Kuatan Palace
* Liu Kang's Tomb
* Living Forest
* Lower Mines
* Nethership Interior
* The Nexus
* The Pit
* Portal
* Quan Chi's Fortress
* Sky Temple
* Slaughterhouse
* Yin Yang Island

## Mini Games

Chess Kombat: A mode where you can use characters as chess pieces including Leader, Champion, Sorcerer, Shifter, and Grunt. When you try to steal a square from one of your enemies, you will fight that opponent for the square. You can fight at classic arenas such as Courtyard, The Pit, Dead Pool, Portal, and Living Forest.

Puzzle Kombat: A mode where you can play a game that is similar to tetris. To win, your opponent will have squares stacked up all the way to the top of the opponents' screen. When you get a colored dragon symbol, you will use it to land it on a same color the symbol is to give your opponent more squares.

The characters that include in this mode are:

* Baraka--Double Edge
* Bo' Rai Cho--Collapse
* Ermac--Levitate
* Jade--Stack
* Kabal--Double Bomb
* Kenshi--Invisibility
* Mileena--Drill
* Nightwolf--Breaker Buster
* Raiden--Storm
* Scorpion--Jumble
* Sindel--Arrange
* Sub-Zero--Freeze

The arenas that include in this mode are:

* Beetle Lair
* Hell's Foundry
* Liu Kang's Tomb
* Sky Temple
* Slaughterhouse
* Yin Yang Island