Mortal Kombat: Deception is a fighting game released in 2004 by Midway. It is the sixth main game in the Mortal Kombat series and follows Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002). The game was available on PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Xbox in October 2004, GameCube in March 2005, and PlayStation Portable (PSP) as Mortal Kombat: Unchained in November 2006. The story continues after Deadly Alliance, focusing on the revived Dragon King Onaga, who defeats the Thunder God Raiden and sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung to try to take over different realms. Fighters from earlier Mortal Kombat games team up to stop Onaga. The game includes online play, new chess and puzzle minigames, and an updated Konquest Mode that follows the story of Shujinko, a warrior tricked by Onaga into finding powerful artifacts.

Designed by Ed Boon, a co-creator of the series, the game aimed to surprise fans with new and returning characters, as well as more realistic combat to keep the series’ famous violent style. Game elements like combos and arenas were changed to match the new realistic style and improve player interaction. The game was also created with online play in mind, which was uncommon in fighting games at the time.

When it was released, Deception received praise from critics for its improved combat and many new features. However, some criticized the updated Konquest Mode for its weak story and voice acting. The game sold over 1 million copies by the end of 2005 and was named the best fighting game of 2004 by several publications. It is considered the first fighting game to include online multiplayer, a feature later used in many games. A sequel, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, was released in 2006.

Gameplay

The game's arenas are similar to those in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but include new features. Some arenas have weapons that players can pick up and use. Others are branching, meaning players can knock opponents out of the fighting area in certain spots and continue the fight in a new location. Most levels now have deathtraps, which kill any player who enters them. The game introduces the "Combo Breaker," a system that lets players interrupt combos up to three times during a match. Unlike Deadly Alliance, where characters had only one Fatality, characters in Deception have two Fatalities and a hara-kiri suicide move. This move is used when the screen shows the phrase "Finish Him/Her" and the player is about to lose.

Deception adds two minigames that use MK characters: "Chess Kombat" and "Puzzle Kombat." The Konquest mode returns and is expanded into a roaming adventure game with its own story.

The "Krypt" from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance returns as a way to access hidden content stored in "koffins" (coffins with a misspelled name). In Deception, the Krypt has 400 koffins instead of 676. Some koffins are locked and require keys found in the Konquest mode. The Krypt in Deception includes twelve bonus characters, though this number was reduced to six in the GameCube version.

The training mode from Deadly Alliance, called "Konquest," returns in Deception and is expanded. Set before the main game, Konquest explores the history of Shujinko, starting before his training with Bo' Rai Cho and ending with the start of Deception's story. While mostly an adventure game, combat happens using the normal fighting mode. Players no longer need to master every character's moves to complete the mode. In Konquest, a young Shujinko meets Damashi, who asks for help collecting six powerful items called Kamidogu to send to the Elder Gods. By the time Shujinko collects all six items, he is an old man, having spent 46 years on the mission. Damashi is later revealed to be the Evil Dragon King Onaga, who tricked Shujinko into helping him. Players who want to unlock bonus content in Deception must complete the Konquest mode. Even after finishing the mode, players can explore the worlds for additional items.

"Chess Kombat" is a minigame similar to classic chess. Each piece type is represented by a character chosen by the player. The number and movement of each piece depend on its rank. The game ends when one player captures the other team's "Champion" (like a king in chess). The main difference is that players must fight to take control of squares. The winner of each combat round takes the square.

All unlocked characters can be used in this minigame. Their rank determines the health and strength of their pieces in combat. Two special squares can boost the abilities of the entire team when occupied. Both teams can secretly turn one square into a deathtrap, which instantly kills any opponent's piece that steps on it. Each team has two "Sorcerers" who can cast a spell instead of moving. Spells can revive, move, or kill lower-ranked characters. Each spell can only be used once.

"Puzzle Kombat" is a puzzle game similar to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996). It uses super-deformed versions of MK characters that attack each other when a player gains an advantage. Players must win two rounds to win. The single-player version uses a ladder format like in Arcade mode.

Players watch a grid being filled with blocks that drop in pairs. Players can rotate and move the blocks until they land. A player loses if the blocks reach the top of their grid. If a colored logo touches a block of the same color, all connected blocks of that color disappear. Bombs remove all blocks of the same color as the one they touch. Removed blocks are added to the opponent's grid, but their colors change.

There are 12 playable characters, each with a unique special move that activates when their "Special" meter is full. These moves either help the player or harm the opponent. Baraka's "Blade" removes all blocks on the edges of his grid. Kenshi's "Invisible" briefly makes all blocks in the opponent's grid invisible, making it harder to match colors.

Plot

The story begins right after the events of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The Deadly Alliance, made up of Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, successfully carried out their plan. Raiden’s warriors, who were meant to protect six fictional worlds called "realms," were killed during a tournament. This helped the Deadly Alliance avoid their enemies while they gathered enough souls to bring back the Invincible Army. Raiden, the only one who survived, tried to fight the sorcerers but was defeated. The Deadly Alliance then turned on each other to fight over Shinnok’s amulet, which gives control over the army. Before Quan Chi could celebrate his victory, he saw that the Dragon King Onaga, the former ruler of Outworld, had also been resurrected. Quan Chi, Shang Tsung, and Raiden worked together to stop Onaga. However, Raiden used all his power in a huge explosion that destroyed the Deadly Alliance, a palace, and himself, but it had little effect on Onaga.

Onaga now wants to use six special artifacts called the Kamidogu (literally "Tool of God" or "divine clay"), which can destroy the realms. Fighters who survived the battle against the Deadly Alliance now face Onaga and his forces. These forces include Edenia, now led by Mileena, who pretends to be her sister, Princess Kitana. Other enemies are former defenders from the realms, who were brought back to life by Onaga and are under his control.

A young man named Shujinko is tricked into collecting the Kamidogu for Onaga. Onaga hides his true identity by pretending to be Damashi, an emissary of the Elder Gods, who created the realms. After Shujinko gathers all the Kamidogu, Onaga reveals his real plan. Shujinko, believing he was helping the greater good, decides to keep training to fight Onaga.

Characters

The game features 26 characters, with 17 returning from previous games and 9 new to the series. Only one character, the boss Onaga, cannot be played by the user.

• Ashrah – A demon from the Netherrealm who seeks forgiveness and freedom by fighting demons with a magical sword.
• Dairou – A former Seidan Guardsman who became a mercenary and was hired by Darrius to kill his former leader, Hotaru.
• Darrius – Leader of the Seidan Resistance, a group opposing the strict rule of the Realm of Order.
• Havik – A cleric from the Chaosrealm and enemy of Hotaru who wants to bring back Shao Kahn to spread chaos across Outworld.
• Hotaru – Leader of the Seidan Guard who agrees to work for Onaga to impose order in the war-torn Outworld.
• Kira – A former weapons dealer who joins Kabal’s reformed Black Dragon organization.
• Kobra – A martial artist who becomes a killer and joins Kabal’s reformed Black Dragon organization.
• Onaga – The Dragon King and former ruler of Outworld who wants to reclaim his power. He is the game’s final boss.
• Shujinko – An old warrior tricked by Onaga in his youth. He is the main character in the game’s training mode, called "Konquest."

Returning characters:

• Baraka – A member of the violent Tarkatan warrior race who attacks Outworld to distract Onaga’s enemies and frees Mileena from prison, allowing her to pretend to be Kitana.
• Bo' Rai Cho – An Outworlder who saves Li Mei from the Deadly Alliance (Shang Tsung and Quan Chi).
• Ermac – A being made up of souls freed by Kenshi from Shao Kahn’s control. He helps Liu Kang’s spirit rescue Earthrealm heroes enslaved by Onaga.
• Jade – An Edenian warrior and longtime friend of Kitana who teams up with Queen Sindel to free Kitana from Onaga’s control.
• Kabal – Leader of the Black Dragon organization, saved from death by Havik. He reforms the group with new members.
• Kenshi – A blind swordsman who teams up with Sub-Zero to stop Hotaru and Onaga’s plans.
• Li Mei – An Outworld native rescued by Bo' Rai Cho from the Deadly Alliance.
• Liu Kang – The dead Mortal Kombat champion whose spirit helps Ermac free enslaved Earth fighters. His body was later brought back for evil purposes.
• Mileena – A cruel copy of Kitana who pretends to be the imprisoned princess to trick Edenia’s army and help Onaga.
• Nightwolf – A Native American shaman who sacrifices his purity to enter the Netherrealm and defeat Onaga.
• Noob Saibot – A former member of the Brotherhood of the Shadow who revives the inactive cyborg Smoke to serve as his helper. He is the game’s combined sub-boss with Smoke ("Noob-Smoke").
• Raiden – The thunder god and Earth protector who previously tried to destroy Onaga but failed. He now fights to stop Shujinko from bringing Onaga back.
• Scorpion – A ghost who escapes the Netherrealm to help the Elder Gods stop Onaga from merging realms.
• Sindel – Queen of Edenia who teams with Jade to free Princess Kitana from Onaga’s control.
• Smoke – An inactive Lin Kuei cyborg who is revived and programmed to serve Noob Saibot. He is the game’s combined sub-boss with Noob Saibot ("Noob-Smoke").
• Sub-Zero – Leader of the Lin Kuei clan who discovers his cryomancer heritage while burying his protege, Frost. He teams with Kenshi to stop Hotaru and Onaga.
• Tanya – An Edenian traitor who joins Onaga to help him conquer other realms.

The GameCube version includes two additional playable characters, Goro and Shao Kahn, who were both killed in the opening scene of Deadly Alliance. The 2006 PlayStation Portable (PSP) version of the game, Mortal Kombat: Unchained, includes Goro and Shao Kahn, as well as characters returning from Deadly Alliance: Blaze, Frost, Jax, and Kitana.

Development

Ed Boon, one of the creators of the Mortal Kombat (MK) series, wanted the game Deception to be a fighting game that was hard to predict and included new features players had never seen before. To achieve this, the Midway team listened to fans on online message boards to learn what changes to make, such as adding new playable characters. To surprise fans and make the game more complex, the team included puzzle and chess minigames. The chess minigame had first been planned for a previous game, Deadly Alliance, but developers did not have time to add it. Boon and John Podlasek oversaw the team, which was split into groups to work on different parts of the game. One goal was to keep the traditional style of the MK series, ensuring the game’s violence felt realistic rather than like a simulation.

Character designs were improved so their movements responded better to player input. The team also brought back characters who had not appeared in a long time, including Sindel, Nightwolf, Baraka, and Mileena. A new arena with weapons was added, though it was later changed to Liu Kang’s Tomb. Character combos were redesigned to be unique and important for dealing damage. Developers focused on making the game’s backgrounds visually striking and meaningful to battles.

Because fans liked Deadly Alliance, the number of finishing moves, called Fatalities, was increased to two per character. Animators, led by Carlos Pesina, created these moves. Mileena’s Fatality, in which she eats an opponent’s neck, was described as the most disturbing. New moves called Hara-Kiri allowed players to perform finishing moves even when losing, creating a competition between players. Death Traps, which had been planned for a previous game, were added to make combat more strategic and give players more chances to win when at a disadvantage. The game originally included plans for other finishing moves, such as tortures and falling cliffs.

A major feature of Deception was online gameplay, which was rare for console fighting games at the time. Engineers spent nearly a year deciding if online play was possible. The team focused on platforms with strong online support, such as the PS2 and Xbox. The GameCube version was excluded until online issues were resolved. After the game’s release, Boon expressed disappointment that the GameCube version did not include online play, calling it “the best in the business.” The Xbox version allowed online play until Xbox Live support for original Xbox games ended in 2010. Today, Mortal Kombat: Deception can be played online through Insignia, a service that restores online functionality for Xbox games.

Details about the game were first shared in the May 2003 issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, where it was called Mortal Kombat VI and online play was confirmed. On February 6, 2004, Midway registered the domain names mkdeception.com and mortalkombatdeception.com. When asked if Mortal Kombat: Deception was the official title, Midway did not confirm it. Later that month, the first game trailer was released, confirming the title.

Release

Mortal Kombat: Deception was released for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and Xbox in North America on October 4, 2004, and in Europe on November 19, 2004. In France, the game was renamed Mortal Kombat: Mystification because the word "deception" could be misunderstood as "disappointment" in French. Other countries kept the original name. A GameCube version was later released in North America on February 28, 2005.

Two versions were released for the PS2 and Xbox: a standard edition for both systems, a Premium Pack for the PS2, and a Kollector's Edition for the Xbox. The Premium Pack and Kollector's Edition included a metal trading card and a bonus disc with a history of Mortal Kombat, video biographies of characters, and an "arcade perfect" version of the original Mortal Kombat, created by Digital Eclipse. The Xbox version cover art featured Scorpion, Raiden, Baraka, or Mileena, while the PS2 version used the character Sub-Zero.

In October 2005, the game was sold again as a Platinum Hits title on the Xbox and a Greatest Hits title on the PS2, with new packaging and a lower price. Deception was also included in the compilation Mortal Kombat Kollection, which also featured Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. The compilation was released for the PS2 on September 29, 2008.

Mortal Kombat: Unchained is the name of the PSP version of Mortal Kombat: Deception, developed by Just Games Interactive. The word "Unchained" means the game can be played on a handheld device without needing a cable. It was released on November 13, 2006, in North America; November 23, 2006, in Australia; and November 24, 2006, in Europe.

Unchained included all characters from the GameCube version and four additional characters—Blaze, Frost, Jax, and Kitana—from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, which were exclusive to the PSP version. Three of these four characters had only one Fatality and no Hara-kiri, likely because they had only those moves in Deadly Alliance. The Unchained version also included Endurance mode, where players fight waves of opponents. The PSP's wireless ad hoc network allowed multiplayer games. Characters hidden in other versions were unlocked by default in Unchained. Producer Shaun Himmerick explained that the team wanted to make it easier for players to access characters like Liu Kang, who were hard to obtain in Deception. Although Midway did not develop the game, they helped Just Games Interactive improve the game's code and Wi-Fi features to maintain a high frame rate.

Reception

During its release week, Mortal Kombat: Deception sold 1,000,000 units, selling more than the previous Mortal Kombat game and becoming the fastest-selling game in Midway's history. One year later, the game had sold 1,900,000 units worldwide.

Before its release, GameSpot named it the best fighting game at E3 2004. It also won the 2004 GameSpot Top Spike TV Video Game Awards in the best fighting game category. GameSpot listed Deception as the best fighting game in its "Best and Worst of 2004" report. The PlayStation 2 version was a runner-up in IGN's PS2 Best of 2004 Awards for best fighting game and won the Readers' Choice award. On February 1, 2005, Deception received the "Fighting Game of the Year" award at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (now called the D.I.C.E. Awards). Deception was nominated for the "Game…Sequel Fighting" award by the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) and for the "Best Fighting Game of 2004" award by IGN, but lost both to Dead or Alive Ultimate. In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2015 ebook, the game was recognized as the first fighting game to include an online mode.

On Metacritic, the PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions have a weighted average review score of 81 out of 100, while the GameCube version has a score of 77. Deception won GameSpot's 2004 "Best Fighting Game" award.

Louis Bedigian of GameZone praised the interaction with stages as one of the game's best features, saying it adds more strategy to battles. He also praised the return of "classic characters" and their new designs and attacks. Jeremy Dunham of IGN called Deception the best game in the Mortal Kombat series. He noted that removing special move buttons, which caused too much damage, was a good decision. The removal of special moves and the addition of Breakers allowed players to stop combos. However, he described the character designs as "robotic" compared to other fighting games like Dead or Alive or Virtua Fighter 4. The soundtrack was criticized for having "basic sound effects." GameSpot's Greg Kasavin said the fights improved with new fighting styles inspired by kung fu movies. He noted that fights were not perfect and could end quickly due to arena interactions, but he liked how painful and funny some moves looked. TeamXbox's Dale Nardozzi praised the characters' animations and movements and said the soundtrack "sets the tone perfectly" for intense scenes like dismemberments and decapitations.

The Konquest Mode received mixed opinions. Dunham liked how it explained the game's storyline. However, Kasavin called Konquest Mode "the weak point" of the game, describing it as "ugly" with poor voice acting and graphics. He noted that hitting anyone in Konquest was a positive feature but said the mode had to be completed to unlock characters. Bedigian criticized Konquest as the game's biggest flaw, pointing out issues with the storyline, training, and voice acting. Nardozzi found the mini-games in Konquest fun when played online.

The GameCube version received lower scores than the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions. It was criticized for lacking an online mode and having low-quality graphics in unlockable videos and cutscenes. However, 1UP.com still praised it. While the addition of characters like Goro and Shao Kahn was well-received, GameSpot said other versions were better. GameSpy's Miguel Lopez wrote that the GameCube version "is far from the best version of the game" and advised players to use another port.

Mortal Kombat: Unchained received an average score of 70 from 14 reviews on Metacritic. Jeff Haynes of IGN criticized the controls and long loading times.