Metacritic Games

Mortal Kombat: Deception (GameCube)

Shocking and evil, Mortal Kombat: Deception pushes martial arts-style fighting and the Mortal Kombat franchise to new heights with an innovative fighting system, unparalleled depth and brutally intense action that will appeal to long-time Mortal Kombat fans as well as next-generation gamers. The game features lightning-fast hand-to-hand and special weapons combat, secret and returning characters, moves and combinations with new death-dealing battles and fatalities. With a host of new features including multiple fatalities per character, multi-tiered interactive backgrounds and extensive new game modes, Mortal Kombat: Deception will set a precedent for all other fighting games to follow. [Midway]

Midway
Fighting, Action
Players: 2
M (Mature)
Developer: Midway
Released February 28, 2005

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

77 / 100

Critic Reviews

96	Game Chronicles More exceptional and more stylish than any other game in the series, Deception will provide an endless amount of entertainment.
85	IGN A great diversion from the usual fighting template. So while it may not be as complex or responsive as a number of other 3D (or even 2D) fighters out there, it's a hell of a lot of fun (whether you stink at it or not).
85	Game Informer Offers a ton of bloody entertainment, even when going online isn't an option. [Apr 2005, p.131]
83	GameSpot The core one-on-one fighting action is easily the best part of the game. It's gory, intense, and quite complex, meaning it captures much of what has made MK an institution among fighting games.
82	My Gamer Creativity and the will to venture into new territory has done good things for Mortal Kombat.
80	GamePro Thanks to the GameCube's unfriendly button layout, performing the new demanding dial-a-combos is harder than ever. Patient players, however, will uncover an almost overwhelming array of play modes and hidden features.
80	Cheat Code Central The good news is that Mortal Kombat: Deception is still a great without the online modes. It's intense, frenetic, strategic, violent and bloody.
80	N-Insanity Not even a masochist would venture through Konquest Mode more than once, and the Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat will only take you so far.
76	Nintendo Power The map-navigating controls are touchy in the Konquest, but as an additional mode, it's quite impressive. [May 2005, p.91]
75	1UP If you're looking at the game for continuing the fun, campy Mortal Kombat legacy, you'll find a lot to like here. If you're looking for highly technical fighting matches or evolved modern game storytelling, you'll do better looking elsewhere.
67	Electronic Gaming Monthly Deception can be mindless fun, but I can't help but feel that the developers are just trying to do too much with this game. [May 2005, p.138]
65	Worth Playing Deception on the Gamecube is Deception minus online play, plus two characters everybody wishes were in the first runs of the game.
64	VGPub It’s not the worst game in the series, but perhaps the most disappointing because of the developer’s inability to deliver on the majority of its several cool ideas.
40	GameSpy The game's fighting mechanic was a little thin to begin with, and without an online version to lend it some legs, it gets old real fast. Playing with the GameCube controller isn't too hot, either.