Well, the guys at GameSpot have gotten their hands on the latest in the Mortal Kombat franchise: Mortal Kombat: Deception. Their review of the game is pretty intense and covers all 4 modes of play:

The latest in Midway's influential and long-running fighting game series, Mortal Kombat: Deception, picks up where 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance left off by featuring lots of new and returning fighters, a variety of surprising new modes of play, and, perhaps best of all, the ability to play online. The strangest part about Deception is how it includes several completely off-the-wall modes, the likes of which you'd never expect from a fighting game. These include the single-player konquest mode, which is a story-driven adventure; puzzle kombat, a competitive Tetris-style puzzle game that's an unabashed homage to Capcom's Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo; and chess kombat, which is inspired by the classic computer game Archon.

Their general impression:

All told, MK: Deception is an outstanding, fully featured game. And it's one that's naturally best suited to series' fans--especially those who liked 2002's similar Deadly Alliance. It's these players who'll be most likely to appreciate the game's peculiar emphasis on story and unlockable extras. But make no mistake: The best, most fully developed part of Deception is its fighting system. Like any great fighting game, this one carefully strikes the balance of delivering fast-paced, visceral thrills and rewarding lots of practice and complex tactics. As such, any fighting game fan should be rightfully attracted by the prospect of Deception's online play, which works as advertised and truly does make a big difference, because it provides access to live competition all the time. Not all of Deception's modes and features are flat-out great, but the game's absolutely got it where it counts.

Overall, the game got an 8.5 out of 10 (not as high as the 9.5 awarded by Game Informer recently). Click here to read the full article.

IGN has posted their final review of MK: Deception, and they have many good words to say about the game. Their closing comments sum it up quite nicely:

The Mortal Kombat series has always been a phenomenon. There are legions of dedicated fans out there that absolutely love it, and even more that can't stand it. But more often than not, it seems to boil down to the one simple argument: Are you a Street Fighter guy or a Mortal Kombat guy? Yet despite the fact that I, myself, have always been a Ryu and Ken supporter, the last couple of fighters from Midway have really gotten my attention. Especially this one: which is so huge and intimidating, that it will take even the most dedicated franchise fans out there quite some time to vanquish it.

However, they also bear this warning:

Don't be misled by the overly positive score below, though. Because despite the fact that I enjoyed the game thoroughly, was impressed by its replayablity and depth, and felt that it has the best online fighting model of any other game on the market until Dead or Alive Ultimate comes out, it's still not recommended for everyone. Japanese 2D fighting elitists or hardcore Tekken addicts may not be able to accept it -- and that's fine, personal tastes are personal tastes.

Overall, they give the game an 8.8 out of 10 (IMHO, they marked the sound and graphics a bit too low, which probably brought down the final score.) Check out the full article here, and thanks to MK Online forum member Sub-Scorpion for the news this time around!

Ever faithful to the Mortal Kombat fanatics out there, IGN has updated with their ongoing Fatality Friday series!

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

This time around, we are treated to a particularly painful acupuncture lesson from the ever mysterious Noob-Smoke! After defeating Baraka, Noob-Smoke does a few style changes, finalizing his form as Noob. He then proceeds to whip a series of throwing stars at his defeated opponent, for a serious lesson in murder.

To see the gore for yourself, click here.

While we can assume this is the final Fatality Friday from IGN, be sure to keep checking back here at Mortal Kombat Online for the latest news and information regarding Mortal Kombat: Deception!

Thanks to forum member Kabal2006 for being the first to notify us of this Fatality Friday!

After a relatively long wait, pictures of the limited edition Mortal Kombat: Deception controllers are now available at GameStop! Although it remains doubtful that this will be the final release date, the PS2 controllers have a supposed release date of November 1, while X-Box users only have to wait until October 29. Thanks to long time MK Online forum/chat member EmperorNash for the news!

As with many past Mortal Kombat titles, it appears that Mortal Kombat: Deception will have its own Mini-Guide in addition to the regularly sized strategy guide. By pre-ordering MK Deception or the MK Deception Kollector's Edition/Premium Pack through Toys 'R' Us you can get the Mini-Guide free.

The product page for MKD with Mini-Guide can be found here. Thanks to MK Online reader candyman1014 for the news!