TeamXbox recently sat down with John Podlasek, the producer of Mortal Kombat: Deception, for a three page interview about this upcoming project. When asked about his goals for this next installment, John states:

Our two main goals have been to expand and enhance the core fighting game, and create a unique Mortal Kombat universe full of different gameplay types. By adding multiple fatalities, multi-tiered environments, new and classic returning characters, better fatalities and new weapons in the environments we're really expanding how you think about and play a fighting game.

The other goal was to introduce different modes of play set within the context of Mortal Kombat. The biggest and most challenging one is our new Konquest mode. Instead of a linear path of training tasks like in the last one, we're creating something of an RPG-like experience. If you're into strategy and fighting our Chess Kombat mode has 5 different piece classes and mixes board game thinking with classic one-on-one fighting. And the last mode we're really excited about is called Puzzle Kombat. As you move around all these blocks that are falling vertically, a simulated "fight" tied into the player's progress will be going on in the foreground with mini MK characters. At the end of a round the losing side will have a fatality done to them, or things like a 1 ton weight fall and crush the player like a grape. It's real easy to pickup and play, and very addictive (it's not uncommon to hear yelling down the hallway when people are playing it).

To read the interview in its entirety click here. It also contains several new screenshots, some of which we've already released here.

Midway Games has issued a press release officially announcing Midway Arcade Treasures 2, which is the first Midway compilation to feature Mortal Kombat games! From the press release:

CHICAGO - April 26, 2004 - Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY), a leading interactive entertainment industry publisher and developer, today announced Midway Arcade Treasures 2, a compilation of classic Midway arcade games together on one disk. The sequel to the successful 2003 launch of Midway Arcade Treasures, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is currently in development and scheduled to ship Fall 2004 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft and the Nintendo GameCube™ with a suggested retail price of $19.99.

Midway Arcade Treasures 2 features hundreds of hours of classic gameplay action from all-time arcade favorites including the blood-spurting intensity of Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat® II and Mortal Kombat® 3, the multiplayer collaboration of Gauntlet® 2, the drug-busting adventure of NARC and the no-holds-barred street fighting action of Pit Fighter™, just to name a few.

"Midway Arcade Treasures has been so well-received that it was an easy decision to give gamers more of what they want while, at the same time, help to evolve Midway's classic arcade titles to today's next generation gaming consoles," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "Midway Arcade Treasures 2 features many of the arcade era's biggest hits such as, Mortal Kombat, Primal Rage® and Cyberball 2072 that once ruled arcades across the nation."

With Midway Arcade Treasures 2, gamers will have the option of enjoying their favorite games in one-to-four-player game formats, depending on the title, and will experience a collection of classic titles that represent a fresh, new era in gaming relative to other "classic" game compilations. The bonus DVD content in the game will also feature several classic video montages of original commercials, launch trailers and making of the game videos for several of the classic arcade titles included on the disk.

As stated in the press release, the game is scheduled to ship this fall. Keep checking back, as we will post more about this game as we learn it!

To read the press release in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum member buterbals113085 for the heads-up on this story!

GameSpot has just posted an article reporting that Midway has officially announced their upcoming compilation game, Midway Arcade Treasures 2! This is the first Midway compilation game featuring the first three Mortal Kombat games. From the article:

Priced at $19.99, Midway Arcade Treasures 2 is scheduled for a fall 2004 release on the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and GameCube. The Xbox version of the collection will let players post their high scores on Xbox Live, which will also list world champions. Depending on the game, up to four players can play Midway Arcade Treasures 2.

No mention is made in the article about Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, nor is online play mentioned. The article also calls the games "ports", which might suggest that these are not the original arcade ROMs run through an emulator. We will hopefully know more come E3.

To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Our thanks to forum member Thelonius-Monk for the heads-up on this update!

The latest issue of Game Informer has hit newsstands, containing a four-page preview of Mortal Kombat: Deception! This issue sheds some new light on the game, and confirms some rumours that had been making the rounds. This article is more of an interview, with members of the MKD design team answering the magazine's questions.

The first point brought up is the character list, and John Vogel confirms that the boss is the Dragon King, and "he's been very 'deceptive'." Steve Beran confirms some of the returning characters: Baraka, Mileena, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Tanya, Ermac, Sindel, and Kabal are all returning. In addition, Luis Mangubat confirms that Liu Kang will be returning as both a ghost and a zombie. The reason for Sub-Zero's altered appearance is also explained, as they wanted to make him look more Chinese and distinct from Scorpion. Herman Sanchez also gives the names of some of the new characters, such as Kira (a female Black Dragon member, whose sketch is shown in the magazine; her costume looks similar to Sonya's), Dairou (a ronin samurai with a score to settle), Ben (a martial arts champion; possibly the source of the "Ken Masters" rumor?), and Ashrah (a mystical demon huntress).

In terms of gameplay, Ed Boon revealed that the characters will again have three different fighting styles, but that they will be even more distinct from one another this time around. Stage weapons were also touched upon, as Jay Biondo explained the stage weapons were much more powerful than standard weapons, but harder to get to. He explains that "getting these weapons will be a challenge, as they are placed near death traps, hidden in secret locations, and sometimes even encased inside other interactive background elements." In the realm of combos, Ed Boon explained that each fighting style and character will have more combos, but each character will also have "break out" moves (similar to combo breakers from Killer Instinct?). As he explains, "This should really even the playfield when fighting against someone who has mastered a character's combos."

They also discuss fatalities as well. Carlos Pesina confirms each character will have two "tasty" fatalities. In addition, he explains, "Unlike Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, limbs can be severed and there will be several Fatalities that take advantage of this new feature. One example would be the fatality in which the attacker rips the opponent's arms off and then beats him with them." A couple of new stage fatalities are also seen in the form of concept drawings. The first shows a multi-layer ice cavern stage, where characters break through floors of ice. If a character is knocked through the bottom-most one, he is devoured by the gigantic ice worm lurking below. In another, a large structure shaped like a dragon's mouth is at the side of an arena; when a character is tossed into it, it chomps down like a rock crusher and crushes the character within it. In addition, Mike Taran gives an idea of what to expect:

"... you will see opponents get buried in rock avalanches, smashed by giant steel presses, ripped to shreds with grinders, eaten by giant slugs, gored with spikes, shaved into chunks with spinning blades, boiled in lava, impaled on stalagmites, or cut to pieces by lasers... Awww yea!"

The article also covers Konquest, Chess, and Puzzle Kombat modes. Nothing really new is covered concerning the first two modes, but Nick Shin gives a bit of new detail concerning Puzzle Kombat:

"You select a character that's unique by their special move abilities. Some of them have offensive power moves that fill up your opponent's screen, while others have defensive moves to help clear our your own screen. Each background in this game mode is also unique in that you get to see Fatalities performed on the victim of a poorly played game. Oh yeah, both of these games modes will be playable online."

As always, we are not able to post scans of this article. However, this issue should be available at your local newsstands, so go on out today and pick up your copy!

Our thanks to all those who wrote in concerning this story, and especially forum/chat member GuiltyByDesign for providing us a copy of this article!

The UK magazine Play has provided a new article in Issue 113 , talking about Mortal Kombat: Deception! Although not too much new is shown, there are a few interesting details provided in the magazine.

First off, a stage fatality is demonstrated with a series of pictures, with Ashrah kicking Nightwolf into a molten steel forge. As Nightwolf recovers and tries to crawl out of it, the forge comes smashing down, flattening him against the molten steel. The stage this takes place in appears to be the same stage in which Ashrah was seen fighting Scorpion in an earlier update.

The multi-level stages are also touched upon in the article, with the first indications of how deadly moving between stages can be. From the article:

But this is Mortal Kombat and here knocking an opponent into another area can have much more serious consequences. Not only will any fall do a lot of damage (and have a visual impact on the landing area), but there's a chance you could fall into one of the numerous traps - these could be spikes, rotating blades and grinders to name but three. And you aren't going to survive one of these.

The article also gives a bit of insight as to what some of the events will be like and what point your character in Konquest becomes eligible for inclusion into the other game modes.

Certain events will only become available at a specific location and a specific time of day and some information will even be misleading, hence the name Deception. You begin as a 16-year-old fighter and end as a 60-year-old master, your custom fighter now ready to enter (and be selected) in the world of the Mortal Kombat Versus mode.

The article also gives a description of the Chess game. The main new information given in the article is what characters are chosen as the pieces.

Now imagine each piece on the board a character from Mortal Kombat - characters in different roles that you've decided on. So, say Scorpion is the character you're best versed in, you might want to make him your 'Queen' piece. No good with Sub-Zero? He could be your 'king'. Players take turns in moving their pieces with the objective being to defeat your opponent's 'King' piece - but whenever two pieces meet, a battle ensues. This is dealt with in time honoured fashion - with a round of the Mortal Kombat fighting game. Weaker pieces will have less energy than the stronger ones. Simple. There are also special squares on the board which can act as traps (springing pieces straight off the board without any combat) or will restore energy, again making the match more strategic. The idea is that each game of Chess will last no more than 10-15 minutes in total, with each player moving his pieces quickly around the board - there won't be any two-day Chess marathons here.

Also, the article has two renders/images of note. The first is of a decaying/rotting fighter clad in a ninja-like costume; current rumours in the MK community refer to this character as Skab. The other is the image of Sub-Zero, which is the same as other previous images of him, with one difference: he now has the trademark scar over his eye.

As always, due to copyright issues, we cannot post scans of the article. If you live in the United Kingdom, this issue of Play is available on newsstands now!

Our thanks to the many users who wrote in, giving us the heads-up on this story!