This is
D'Arque Bishop, reporting to you from the show floor of the
Electronic Entertainment Exposition. As promised, we're here to cover
Midway's new fighter,
Mortal Kombat: Deception. After spending last night and this morning playing the E3 build of MK Deception, we feel that it's time to present our impressions of the game so far.
The E3 build has twelve characters playable:
Scorpion,
Baraka,
Mileena,
Sub-Zero,
Hotaru,
Sindel,
Kenshi,
Bo'Rai Cho,
Ashrah,
Li Mei,
Nightwolf,
Ermac. The characters have the same level as detail in MK: Deadly Alliance, and we've noticed some details in the characters that have not been seen in renders so far. For example, characters returning from MK Deadly Alliance tend to have the same fighting styles in MKD. However, we have been told that this is not set in stone; their styles may change. Also, small little graphical details can be seen, such as the fact that
Mileena's veil is translucent; you can see her teeth underneath the veil.
Li Mei's costume is also much improved, in that while her costume is the same color has her MKDA one, it is much more reminiscent of the armor of a soldier in the
Dragon King's army. The three ninjas, while LOOKING like ninjas, are VASTLY different in appearance. For example,
Ermac's mask is actually black bandages wrapped around his head, while
Sub-Zero's is more like a samurai helmet. Also, some characters have returning moves, such as Sub-Zero's ice clone and
Scorpion's teleport punch. (In the case of the teleport punch, Scorpion disappears in a whiff of black smoke, and appears on the other side of the current view in a blast of flame.)
Ashrah possesses what appears to be souped-up versions of
Raiden's torpedo and
Kung Lao's spin. Finally, Baraka's weapon style is referred to simply as
Blades, and not
Baraka Blades.
The core fighting engine and how characters move is little changed from MK Deadly Alliance. We have been told that more characters now have throws, and also we have observed that combos are easier to pull off. The biggest change in how the game plays is in the interaction of the characters with the environments. One thing we noticed is that a death trap is considered to be the gameplay equivalent of a ring-out. It does not end the entire match; the game continues to the next round with the characters returning to their starting point in the arena. One thing we noticed in the arena that is constantly falling to pieces is that both characters can fall to their deaths on the spikes below at the same time. We have yet to figure out, however, what method they use to determine the round winner. That part may not be finalized. To pick up a background weapon, you choose your weapon style when within range of the weapon, One thing I did notice is that once you grab a background weapon, you cannot change back into another fighting style. Also, if you get knocked into a death trap and the map resets, you keep your background weapon and a new one is put in place.
Not much can be said about
Chess Kombat that has not already been said. However, one item that may not have been noticed is that the fighting arenas in Chess are NOT from Deception; the two used are actually 3-D versions of MK1's
The Courtyard (complete with aged Shang Tsung on his throne) and MK2's
The Dead Pool. As far as
Puzzle Kombat goes, one item that makes it much different from games like Puzzle Fighter is that there are multiple rounds in Puzzle Kombat. Also, fatalities are done automatically in Puzzle Kombat.
We have also acquired several official images from MK Deception, including the proposed box art for the game. In addition, we have gameplay movies recorded, and will get those to you ASAP. Finally, for those interested in our
Fan Interview, the Interview was performed at the party last night, and we hope to have it online as well.
This is D'Arque Bishop signing off from the E3 show floor. We will be back later tonight with more information.
