Close, but no spinal cord...
Over-the-top fatalities just could not hold an audience increasingly swayed by the bright, anti-aliased likes of Tekken, Virtua Fighter and Dead or Alive.
Until now.
Revitalised by the release of the first half-decent Mortal Kombat game in years (Deadly Alliance, also the first Mortal Kombat game to run in full 3D), Midway this year brings us the solid, if not mind-blowing, Deception, a release that indicates there's still some serious fight left in the old dog.
A mish-mash of game-modes, unlockable content (far more than any other fighting game on the market) and, a fighter first, online play, Deception puts a lot of balls in the air.
Unfortunately, it handles some balls better than others (no giggling up the back, I'm being serious), and so the performance ends up feeling a tad uneven.
As with previous Mortal Kombat games, the story behind the whole affair isn't particularly important, but involves, as usual, an evil demon hellbent on conquering Earth. Oh, and Raiden, professional Lightning God and one of the original Mortal Kombat cast members, bites the big one in the opening cutscene (much like Liu Kang in the neck-snapping intro to Deadly Alliance).
Audio is basic but reasonable, with some nice grunts and wet connection sounds, but in the end it's nothing to write home about. Dialogue is typically overdone, but it least it started out in English, meaning you'll see no half-arsed translations here a la Tekken 4, although at some points one might have cause to wonder.
A step in the right direction for the Mortal Kombat series, Deception shows there is light at the end of the tunnel for Kombat fans, even if there's still a ways to go before it can fully stand up to the juggernauts of the genre. Try before you buy