The game's arenas are similar to those in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but include new features. Some have weapons that may be picked up and used. Others are now branching, meaning you can knock the opponent out of the fighting area in certain locations and continue the fight in a new area. Most levels now have deathtraps, killing any player who gets knocked into them. The game also introduces the "Combo Breaker", a system which allowsplayers to interrupt combos up to three times per match.[1] In contrast to Deadly Alliance, in which characters had only one Fatality, the Deception characters have two Fatalities and a hara-kiri suicide move. The latter is used when the phrase "Finish Him/Her" is shown on the screen and the player is about to lose.[2]
Deception introduces two minigames that use MK characters, "Chess Kombat" and "Puzzle Kombat". The Konquest mode returns, but has been expanded into a roaming adventure game with its plot.
The "Krypt" returns from Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance and serves as an interface to access extra content hidden in "koffins" (actual coffins named with the series' trademark misspelling). In Deception, the size of the Krypt was reduced from 676 koffins to 400 koffins. Some koffins also have locks requiring keys only found in the Konquest mode. The Krypt in Mortal Kombat: Deception includes twelve bonus characters (which was cut down to six characters in the GameCube version).[3]
Konquest mode
A young Shujinko meeting Kabal in the Konquest mode
Deadly Alliance's action role-playing game-style training mode — called "Konquest" — returns in Deception and is greatly expanded from the previous version. Set before the events of the main game, Deception's Konquest mode explores the history of Shujinko, starting before his training with Bo' Rai Cho and ending with the beginning of Deception's main story. While mostly an adventure game, the combat elements occur in the normal Deception fighting mode. Mastering each character's moves is now a minor mission, and it is unnecessary to beat all of them to beat the game mode. In Konquest, a young Shujinko meets Damashi, a being who requests his assistance in collecting six powerful items, the Kamidogu, to send to the Elder Gods. By the time he collects the six Kamidogu, Shujinko is an old man, having spent 46 years on his mission. However, Damashi is revealed to be the Evil Dragon King Onaga, who deceived Shujinko to obtain the six Kamidogu. Players seeking to unlock much of the bonus content in Deception must play through the Konquest mode. Even after completing the mode, players can continue exploring the worlds for additional items to unlock.[4]
Chess Kombat
"Chess Kombat" is a minigame similar to classic chess. Each piece type is represented by a character of the player's choosing. As with regular chess, the quantity and movement of each piece are determined by its rank. The game only ends when one player takes another team's 'Champion' (or King in traditional chess). The biggest difference is that all attempts to take a square are literally contested. Players will engage in one round of combat, with the winner taking the square.
All unlocked characters can be used in this minigame. Their rank determines the health and offensive strength of pieces in combat situations. Two designated squares enhance the abilities of the entire team while occupied. Both teams can discreetly turn one square into a deathtrap, which instantly kills any opponent piece that steps on it. Both teams have two 'Sorcerers' who can cast a spell instead of moving. The spells can resurrect, move, or kill lower-ranked characters. Each spell can only be used once.[5]
Puzzle Kombat
"Puzzle Kombat" is a puzzle game similar to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (1996). It features super-deformed versions of the "MK" characters that attack each other once a player gains an advantage. Players must win two rounds to win. The single-player game had a ladder format like in Arcade mode.
The players supervise a grid being filled with blocks. The blocks drop in pairs and can be rotated and moved by the player until they land. A player loses if the blocks reach the top of their grid. If a coloured logo touches a block of the same colour, then all connected blocks of the same colour disappear. Bombs will remove all blocks of the same colour as the one they touch. Removing blocks will cause them to be added to the opponent's grid, but their colours will be varied.
There are 12 playable characters, each with a unique special move that can be used when their 'Special' meter is filled. They either give the player an advantage or hinder the opponent. Baraka's "Blade" will remove all blocks on the edges of his grid. Kenshi's "Invisible" will briefly make all the blocks in the opponent's grid invisible, making matching much harder.[6]