September 19, 2006 - Most of the attention swirling around the Mortal Kombat universe has been focused on the impending end of the franchise on current generation systems with Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. But this isn't the only MK game that will be hitting store shelves in early October. Midway is brewing another battle that will be spilling over into the handheld arena. Mortal Kombat: Deception Unchained will be fighting its way onto PSPs, highlighting the battle against Onaga, the Dragon King.

We wanted to find out the details of the upcoming port of Mortal Kombat: Deception to the PSP, so we went directly to the source. Thankfully, Shaun Himmerick, the producer of Deception Unchained, was on hand to answer some of our questions. Was anything cut out from the PS2 to the PSP? Are there any new features? What will the wireless play be like? We've got those answers right here.


IGN: How difficult was it translating Deception to the PSP? Were you forced to cut back on any features because of the jump to the handheld system?

Shaun Himmerick: The transition to the PSP from the PS2 was much harder than we anticipated. We didn't want to cut any corners on quality or features (in comparison to the platform version) so we took the extra time to make sure that if something worked on the PS2 it worked on the PSP, as well.

We also dedicated a lot of time to make sure this game ran at a solid and stable frame-rate; all modes now run at either 50 or 60 frames per second very smoothly.

IGN:The Gamecube version of Deception had Goro and Shao Kahn as newly included characters. Are there any new Kombatants included in Deception: Unchained? What's the total number of fighters this time around?

Himmerick: We added 4 additional characters, as well as Goro and Shao Kahn. We added Kitana, Jax, Frost and Blaze to the roster. However one thing we did that's kind of special is that we decided to unlock ALL characters from the beginning. Where the PS2 and Xbox had 12 characters locked and 12 unlocked at the start, MK Unchained has all 30 Kombatants unlocked right from the start. So not only are there six additional Kombatants in MK Unchained, but we also are giving players access to a lot of characters up-front that they probably never saw in MK Deception because they were so difficult to unlock, like Zombie Liu Kang for example.

<b>Hey Noob, two against one seems fair, right?</b>
Hey Noob, two against one seems fair, right?
IGN: Will there be the same number of fatalities in Deception: Unchained? Are Hara-Kiris included as well?

Himmerick:Yes and Yes. Both in Single player and in Wireless.

IGN: Will features like Puzzle Kombat and Chess Kombat return to Deception: Unchained? Were you able to fit in Konquest mode or the Krypt?

Himmerick:Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes! We did not want to remove any of the original features when we set out developing MK Unchained for the PSP. We made sure both Puzzle and Chess were functional and also functional via Wireless!

The Krypt is fully functional, as well, and has some new Kontent that MK Deception previously didn't have.

Konquest is also fully functional with nothing changed, removed, etc. from the original title.

IGN: Are there any new or exclusive features to Deception: Unchained?

Himmerick:We looked at how the PSP worked and how we thought the players would play MK on it. We wanted to add a PSP-specific mode designed for the PSP functionality, too. That new mode is Endurance Mode, you will pick a fighter and then progress one round at a time against opponents without your health rejuvenating after each round. When you beat one enemy you immediately are confronted with another enemy. You will get a couple health bumps at some strategic points, like after the 5th Kombatant and some later. If you are really good you'll be able to fight 19 Kombatants, and then get a small health bump before fighting the Dragon King as your 20th opponent. This mode has been very popular internally with the team and the testers. You can play a couple enemies, put the game to sleep, do what you need to do, then wake it the PSP, and continue to try to see how far you can get right form where you were.

<b>Bring weapons on the go thanks to Deception Unchained.</b>
Bring weapons on the go thanks to Deception Unchained.
IGN: Of course, fighters are judged on their multi-player experience. Does Deception: Unchained support Ad Hoc or Infrastructure play? Can you take the other modes in the game online as well?

Himmerick:We of course wanted you to be able to fight against your friends, er, enemies... MK Unchained has fully functional ad hoc wireless game play for Kombat, Puzzle and Chess modes.

IGN: Thanks a lot, Shaun!