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 game also introduces the 'Combo Breaker', a system which allows players to interrupt combos up to three times per match. Most levels now have deathtraps, which instantly kill any player that gets knocked into them. Others are now branching, meaning that you can knock the opponent out of the fighting area in certain locations, and then continue the fight in a new area. Some have weapons which may be picked up and used. The game's arenas are similar to those in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, but include new features. Gameplay Screenshot of a fight between Kenshi and Mileena Several publications have called Deception the best fighting game of 2004. The Konquest Mode, however, received criticism for poor voice acting. Deception has been well-received by video game reviewers, who praised the fights and the new features. Several parts from Deadly Alliance such as combos and arenas were redesigned to be more realistic as well as more interactive. Series co-creator Ed Boon designed Deception to be an unpredictable fighting game, and included new features such as the minigames as surprises. Deception's Konquest Mode differs greatly from the Konquest Mode of Deadly Alliance, however, containing elements of open-world exploration in between story progression, rather than the Kombat Tower of Deadly Alliance. The Konquest Mode returns from Deadly Alliance, but follows the life of Shujinko, a warrior who is deceived by Onaga to search for artifacts to give Onaga more powers. Deception contains several new features in the series, such as chess and puzzle games with the MK characters and an online mode.

Twenty-six characters are available to play in the game, with nine making their first appearance in the series.

The surviving warriors from the previous titles join forces to confront Onaga. Its story centers on the revival of the Dragon King Onaga, who attempts to conquer the realms featured in the series after defeating the sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, the main antagonists in the previous game, and the Thunder God Raiden, defender of Earthrealm. Mortal Kombat: Deception follows the storyline from the fifth installment, Deadly Alliance. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in October 2004, for the GameCube in March 2005 and later ported for the PlayStation Portable under the title Mortal Kombat: Unchained in November 2006. It is the sixth main installment in the Mortal Kombat franchise and a sequel to 2002's Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. Mortal Kombat: Deception is a 2004 fighting game developed and published by Midway.

Mortal kombat chess on pc