MK: Deception Cube to feature playable bosses

Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon has revealed that the GameCube port of Mortal Kombat: Deception will feature playable boss characters in order to make up for the lack of online play, which was a key component of the recently released PS2 and Xbox versions.

Speaking in an interview with American magazine Nintendo Power, Boon said that Goro, the four-armed monster lurking at the end of the original Mortal Kombat, would be playable along with Outworld Emperor Shao Kahn.

"Since the Nintendo GameCube version is coming out after the other versions, we wanted to add something exclusive and special to set it apart," Boon says in Nintendo Power. "People have always wanted to control the boss characters in MK, and now we are giving them the chance to control two of the biggest, baddest bosses from any MK game!"

Boon also revealed that they will bring "big, massive power moves" and "will also have some brutal fatality moves".

Publisher Midway had been reluctant to commit development resources to a GameCube version of MK: Deception due to the Cube's lack of online support - or rather, the lack of a central online gaming system ala PS2 Online or Xbox Live - but admitted in August that a Cube version was on the cards with extra features.

Whether there'll be anything more than Goro and Shao Kahn remains to be seen, but their inclusion alone is sure to give Cube-owning MK fans something to get excited about.

Mortal Kombat: Deception is due out on GameCube in early 2005. You can read our take on the PS2/Xbox release here.