Xbox and PS2 Mortal Kombat: Deception golden

Months after it revealed the franchise wasn't finished, Midway has announced that Mortal Kombat: Deception has gone gold for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Both versions of the M-rated fighting game are on schedule to ship on October 4, with a GameCube version slated for a January 2005 release.

The latest installment in the long-running fighting series, Mortal Kombat: Deception will feature 24 playable characters. Classic personalities like Scorpion, Mileena, Baraka, and Sub-Zero will be immediately available, while several new kombatants will be unlockable as the game progresses.

Like Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Deception will be fully 3D, and it will feature the gut-busting, skull-bursting violence that is the series' trademark. Additionally, the game will offer several other modes of play besides the traditional arcade-style fights to the death, including the strategy-themed "chess kombat" and "konquest," which is a free-roaming, RPG-style adventure.

GameSpot recently kicked around a near-final build of Mortal Kombat: Deception, so be sure to read our hands-on preview to learn more about it.