I am sad to report that things are not all good with Deception IV’s Story Mode. I can see certain players getting bored in later levels due to them having longer waves, making the levels feel a bit too drawn out for their own good. It does not help that the game throws you in the same area for three or four chapters in a row. The worst part about it, and probably my biggest complaint, is that you can only select a handful of your traps for the chapter. FOR THE ENTIRE CHAPTER! Your capacity for equippable traps does increase as you move on in the game, but I still feel you should have access to all your traps instead of being limited. Another annoyance, is if you decide to quit and restart during, say, the second wave to try a new set of traps, you have to complete wave 1 all over again. That “freedom” I mentioned earlier is heavily hindered because of this, as you may only find so many different ways to use the traps you currently have equipped without having to resort to reusing the same trap combination over and over. If they had just given you the opportunity to change traps between waves or during the wave this would not be an issue.
The traps are divided into three different categories: Elaborate, Sadistic and Humiliating. Each trap appeals to a specific daemon or servant of The Devil. The more you use a certain trap, the more experience you earn in that particular category, and the more traps you can unlock. You will also get a bonus for properly chaining traps together, so being creative and experimenting is a must. In between chapters you can purchase new traps by spending WARL, the game’s currency. Unfortunately, you can’t preview the traps until after you buy them. This can make purchasing them annoying for newcomers. You can also purchase abilities such as dashing, shields or a recovery spell. If you do not have the recovery spell equipped, you must find the brown recovery circle hidden in each stage. Once you find it, simply run over it and you will be healed. However, you can only use it a limited amount of times per wave, so use it wisely. Oddly enough the circle is brown, while some areas feature green circles. You would think the green ones would heal you, but that is actually a trap that sends you or the enemy flying. Do not make the same mistake I did when I first played it. Green circle = bad for you, unless it’s part of a trap combo. As you probably noticed in an earlier screenshot, your traps will work on you, too, so be careful not to get caught in them.
Throughout the stages, the daemons will interrupt the game briefly to offer you certain requests to fulfill. Some of these are as simple as running into a room, or incorporating a stage hazard into your traps. These requests do help keep the gameplay somewhat fresh, as they add a fun alternate objective to the levels. There is also an added challenge when it comes to disposing of your enemies. Many of the rooms contain some sort of capturing device. If you can get an enemy to low health and launch them inside you can capture them and you are given a nice bonus in the form of humiliating experience. It is also possible to destroy an opponent’s armor, revealing their undergarments by exploiting their weaknesses. Unfortunately, I don’t know how you would find out their weaknesses unless you use a guide, trial and error or just happen to do it by accident. Many of the times I destroyed someone’s armor it was by pure luck. I read on a discussion board that their description is supposed to hint at their weaknesses, but I did not find them to be too helpful. In fact, I found out very late in my run of Story Mode that I received a specific ending because I got “Lucky” and broke a certain boss’s armor in an earlier chapter. Other than this one character, armor breaking does not seem to have much of an impact on the game, other than being there for completionists.
The music for Deception IV is, for the most part, solid. Some of the tunes are very catchy, but chances are you will not spend too much time listening to it. The visuals are not too bad for the Vita, however, I found the text to be very small, even for a handheld game. Also the cutscenes between waves felt very bland. The character art is nice, but the rest of it just does not look all that great. I get it, they were trying to go for a more visual novel look, but, still, I could not help but feel like they could have done more in these scenes, especially considering that this is also a full-priced console release. The game actually only features Japanese voice acting, which is nice for all you purists who swear by Japanese dubs in anime and video games.
I spent about 18 hours when I finally reached the end of the game. Note that some of that time does come from me restarting levels due to me dying, and just me experimenting with the traps. There is actually quite a bit more to do when you finish the Story Mode. For one, there are multiple endings to get and unlockable alternate costumes. There are also 100 missions for you to take on. These missions pit you against enemies, but have a specific task for you to carry out, such as kill an enemy without taking damage, kill them in a specific way or under the time limit, or survive for given amount of time. Overall, these missions are actually really fun, and are much more interesting than the Story Mode. Unfortunately, you have to get really far in Story Mode to unlock all the missions. The Free Battle Mode is also amusing. You select any enemy from the story, any of your traps and a single room, and you fight them. This is a good way to experiment on trap combos, break some armor, or fulfill your sadistic fantasies as you watch these measly humans get destroyed at the hands of Laegrinna. There is actually a decent amount of online connectivity involved. You can upload and download replays of battles, high scores or even missions created by you in the editor. I have to admit, Tecmo definitely tried with this game!
This game is definitely a “different” experience than your typical action game. The whole concept of indirectly attacking enemies is certainly interesting. Also, the fact that you are playing as someone who is pretty much OK with killing everyone without really giving it a second thought is not something you always see, or, at least, not something I have experienced often in a video game. Even though this is an incredibly violent game, some of the torture is presented in a humorous way, probably to prevent it from players taking it too seriously.
Overall, Deception IV is the type of game that just misses the mark for being a truly great game. I just wish the Story Mode was structured a bit better, since that is the main way you can unlock and expand the bonus modes, which are, in my opinion, much more enjoyable. If you like the core gameplay, and are willing to put up with Story Mode, then there is a lot this game will have to offer you. However, this is definitely a niche title, and I cannot guarantee everyone will enjoy it. Considering that the last game in the series came out nearly 10 years ago, it would have been nice if Tecmo Koei provided a demo to introduce to newcomers and get the old fans interested again. This game will run you $60 to play on a PS3, and $40 to have it on the go with the Vita. For fans of the series, or those of you who want to awaken your inner Kevin McCallister, buy it! As for everyone else, Deception IV: Blood Ties is a game you definitely want to try or rent first.
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Game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.
Deception IV: Blood Ties is available on Amazon:
