Injustice: Gods Among Us Review

Video Review

Intro

Developed by the makers of the last Mortal Kombat installment, Injustice seeks to unite the DC: Universe characters together in a successful game.  The last attempt at this was the, in my opinion, less than lackluster Mortal Kombat VS. DC Universe, which had scope, but lacked fluidity and execution. Luckily, this new attempt is very reminiscent of the last Mortal Kombat title.

Not sure what's going on here...

Story/Graphics

Before I get too far into this game's review, I should probably mention that I am not a hardcore fighting enthusiast.  I just occasionally enjoy fighting games now and again.  Normally, I prefer the ones that let you move forward and backward along with side-to-side.  Favorites of mine are the Dead or Alive Franchise and Soul Calibur.  As I said, I'm not an expert when it comes to fighting games. I prefer to think of myself as a strategic button masher; one who memorizes a few of the more convenient combos.

Injustice unsurprisingly offers a story mode, which will take the average gamer 2-4 hours to complete, mostly depending on if the person chooses to watch the cut-scenes.  I actually did watch every single cut-scene in the game and, to be blunt, I wish I hadn't.  The story came across as rather dull, although I imagine comic book fans may say differently.  The only part of the story I enjoyed listening to were the random one-liners and catch phrases the characters would say.  I mainly enjoyed this because some of them were so stupid, they were amusing.  The ones that weren't amusing sort of just awkwardly hung in the air.  Perhaps I would have been more into the story if the cinematics weren't so poorly done.  They utilize the in-game character models, which look good when playing as them, but just look out-of-place and extremely awkward during the cut-scenes, in turn making them look bad.  The only diversity mixed in with story mode is some random little mini-games, that are actually nothing more than quick-time-events.  Aside from those, the story is just composed of random battles with different enemies.  I should also probably mention that the story is very similar to how Mortal Kombat's story is set-up. By that I mean that the game forces you to play as different characters on separate Acts.  So, the player never has the option of actually choosing the character they're fond of using for Story Mode.  Not a big deal, though, because I assume most people will start with the story, which will allow them to test-drive a decent portion of the characters to help them find which they prefer using.

Good Batman, Bad Joker

On top of Story Mode, players are granted with a decent amount of extra content, to flesh out the game a bit.  S.T.A.R.S mode offers the player 140 unique battles, which rank the player based on a 3-star system.  I myself didn't much get into this mode, but it's there for those who want it.  Oh, and the battles aren't your typical ones either. They are usually modified in some way with requirements.  One such requirement may force the player to defend for 30 seconds without getting touched.  Along with S.T.A.R.S, the game features all the other expected modes: Practice Mode, allowing players to learn everything there is to know about each character; Battle Mode, the Arcade replacement whereupon completion the player is given an ending for whichever character was used; and an online mode where players can test their skills against the world.  Online is basically just an expanded and refined version of what we were given in the newest Mortal Kombat game, consisting of a few different game modes.

Character Roster

Gameplay/Rewards

As we all know, the characters featured in this game consist of DC Universe characters, and this game boasts a pretty impressive Roster, with even amounts of Heroes and Villains alike.  It has your expected Superman, Batman, Joker, Lex Luther etc.  Each character is very unique to each one's personality, and this is shown in their move sets.  It won't take long before you find a character that suits your play-style. My personal favorite was Harley Quinn, mostly because of her stylish moves and funny taunts, but also because who doesn't like a female psychopath?  Injustice plays like your run of the mill 2-D fighter, with some added features to spice things up a bit.  Each character has a unique attack built specifically for them, activated with the B-button.  For Green Arrow this attack quickly launches an arrow towards his opponent.  While his may lack originality some of the other characters are a bit more thought-out.

Psychopath!

Spectacle is not truly displayed until a character's super move is charged up, shown by a meter at the bottom of the screen.  After activated, the character will perform a truly remarkable and deadly attack shown by a gorgeously animated cinematic.  An example is Flash, who literally runs around the Earth to deliver one single monstrous punch onto his opponent.  All of these super-moves are entertaining to behold.  I found myself picking different characters just to see each one's super-move.

Each player has two health bars and after the first is depleted, the opponent will taunt you in some way.  I found these taunts to be quite amusing.

Mini-Games

Perhaps the most unique thing introduced into the fighting, is the level transitions and interactions.  When the enemy and yourself are within range of one of these interactions, the player can activate them to attack the player with a piece of the environment, whether it be throwing them towards something or something towards them.  This was a clever addition that adds an extra dimension to combat, along with making the different stages more than just eye-candy.  One possible issue, is that these different transitions and interactions may be exploited to unfairly turn the tides of battle.  I didn't spend a whole lot of time with the game, so I am unsure whether the characters are balanced properly.  I imagine the online community will quickly bring to light any balancing problems and the developers will hopefully make patches accordingly.

Netherrealm incorporated tons of extra content and customization options, which act as some great fan service.  All these unlockables can be purchased in the gallery: concept art, music, character models, extra costumes etc.  Each player is given their own player card, listing tons of stats that can be customized to create a unique identity.

Get Some! Batman

Conclusion

Netherrealm has once again given us a more than satisfactory fighting game.  Deciding to base their game around DC Universe characters worked brilliantly, and actually made me forget about the last time DC Universe characters were used in a fighting game, which is a good thing.  Each character captures the personality of their source material, and is brought to life through their moves and taunts.  Story Mode was a little bit of a let-down for me, but then again, it usually is in fighting games.  Characters look pretty good in combat, but look atrocious during the cinematics.  Mini-games offer some mindless fun, but are nothing more then QTE's.  Gods Among Us has a fair amount of different modes to flesh it out.  Extra features introduced into the gameplay were all cleverly utilized and add to the experience.  Customization options and unlockables offer some great fan service to the players.  Environmental interactions may have brought about some balance issues, but they can be turned off.  This is an obvious purchase for any fighting enthusisast, but even casual players who just like comic book characters might have some fun beating each other up. I know I did.


Pros

+ Fan service (Customization, unlockables)
+ Characters are brought to life well
+ Super moves are gorgeous
+ Fast, Fun, Fluid
+ Decent amount of content
+ Robust roster of fighters
+ Nice additions to the gameplay

Cons

- Lackluster story mode
- Terrible cinematics
- Not enough to hold my attention beyond a couple weeks
- Possible balance issues