We’ve all wondered who the toughest of the bunch was when it comes to super heroes and villains alike, could Superman be outwitted by Batman’s trusty and tricky tools? Could the Green Lantern thrash the lightning fast Flash?
Well DC have answered the fanboy’s ultimate cry with this new title Injustice: Gods Among Us developed by NetherRealm Studios, the team behind Mortal Kombat so you already know this has the right ingredients but does it work?
The DC Universe stars featured in Injustice include Batman, The Flash, Catwoman, Superman, The Green Arrow, Bane and sees them all pulled together in a world changing, alternate universe busting adventure f epic proportions. Story mode sees you take control of heroes and villains as you battle to save an alternate world from the crushing dictatorship of a tyrannical Superman, driven to insanity after he inadvertently caused the death of his beloved Lois and unborn son after being turned into a walking Nuke by the dastardly Joker. As the lines between good and evil are blurred you have to master a fluid (no rounds) battle system which involves mid-fight wagers where each fighter bets a portion of their power gauge to gain more health and increased damage. The game-changing wagers provide some intense last-ditch scraps and adds an interesting dynamic to the tried and tested beat’em up model.
The battle arenas themselves also provide some extra spice as you can interact with items and sections of the scene, turning vehicles, sculptures and industrial equipment into adhoc weapons for smashing your foes into – as if super powers weren’t enough already. The destructible environments can even be used to kick and punch your enemies through (by pressing away + X or A) if you can find one of the many stage transition areas hidden in the multi-tiered battle arenas.
Verdict
You may have been unfortunate enough to buy or even play the pitiful Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, and if you did you’d be forgiven for feeling wary about Injustice, after all MK v DC was the last Midway Games (NetherRealm’s former alias) made before finding themselves in bankruptcy so needless to say it wasn’t particularly well received. But with that said, the team have certainly learned from the mistakes of the past and as a result have churned out a wonderfully creative, fresh and solid fighting title with controls that are easy to grasp and reasonably straight-forward to master. Each iconic character has a unique and true-to-form fighting style that makes great use of their abilities and traits, topped by some excellent special killer moves with spectacular animation sequences, which can be executed once you’ve built filled your power gauge – my favourite being Aquaman’s which involves skewering your enemy and feeding them to a shark – dope.
The story mode is an original tale from the DC Universe and is much more than just filler, it’s like a playable graphic novel with little-to-no loading times (unless you die and choose rematch). It also gives you a chance to play with a number of different characters which allows you to try out different styles before you settle on a favourite. The voice talent is top draw and helps to further engage you in the story, including Kevin Conroy from the ever popular Batman Arkham games, Troy Baker (Booker DeWitt – Bioshock: Infinite) and a number of other voice actors currently performing in DC cartoons.
Aside from the story you’ll have plenty of fun in the numerous battle and challenge modes, as well as the online fight scene (dominated by players who favour characters with actual superpowers rather than Batman/Joker types), Injustice is quite simply packed with single player options and you will be rewarded with awesome unlockables in the form of costumes and playable characters. The online fightmode is stable and we didn’t experience any lag and considering the trouble major sports titles (not mentioning any names) have had recently it’s good to see that NetherRealm have created a stable platform.
Injustice: Gods Among Us is a fresh take on an age-old genre and will be loved by beat’em up and comic book fans, as well as significant others who are bored of just watching, even your mother would enjoy punching you through two walls and watch you bounce down a cliff (in the game – of course). There’s plenty of fun to be had here and hopefully marks the start of a glorious turn-around for the “comic book beat’em” up title, and the beginning of awesome an franchise.
Injustice: Gods Among Us is available now on XBOX 360, PS3 and Wii U
