After the reboot of the Mortal Kombat series, NetherRealm Studios have taken on another huge task in “Injustice: Gods Among Us” (Xbox 360), the DC Comics Universe based fighting game. Warner Bros. are the publishers and have used their DC license in the hope of making an everlasting fighting game and potentially raking in the money at a time when superheroes are on a high. Released on 19th April, can they produce a fighting classic to be rival that of such big names out there like MK, Street Fighter and Tekken?
Imagine a world where the line between heroes and villains has become a little blurry, judgment is clouded and our normal human lives as we know them are taken advantage of by the mighty protectors. In an alternate Universe, the Superman we all love was manipulated by the Joker into committing an act that ultimately sent his mind into meltdown. Using his powers he then instilled fear into the world and became rather villainous along with other heroes/villains that blindly followed him. Batman however set up his own rebellious faction known as the Insurgency, now plotting with anyone who’ll help him to take down Superman once and for all.
Batman’s last hope is to transport the regular Universe’s Justice League to give him a helping hand and that is where the single player Story Mode begins. It’s slightly odd to see, the whole thing is set up as an animated feature length film lasting an hour and forty minutes that you’d watch on television until a battle occurs and then you almost seamlessly step in to do your thing. For me this sets up one of the better Story Mode’s I’ve seen in fighting games as each battle has a purpose and is important to the progression of the tale being told. The volume of character’s are also utilised where it’ll get you to use a variety through the whole of the story, freshening each chapter for maximum enjoyment.
Before hand it offers you a training lesson which is a must as it’ll teach you every feature available to do within a fight. Simple enough to follow and the length of combos explained doesn’t exceed what the average gamer could/should be able to pull off. One thing it doesn’t prepare you for though is a natural fight but I’ll cover that shortly as they have really put a large chunk of effort into making it more accessible to hardcore fighters and beginners alike.
Battle Mode is your more traditional Arcade style fighting mode, where you’ll find a number of randomly chosen opponents waiting in a queue and the objective is to beat them all. Hold on though there’s a twist! Everything (expect private matches) you do in Injustice earns you XP to level up and in turn receive Armory Keys and Access Cards to use when unlocking concept art, costumes or additional variations of Battle Mode. These can include defeating all opponents in a set time or one of the rather unusual ones where the opponent’s health is restored every so often. The challenge is there for those feeling confident enough to test their might in all twenty different battles but for those still unsure of their ability, the next and personally what I’d call the best mode will surely help.
S.T.A.R. Labs (apart from practice mode of course but to me that’s not how I learnt best) is the ideal place to hone your skills with any and all characters. How is that possible? Well there’s a whopping two hundred and forty scenarios filled with missions set up to encourage the usage of every character in addition to getting to grips with their specific move set. Within these you’ll find ten missions per character and although some may seem tricky it allows you to get used to timing and button combos to pull off super moves. You’ll get three stars if you complete all objectives and if you don’t get them all first time round it’ll bank the stars you have so you can solely focus on getting the extra star without worrying.
Now you are as ready as you’ll ever be for the multiplayer offering, there’s no point me going over the usual 1v1 matches as it speaks for itself so I’ll jump into two similar match types that will each suit a different type of player. Both are winner stays on, traditional King Of The Hill and the tinkered version is Survivor, the main difference being in the latter the King/Survivor’s health only regenerates a little bit after each fight they survive. I attempted to dethrone the KOTH, failing time and time again; the standard is already higher than the ability level I’m at. Now usually that would put me off online play until I get better, not in this though as I know with sheer grit, determination and a bit of time I will eventually defeat the Survivor whose health will become depleted enough for me to capitalise.
A cool little bonus XP can be earned in addition to winning fights online in the form of daily Challenges which could be as simple as a certain amount of environment interactions or performing super moves using specific characters. All this adds to a superb online experience, lag free and whilst you’re waiting to face these Kings and Survivors you can view the current fight ongoing, almost like a scouting mission before the big fight.
I mentioned the interactive environments briefly, let me expand by saying each fighting arena, for example with a back drop of Wayne Manor or Metropolis, has a three dimensional feel to it as you can interact or bash your opponents into the background. Also it’s possible to transition into another part of that arena, causing extra damage in the process, allowing for maximum variability in every single fight.
I’ve been nothing but complimentary of the modes and areas to play this game within, however it means very little if the mechanics are off or too difficult. Well I’m pleased to add that although it may be tough to link combos together, you can get by and enjoy it immensely with the stuff that’s easy to learn and the game modes offline. The ultimate special moves are easy to pull off once you’ve built up a meter and they look awesome.
Considering the collection of characters on offer, twenty four in total, there’s variety throughout the game and there are a couple of uncommon ones in there like Raven, Grundy, Ares etc. Plus a few cameos you’ll notice when you get stuck into the game. Easily one of my favourite fighting games and it’s accessibility to a wide range of gamers, whether you usually suck at these games or not it’ll be one you can pick up and play. If you want a fighting game then this is the one to get right now, liking superheroes is just a bonus. Injustice: God’s Among Us has does itself justice.
