Review: Injustice Gods Among Us

What if our greatest heroes became our greatest threat? Injustice: Gods Among Us introduces a bold new franchise to the fighting game genre from NetherRealm Studios, creators of the definitive fighting game Mortal Kombat. Featuring DC Comics icons such Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Solomon Grundy, Superman and Wonder Woman, the latest title from the award-winning studio presents a deep original story. Heroes and villains will engage in epic battles on a massive scale in a world where the line between good and evil has been blurred.

With my love for fighting games and my fascination with Superheroes, it made sense for me to be the one to review Injustice Gods Among Us.

Visually, the levels are stunning and the Superheroes have had a bit of a makeover costume wise. Their movements are fluid and their character specific moves are pretty darn special. However, the one thing i would put down from the visuals are the characters mouths, i know it’s nit picking but they are pretty terrible, especially when compared to recent games with jaw dropping graphics.

The gameplay is on par with previous fighting games including those pesky moves, that no matter how many times you try to execute the move, it just won’t do it, until you get to that angry, button bashing stage and finally get that tick at the top of the screen. It’s because of this, in relation to the combos, that the Tutorial can seem a bit long winded.

The game contains a destructible environment and the levels fall apart  as you fight your opponent, but it really comes to life during the levels transitions in which you can knock your opponent into a different section of the fight area. Each level also includes interactive items, that you can throw at your opponent or throw your opponent against. These two are great elements for a fighting game and gives you a more exciting and vast level to kick-ass.

The Story Mode is the same formula as Mortal Kombat 9, and gives the feeling of watching an Injustice cartoon movie, so it’s basically one massive FMV with fights thrown in there, and has an almost seamless transition from FMV to fight mode. There are several different difficult levels, and the higher the level you choose, the easier it seems for the AI fighter to ‘skank’ you by using the same move repeatedly without giving you a moment to retaliate and taking away massive chunks of your health bar, this is especially true with your characters alternate counterpart, so be wary of this. Luckily, if you lose the fight, because of the structure of the game, it will only take you back to the beginning of that fight, with no unnecessary faffing.

It took me 4 hours and 20 minutes to complete Story Mode and that included taking some breaks, so a quicker completion time may well be possible. Yes, this may seem short, but thankfully, with the other elements of the game, there is plenty to keep you occupied.

Battle is and arcade type mode, in which you can play as any Hero or Villain featured in the game, as well playing on any featured level. In this mode, you will fight 10 characters, a mix of Heroes and Villains and at the end, you will get a what happened next type FMV for your selected character.

S.T.A.R Labs is a great addition to the game. This is 240 levels of character specific, scenario missions (more levels available from DLC) and gives you the opportunity to get to know the characters better with some added knowledge and practice of their moves. Based on how you perform, you will be award with a Star Rating of 1,2 or 3 ultimately leading to an unlockable if 3 stars are gained on every level.

Unlockables in the game aren’t amazing. Much in the same way as Playstation All-Stars, you have a Player Card and reaching a certain XP level or completing so many levels with a certain character will unlock backgrounds, icons and portraits for said Player card. These aren’t the only unlockables, and you will notice that throughout the game, you will be awarded with Access cards and Armory Keys. These are for use in the Archives and and using them can unlock items such as Concept Art, Music, Alternate Costumes and more. But the best thing you can use these cards for are the XP Boosters, enabling you to level up faster.

TIP: Don’t ‘buy’ an XP Booster just before you turn off the console as you will lose it and will have wasted the Cards/Keys that you spent on it. Only get these boosters if you intend on playing the number of fights it is valid for, or at least most of them.

Oh, and don’t forget to sign up to WBID on the Main Menu of the game as this will unlock an old school costume for The Flash.

Overall, the game is humorous, engaging and fun with an equal dash of frustrating, but is a great game for fans of  either/or both, superheroes and fighting games.