Under the premise that video games based on superheroes are never as good as they seem, Warner with the videogame developer Netherrealms Studios (who previously worked in the video game of Mortal Kombat 9) a quite ambitious, different and fresh-air project was proposed. A project that tries to bring together The Justice League and its most emblematic enemies, wrapping us in a quite original story, a story that will put those we consider "Gods" walk in front of mortal humans and currents.
The two companies introduce us to Injustice: Gods Among Us a pretty deep and entertaining 2D arcade fighting game. I could say that we are facing one of the most interesting beat'em up of recent times, with features that might remind Mortal Kombat 9 but with enough of its own qualities, making it a completely original title.
Keeping the formula in which Warner tells their stories (whether in comics, series, movies, etc.), Injustice: Gods Among Us is treated in the same way, having that aura of mystery, darkness and seriousness that is already characteristic in the franchise.
The script of the story is excellent, and narrates some very original events of the franchise. It all starts when the Joker tricks Superman into seeing his beloved Lois Lane as an enemy, causing the hero of Metropolis, the great hero, kill her with the baby inside her body. Then, realizing the atrocious act he had committed and that he had been drugged, Superman is filled with rage and goes in search of the Joker with the aim of taking revenge.
Once he finds the place where the clown was, Batman tries to prevent Superman from killing the Joker, but this is impossible because Joker manipulates the situation, causing Clark to kill him.
After that event, the game shows us a different kinematics in a different time line. Here we will see the heroes divided into two camps fighting against the villains in different places. The first side consists of: Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Shazam and Aquaman who fight in the city. In contrast, the second side of heroes is made up of: Raven, Cyborg and Nightwing fighting in the space base Atalaya (Batman would join this last group, after visiting Arkham to make sure that the Joker was behind bars). Once the two superheroes manage to control the two situations, Batman learns through Lex Luthor that the plan is really to destroy Metropolis with the help of a bomb owned by the Joker (which had escaped from Arkham).
Batman orders all the members of the League to go to Metropolis to stop the Joker, and this is where the history becomes interesting, because just at the moment where several of the heroes are nearby, the clown decides to explode the bomb. For luck of our heroes, the bomb does not explode, but if the unthinkable happens: a crossing of realities. The Batman of the reality where Superman killed the Joker crossed his time line in parallel with this other time line and transported the Joker next to this other Batman (the Batman of the timeline where the Joker still lives) to that time line where the Joker is dead. Along with them, it was also transported to Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Aquaman (Maybe it seems half confusing, haha, but we can put it more simply: Batman the reality where the Joker is dead, moved several heroes from the other alternate line to his timeline).
Already in this section of the story, Batman will explain to the heroes who have been transported the reason for their actions, which basically are: help to stop Superman that has been corrupted by anger and rage, controlling heroes and villains at will, in order to eradicate corruption.
The most interesting of all this is that there is a cross between heroes and villains working together, whether they are from Batman or Superman. The story (although it is somewhat short) is quite solid and entertaining; each character has its role in the plot and its objectives (regardless of the side) marked enough. In addition, within the story, there are mini-games that will allow us to have some advantage over our opponent in the next fight, giving even more interaction to the players regarding the story.
Although not everything is just an interesting story mode, because this game is more than that. It has a Battle Mode that consists of a series of thematic fights that are quite entertaining. The first option (of the five initials that we can play) is something similar to Arcade Mode. Here we can select the fighter we want and we will try to defeat the enemies that cross us to be able to fight against Superman, the final feje. Each character has a different ending to the others and in total there are 24 finals, one for each fighter.
Other of those thematic options is the one of fights centered only heroes or villains or the classic way survival (that almost all the games of fights possesses). As we go beyond each of the missions, we will unlock other fights with different modalities (that will have different combat conditions than those we have overcome), the final goal being to unlock and surpass all of them.
Another of its original aggregates is the S.T.A.R. mode, which consists of a series of missions that we must fulfill with each fighter. In total there are 240 different missions, 10 for each character. Many of these challenges are somewhat unbridled, making them a great challenge even for the most experienced players. The missions are different from each other, because the strategy we use to complete one of them may not be useful for the next.
Finally, we have the other classic options that we usually find in every fighting game, which are:
- Training: Place where we will practice each of our movements and combos.
- Fights Vs: Site to fight locally with our friends.
- Simple Combat: It consists of fast fights against the CPU.
- On-line mode: Site where we can fight online against any player, regardless of their location in the world.
The roster of characters is balanced, having 12 fighters for the side of the good and 12 fighters for the side of the villains (there are some DLC where we can add 6 more characters to the template, 3 for each side). Here we can see the most popular characters of the franchise (although there is no Robin or Beast Boy) submerged in all this problem caused by the Joker and Superman.
The characters are completely different from each other when it comes to fighting; each of them has different mechanical and own movements, thus achieving that the fights are much more dynamic.
Injustice: Gods Among Us is not the typical fighting game where there are characters that stand out more than the rest of the squad (because they are incredibly strong, fast or easy to use). I could say that Superman is one of the most advantageous fighters that the game has, but even so, it is not invincible. It is noted that Netherrealms Studios tried to be very careful in this aspect and worked well this factor so that all the fights are as close as possible.
The control system is simple but at the same time has a certain degree of difficulty and complexity. We will have three types of hits: weak, medium and strong (one button for each of them). The fourth button is to activate a special attack (which is limited but decisive in the fights) that adapts to each character, for example: by pressing the special attack button of Batman will launch some batarangs that will allows to continue a combo or to perform damage from a distance. Characters like Green Lantern or Superman will boost their attacks every time we use the special attack button. There is also the case of Nightwing or Wonder Woman that thanks to the special button, they change completely the style of fight (the amazon woman will change from whip to sword while the apprentice Batman from rods to staff), granting new movements and new handling in both cases. This addition is completely attractive, because it gives more personality and versatility to each fighter.
Now, the complicated part is when it comes to memorizing each attack command and its combinations that will allow us to perform combos, because normally the combos are usually no bigger than 4 hits and in view of that, It is extremely important to know how to link the hits to achieve chains combos and extend the hits of 4 a little more. Although not everything is there, because the game presents other functions that are decisive in each game. There is an action in the game named "Supermovement" and it is activated when we press the two triggers of the control at the same time. If we connect the attack, we will cause great damage to our opponent, in addition to which we will be able to visualize a small enough attractive and lethal sequence.
Finally we have the clashes, which are activated once per fight as long as we have the second life bar. Here, we will have to choose between three buttons to know who is the winner. If the winner who made the moves, will cause great damage to his opponent, while if the defending player wins, he will get a little health, thus recovering his life bar a bit.
It has a series of advanced movements such as cancellations of blows, recoveries, throws of objects (yes, we can interact with the stage), make the popular holds (by pressing two buttons at the same time) or stroke enhancers (which became famous thanks a Street Fighter 4).
Aggregates like these are what really make this game even more attractive, because there are really marked differences between each character and their fighting style, as well as all the aggregates that are important in each fight against our rival.
The audio-visual material of Injustice: Gods Among Us fulfills all these expectations in a good way. The three-dimensional appearance of the characters is worthy of admiration, as they have a good finish and look splendid. It seems that the studio had some freedom when it came to designing the characters, but they did a good job. Each of them continues to maintain its visual essence and that is important.
Their animations are quite fluid, and they show us quite high levels of detail. Each one of the cinematics that we will see are recreated in an excellent way, managing to capture the player in an incredible way.
The scenarios look bright, they have a lot of details that make them look phenomenal. We can fight in the Batcave, in Metropolis, Atlantis, etc., each of them being a visual delight. We must also say that the scenes are interactive with the characters, and that if we connect a strong blow, we can see our enemy fall or travel through the clouds, thus moving the fight to another place on the map.
The translations of the characters are quite pleasant, at no time seem out of tune or strange. In the same way, the dialogues we hear in Story Mode are well structured. Each sound effect is really perceived quite clearly, and if we add to each one of the excellent ambient melodies, we can say that they seem like musical compositions taken from a movie.
All these factors are backed by a great soundtrack and it is not surprising, because for a title to be good, it must have good songs.
We can say that we are before the spiritual heir of Mortal Kombat 9 in theory, but the truth is that Injustice: Gods Among is a title that knows how to defend itself (and as not to do it if it has among its ranks a great part of the strongest heroes in the world) and each one of the positive adjectives that it carries on its back has them well earned. We are before the time of the superheroes in every aspect (cinema, television, video games, etc) and if this time will continue to be plagued by games like this one (of superheroes), I see an excellent future for each one of them. they.