Review - Injustice: Gods Among Us

Injustice: Gods Among Us allows us to re-enact the most famous battles in DC history. You have Batman vs Joker, Green Lantern vs Sinestro and Superman vs Lex Luthor. This is the primary reason that most people will play this game. Geeks everywhere will want to pit one of 24 (25 if you include the Lobo DLC) heroes and villains against each other. The fighting in the game is pretty easy to pick up. Attacks are split into light, medium and heavy with the 4th button performing a "unique" ability for each fighter. I say "unique" because while some are special others are very similar. Examples can be seen in how both Lex Luthor and Doomsday have shields and Batman gets bat-bots that he can use as a sheild or toss them. Each character has a reason for these abilities though so they do make sense in their execution. The game also has a power meter that grows when you land or receive blows. It has 4 sections and each section can be used to give special attacks extra power, perform counter attacks, or if you save all 4 you can perform a super attack that will take anywhere between 30% - 40% of your foes health. Combat will take some time to get used to, but overall it is a lot of fun.

Let's Get Ready to RUMBLE

The game has 3 main forms on single player combat alone with online and local multiplayer. The story in the single player mode will take you a few hours to beat. The nicest thing about the story is it does feel like you are playing a Justice League movie, and since it is mostly heros vs villians the fights make sense. Next is the S.T.A.R.S. Lab. This was not made for someone like me that is only marginally good at fighting games since it really challenges your ability as a fighter. There are approx 6 levels for each character with different requirements for the battles to be completed. The ones that annoyed me most were in where if you got one hit, you got cast out from the level. Also the onscreen text of what the characters are saying in the S.T.A.R.S. Lab left me a little jaded after having experienced a fully voice acted story mode.

It is All About Staging

Now one thing that stands out is that each level has fully interactive elements and as you fight the levels and characters take obvious damage. Characters with super strength can grab items such as cars and throw them at their opponents while "weaker" opponents can use them to get out of a tight spot or use them as a launching point for a kick. A number of levels also have transition points that do a fair amount of damage in an entertaining fashion. An example of this the JLU HQ transition from inside to outside involves a boom tube to Darkseid's throne room.

In fact the only thing I can say is a problem with this game is, unless you are a DC fan you have a number of games that can give you a comparable experience already. The main audience to purchase this game is the comic book crowd. I am not saying that you should not play the game. I am just saying that the general fighting game crowd might be better off renting it then purchasing it.

4 / 5 Joysticks