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After finishing my epic two hour Mortal Kombat 2011 Review (for the second time), it only made sense that I'd do the same for Mortal Kombat X and the in-between DC fighting game with similar gameplay, Injustice: Gods Among Us. However, I also really wanted to review Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and DmC: Devil May Cry, so I left it to a vote. Needless to say, Injustice won out.
So, I played through the story mode and began writing the review in Late November/Early December, finalising most segments by the end of 2016. However, progress on the video was slow for reasons other than the sheer length of the project.
First of all, my computer began refusing to connect to any monitors, which took two weeks to get fixed due to the new year. Additionally, I got ill, which didn't help matters. I was able to enter proper production in Mid-January.
But then, with the 20th Anniversary of Dynasty Warriors coming up in Late February, I put the project on hold to produce a retrospective video. That lasted around two weeks. Finally, spending most of my free time working on the review through Mid-March, I was eventually able to get it done before Netherrealm could throw out any more bloody trailers for Injustice 2.
So, I played through the story mode and began writing the review in Late November/Early December, finalising most segments by the end of 2016. However, progress on the video was slow for reasons other than the sheer length of the project.
First of all, my computer began refusing to connect to any monitors, which took two weeks to get fixed due to the new year. Additionally, I got ill, which didn't help matters. I was able to enter proper production in Mid-January.
But then, with the 20th Anniversary of Dynasty Warriors coming up in Late February, I put the project on hold to produce a retrospective video. That lasted around two weeks. Finally, spending most of my free time working on the review through Mid-March, I was eventually able to get it done before Netherrealm could throw out any more bloody trailers for Injustice 2.
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Unfinished Early VersionI wasn't going to review this at first. I figured I'd just not talk about it, but I've started reading more DC and I've started to grow more attached to these characters and the universe they inhabit. So I guess, moreso than because gameplay elements of this game carried over to MKX, I'm reviewing this game as a fan of DC who wants to see these characters done justice, because it's certainly not gonna happen in the films, so at least the fucking video games should get it right.
What is Injustice: Gods Among Us? Injustice was the logical next step for Netherrealm Studios to take after making Mortal Kombat 2011. Back when they had worked at Midway, they had developed Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, so the idea of a DC-focused fighting game made a lot of sense and gave the studio another project to work on between MK games.
I recommend watching my two hour MK2011 critique first, since this is a kind of continuation of that. If you don't have time or interest, then at least watch the parts o
IntroI wasn't going to do this originally. I didn't see the point, but it was around the time I sat through the trainwreck that was Batman V Superman: Dawn of DC not knowing what the fuck they're doing, that I decided enough was enough. I put it to a vote on YouTube, DeviantArt and Twitter to determine which review I'd do in the off-season of A Line Through Time. Moreso than DmC: Devil May Cry and Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain, people wanted to hear my overly long opinion on Injustice: Gods Among Us, probably because it's almost necessary to cover this game as a stepping stone before MKX, or because everyone knows most of the criticisms for the other two. Either way, here we are.
I'm not as attached to the DC Universe as I was to the MK universe going into MK2011, so this isn't an expression of the betrayal and offence I felt when playing that game; but rather, an expression of my disappointment at how poor a grasp these developers have on the many iconic characters of the DCU. Then ag
GameplayNaturally, the best place to start getting into the meat of things with a game is with the gameplay. So, how is Injustice purely from its gameplay merits? It's alright. At its most basic, it's MK2011's gameplay but taken a few steps further as one might expect from a sequel to it, but with a few added touches made specifically for this setting.
It's a standard 2D fighter with normals, special, supers, all that stuff. How it starts to differ from MK is with its normals. Rather than two punches and two kicks, the face buttons are now for light and heavy hits, an attack designed for knocking the opponent back to activate transitions into other parts of the stage, and a character-specific ability that can be a buff, a unique move or a change of weapons. Some special moves are carried over from MKvsDCU, but it's mostly built from the ground up. Despite having a more limited range of options for normals, the gamepay does feel snappier than MK2011, and if you can get some combos g
Story ModeLike MK2011, the story is told over multiple character-focused chapters with a new character being given after the exact same number of fights every time, and that character never gets to be played as again. I'm not going to separate the mode from the story this time because pretty much every single criticism I had for the mode's structure in MK2011 still applies here, so I'm just going to leave a link here for a bit in case you haven't seen that, or you just need a refresher. I will, however, still bring up every single fight to showcase that quite a lot of them are completely unnecessary. It's less of a problem than last time, since it helps establish the villains as dominant over the heroes, who are constantly moving from place-to-place and still getting attacked. Well, in theory, anyway; the villains still get their shit pushed in routinely, making it impossible to take them seriously.
There is one notable addition to the formula here, though: Occasionally, the game wil
ComicsIn addition to the game, a series of prequel comics began releasing three months ahead of the game and wrapped up five years later. The comics are technically a midquel since they follow on from the prologue, filling in the five year time skip from the Joker's death to the arrival of the Prime heroes.
I don't want to get too into the comics, but I think they're worth discussing since they're a major part of the game's universe and could have a huge impact on the sequel. It's evident from the start that the team behind the comic series didn't expect it to go on nearly as long as it did. It must have been hugely successful, leading to what should have been maybe six volumes becoming double that. You see hints of Barry and Billy's problems with Superman's methods very early on, but it's barely touched upon. It's only really brought up after Year 1 right near the end so they can gain conviction in following the despot to get them to the place they are at the start of the game.
With ho
Injustice MobileTo accompany the main release, there was a mobile release of Injustice in April 2013. If you've played the mobile version of MKX or WWE Immortals, you've basically played Injustice mobile, because they're all basically the same game but with different characters and skins. It's really not worth getting into more than one of them, so I'd suggest picking a theme and sticking to that game, if they interest you. I'd personally recommend waiting for the Injustice 2 release, because that will presumably get continued support furthest into the future, but then, when has logic ever mattered to Netherrealm or DC?
!'m basing this on my experience with the MKX game, but given the similarities between them all, there really won't be much, if anything, that doesn't apply to the others.
The games are 3-on-3 battles built around taps, strokes and properly planned use of special moves. The player begins with low tier, weak characters, but then unlocks new characters by completing challenges, earning c
An Alternate TakeIn the MK review, I went in depth on a couple of scenes and explained how they could have been done better. For this one, I'm going to go over a way you could make the overall plot better. If I had full control, I'd ignore the entire thing with the infighting and maybe go with the Crime Syndicate and alternate versions of the villains as heroes in a cross-dimensional battle. However, for this segment, I'm going to keep the basic story of a hero going bad and creating a rift in the superhero community and change the smaller details to show how this could have been done better... hopefully. Let's begin.
The story would start with the destruction of Gotham instead of Metropolis. It always bugged me that it was a Batman villain who ruined Superman's life because God forbid anyone other than Batman villains get to do anything. Rather than Joker, I'll say it was Ra's al Ghul or Vandal Savage; someone else with much greater resources than him. Batman lost a lot in the destr
Cast, Representation and FutureThe game has an all-star voice cast consisting of a bunch of popular voices for the characters and some others play different roles. We have George Newbern reprising Superman from the DC animated universe alongside Kevin Conroy's Batman, Susan Eisenberg's Wonder Woman, Carl Lumbly's Martian Manhunter, Adam Baldwin's Hal Jordan, and Jennifer Hale's Killer Frost.
Alan Tudyk, Mark Rolston, Lacey Chabert and David Sobolov reprise Green Arrow, Lex Luthor, Zatanna and Lobo from Young Justice
Harley Quinn has Tara Strong reprising from the Arkham series alongside Grey Delisle as Catwoman, Kimberly Brooks as Barbara Gordon and Fred Tatascoire as Solomon Grundy and Bane.
Richard Epcar reprises his seriously underrated Joker from MKvsDCU, Khary Payton returns as Cyborg from Teen Titans, and Patrick Seitz reprises Scorpion from the last three MK games.
Some others took on new roles, such as Phil LaMarr as a surprisingly awesome Aquaman, in addition to the John Stewart skin. Troy Baker adds Dick G
Postscript: The TitansI just had a startling realisation about the Injustice storyline. You remember how the Teen Titans were sealed in the Phantom Zone in Year 1 by Regime Superman? Well, do you also remember how Prime Superman defeated Doomsday at the end of the game?
...
Yeah. They're dead. Unless they got out before then and just stayed in hiding, even by the sequel, it's over. I have serious doubts this will be brought up in either the sequel or the comics, unless Doomsday and at least one of those Titans are added to the sequel as DLC or a last second roster reveal.
I believe there was a poll a good few months ago for most wanted characters that Starfire won, so there may be a chance, but at the same time, I'm worried the rest of the Titans would be killed off to fuel the survivor's revenge tale. This is a delicate situation that I just don't trust either set of writers to not fuck up in some way.
They very well might add the Titans as costumes for their mentors like with Power Girl, John Stewart and
Postscript: Joker RebornIt was recently confirmed that The Joker is the final roster addition to Injustice 2, before they move on to the DLC they announced ahead of the game's release because fuck you; money. Pre-fight dialogue with Batman has already confirmed how the Clown Prince of Crime has returned. <clip>
Now, I have to discuss the design from both an aesthetic and a logical angle. First, he looks like more of a Hot Topic piece of trash than the Suicide Squad version and that's really saying something. He looks like a sixteen year old emo version of the Joker you might expect on Gotham! Second, if he's just a hallucination, how does he have a new look? Surely, there should be two designs - the way he looked hen he died, which is how everyone remembers him; and a Nightmare Joker, a monstrous appearance similar to how people see Batman when influenced by fear toxin. OR, he could be given a series of different forms he takes on depending on the one who's fighting him in the story, customi
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