Injustice: Gods Among Us: Laying the smack down DC style!

     The fighting game genre has been around for a long time. For years gamers have selected their favorite fighter, and then smashed buttons on the controller wildly trying to pull of a sweet combo. Some gamers are very good at fighting games while others (like myself) just do good to get a couple combos or hits in. That is one reason why I have never been really big into the fighting game genre. I like them, but I've just never been good at pulling off the button combination and timing required to be great at fighting games. That's where Injustice: Gods Among Us shines. To me, you can play this game and not have to be awesome at fighting games to enjoy it. Plus, it's centered in the DC universe and that in itself is a big bonus for me!

     Fighting games have evolved over the years as developers have realized that simply beating up other opponents can get stale. NetherRealm Studios did this by adding a story mode with Mortal Kombat 9, and they have done it again with Injustice: Gods Among Us. The story of Injustice: Gods Among Us gives us a glimpse of what would happen if Superman decided to rule over the world instead of saving it. In an alternate reality, Superman is tricked by the Joker into killing Louis and their unborn child. Of course Superman is completely destroyed because of this. Also, the Joker triggers a nuclear bomb that destroys Metropolis. Sounds peachy right? Superman kills the Joker and decides that Earth is better off being ruled under his thumb and creates the Regime. Some heroes/villains align with him while others join Batman and the Insurgency.

     Batman's Insurgency learns that in another dimension, the Joker's plans did not succeed. So they create a wormhole and pull in heroes from that dimension to help them defeat the evil Superman. In the game the story mode plays out through 12 different chapters and is a series of cut scenes and of course fights. Each chapter allows you to play as a different hero as you progress through their personal part of the storyline and of course leading up to the climactic final showdown. You'll spend the story mode watching the cut scenes play out and build up to a fight between different heroes/villains of the Regime and Insurgency. Once you win each fight the story continues. There are also different mini games scattered throughout the story mode that help mix things up a little.

     Of course the story mode is just part of the game and Injustice has a lot of features. Once you are finished with that you can really loose track of time in the STAR Lab missions. These are basically different mini games and fights with specific objectives to complete. You are rated (one to three stars) on how many of the objectives you complete in each mission. Each character has their own specific missions and there are over 200 of these! There are also a lot of different battle modes that have different elements such as giving your opponents more health, or limiting the time, etc. If you're a big fighting game fan you can of course test your skills against others online. This works pretty well and the few matches I have played I have not noticed any lag at all. Of course I just get beat every time! One cool feature is that you can bet your xp on who you think will win the fight while you and other people are waiting in the online lobby. You also have your own fighter card where you can unlock different symbols, backgrounds, and character icons. There's quite a lot of unlockables to keep people coming back.

     The controls in the game function pretty much like other fighting games. You have your basic kicks, punches, and grabs. I know what you're thinking. What would a DC fighting game be without super powers?! Well you're in luck. Each character has their own special attacks. So you can expect Batman to use some gadgets, Deathstroke to use guns, Green Lantern to use his ring, etc. On top of that, each character has a super move that is earned after you build up your special meter throughout the fight. Once you initiate the super move, it's time to sit back and enjoy some awesome looking attacks. For instance, Superman's super move involves him knocking the opponent outside of Earth's atmosphere and then slamming them back down to Earth's surface. The special moves are pretty enjoyable to watch. Each level also has multiple tiers to knock opponents into and of course, interactive objects.

     Graphically the game looks great. Character models are highly detailed and the different unlockable costumes all look really cool. There were some times that some of the character's faces and environments looked a little off during story cutscenes, but the actual visuals in battle look really good. The levels are creatively designed and offer good variety to the game. The voice acting for all the characters is done really well too.      

     In the end Injustice: Gods Among Us is not just a great DC game. It's a great fighting game as well. I am not great at fighting games, but you can play Injustice at a novice level and still have a great time. The story mode is really good and engaging, and the STAR Lab missions lengthen the gameplay and add variety. The online mode works well, there are a lot of unlockables, and the game looks good too. If you're a fan of DC, comics in general, and of course fighting games you need to give this game a try.

Final Verdict: 9/10

Written by: Alter Ego 83