Injustice: Gods Among Us Review
Game Emblems
The Good
The Bad
DC Heroes and Villains Come Together & Fight, Most Unoriginal Story and Game Possible
Injustice: Gods Among Us is an intelligent, incredibly brutal, and wickedly fun fighter.
Injustice provides a complex fighter with some unique twists, but is found wanting in features that have become commonplace in its contemporaries.
The Good
- Brutal presentation makes you feel powerful
- New mechanics build upon Mortal Kombat's foundation in creative ways
- STAR Labs missions are a fun distraction.
The Bad
- Minimal educational tools
- Disappointingly dull story
- Lacks replay support.
When it comes to superheroes-turned-street fighters, DC Comics' stable of superfriends have always received the short end of the stick. While Marvel enjoys the steady success of Capcom's legendary Vs. series, the likes of Justice League Task Force and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe have not done DC any favors. Injustice: Gods Among Us, the latest fighter from the house of Mortal Kombat, aims to break this combo with a fighting system that builds upon the lessons of MK, while also introducing a few new tricks. But for all its complexities, Injustice unfortunately falls short when compared to its contemporaries.
If you are familiar with Mortal Kombat, you will feel right at home in Injustice. Character movement has that same deliberate, staccato style that's distinct from the fighting genre's Japanese-developed counterparts. That style feeds into the satisfying weight and brutality of each attack, whether it's Bane breaking you over his knee or Hawkgirl taking her mace to your face. Controlling these characters feels powerful, and the destruction you bring upon your opponent and the environment add excitement to each fight.
While MK and Injustice have a similar feel, their underlying mechanics are very different. Injustice has three attack buttons and a special trait button. Whether it's flight, healing, or a simple strength boost, these traits are unique to each fighter and play into their particular abilities and histories. The distinctions are clearly apparent, and don't just boil down to slightly altered punches and kicks.
Clashes are another interesting mechanic. When activated, they instantly interrupt a combo, and then both players secretly spend an amount of their super meter. If the fighter who initiated the clash spends more, he regains health proportional to the amount spent; otherwise, he takes damage proportional to what his opponent spent. Clashes can be used only once per round, per character, and only if the initiator is down to his second health bar. The threat of a clash adds an interesting dynamic to the back half of a fight. It forces you to constantly reevaluate how much meter to save and spend based on what your opponent has stored.
While clashes are only a two-time threat, Injustice's interactive backgrounds are a constant hazard. Peppered throughout each stage are items--a missile here, a motorcycle there--for characters to use. Different characters use these items in different ways. Some use these objects as weapons to be smashed over an opponent's head, while others use them as springboards to quickly navigate the arena. These items are a fun way to augment your fighter's arsenal and take stage awareness to a new extreme. Knowing that a combo could put your opponent near a deadly item might make you think twice before launching your assault.
It's too bad that so many characters simply destroy these background objects. A stone tablet that Batman can spring off of to reach the other side of the screen, Superman just smashes. Superman--along with the game's other heavyweights--smashes almost everything he touches. In some stages, it is too easy to smash all of the interactive objects early on simply to deny your opponent their functions. This is especially troublesome for characters with limited mobility options who need these items to compensate for their shortcomings.
By
Maxwell McGee, Editor
Maxwell McGee earned a degree in Journalism from the University of Arkansas, and has contributed to The Escapist, GamePro, PC Gamer, and more. His introduction to video games was Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the Sega Genesis, and he has never looked back. He welcomes your feedback through the site, or Twitter.
892 comments
This is a good start... Now we just need Star Wars vs. Disney... I'm just saying Luke Skywalker vs. Mickey Mouse and Mickey destroys Luke, tears his dead off and eats it...
Why does Hawk Girl have wings. She doesn't use them, but has the ability to fly anyway.
5 Like What an awful review. The fact that the game lists ALL of your fighters special moves/combos on the FIRST pause screen makes the 'lack of a tutorial' argument totally moot.
Lacks replay support, HAH! Someone's solely interested in the campaign, me thinks.
1 Like Bottom line, if you like MK style fighting then you will like this game. oh and "Lacks replay support"? There are 20 different ways to play the ladder and Star Missions, each giving the player opportunities to unlock costumes, game modes, etc. So Max you are absolutely wrong when you say "lacks replay support".
@gvandewiele
Ey you, don't reply only to delete the comment:
"gvandewiele said
vicke32 yeah cause DC comics is totally gonna agree in letting their characters get brutally murdered..."
Which is why it's a bad choice to go with a mortal kombat engine.
This game wished it was Mortal Kombat, the animations are made for x-ray, but since it would be too obvious to use x-ray they instead chose not to use it without changing animations. The lack of blood is also lame, it doesn't need to be "shop u in haff n' rip of al da' skin bichh", but without blood it looks weird.
umm I am confused wasn't Mortal Kombat released in 2011, or was he referring to a different MK?
Oh the guy who completely underscored ZombiU, yeah I really trust his opinion. Actually no I don't I wasn't sure my sarcasm came through. Yeah yeah yeah Tom mcshea, "oh 7.0 is a great score." Bullplop this guy has the second lowest score on metacritic so yeah I don't know. Reviews are just one persons opinion and it shouldn't effect my enjoyment of this game, very true. I think I just don't like maxwell very much, he looks like he's high on goofballs and that effects his reviews.
I know it's probably not relevant but i have trouble getting my mind around a game where the Joker can beat Superman.
Guys reviewing games with scores like this is why a panel of three should review a game. First guy should be an avid player of that genre, whether it be fighting ( cough), action, FPS or what ever. Second should be someone that doesn't play the genre. Third person should be someone not associated with this site (that way no one can claim _____ paid ____ for the score)
1 Like @amin7224 No just this hippie, I'm sure his beanie was covering his eyes when he played this or that he spilt his soy cappuccino during it... Actually come to think of it he probably didn't really play it cause he was to transfixed on the game Journey.
I don't even have to play the game or any other fighting game to know that it's just going to teach you the basic fundamentals. He even said it in the review itself, this game "plays to the hardcore crowd", so why would it instruct on everything? He completely contradicted his review.
Stating it "plays to the hardcore crowd" in a review I don't think was meant to be taken as a good thing.
@im-a-roustabout It's a fighting game, molded from Mortal Kombat, for the "hardcore" consoles. How is that a bad thing?
After more time with the game, I have to say i'm really impressed with it. I really don't understand your argument on the lack of educational tools? I mean they have all the moves listed, even the frame data. You can set the AI in practice mode to fight on all difficulties to work on strategies and even have somebody on a second controller(i think you can even practice online).
1 Like As a Marvel fan who never really got into DC, this game looks awesome. Can only dream about Marvel doing something like this. Guess I should expand my horizons and appreciate what both worlds have to offer.
i have to say i was like that, besides batman, DC never really attracted me. But im loving this game, even the comics of Injustice are pretty interesting.
Seriously?! This is one of the best/most cohesive stories in any fighting game, no training tools? You must have skipped the tutorial that everyone else went through. No replay value either huh, I guess you missed battle mode and star labs and you know the online mp as well.Do you just not like fighters or are you a Marvel fan boi?
2 Like Like everyone else said, story is great, fighting system is solid, review sucked. Sorry the tutorial wasn't deep enough for you and you had to actually play the game to figure stuff out.
4 Like I've read the review and this guy is a pretty bland reviewer...a bland gamer I would say?
Dull story? Injustice and MK are the ONLY fighting games of this generation that provided a great narrative..
This review isn't good and the user-score and metacritic further proves the point...
Gamespot...the next time you order a guy to write a review make sure he has interest in the genre.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
3 Like WoW!! This review is waaaaaaaaay off!!! Horrible review. Story was weak?! R u serious?! This was one of the BEST stories in a fighting game I've ever played. This game is a serious DC gift to its fans! Anyone thats a fan of fighting games or a fan of DC comics GET THIS GAME!!!!! This review is a HUGE FAIL!!!!
3 Like Dull Story?
Seriously?
Injustice is now the one to beat in terms of story modes in fighting games.
Yeah it was kind of riff on the Justice Lords arc of Justice League (which itself was based on the Crime Syndicate) but that was probably the best arc of the series. It was an awesome idea and deserved revisiting and Injustice actually did it better.
Overall I don't really agree with this review. Given the complaints feels like the wrong reviewer for a fighting game.
3 Like For anyone who is a DC Comics Fan, this review is seriously low balled.
It should have been a 9.0 the Fighting Engine is easily an 8.0...
Just want to let anyone who might not want to get this game because of the low rating ignore the rating you will miss out on a really good game!
The Villans are just as strong as the Heroes in this game and you want to play as both gleefully!
I can tell you the villans are really cool and true to their roles and character, when Joker beats you he throws gasoline all over you and tosses a match and stands there watching you burn, lol gets a laugh every time i see it.
Lex Luthor lol, if he beats you, he steps out of his power armour suit and calls Lex Corp. "O.k. come pick up the suit" haha So cool.
Batman during a fight can call on the Batmobile which sets off a beat down combo that ends with the Batmobile racing in and running over your opponent. You can save this "power" until just the right moment during a battle to finish an opponent or even up the battle, good stuff! I love that "ace up your sleeve" that you can unleash.
Everybody i've talked to has nothing but good things to say about this game.
You know a game is good when you can get beat 20 times in a row and you just keep coming back for 1 more round.
Just so no one misses this that had high hopes to get it, yeah you should get it!
Also there are 200+ different missions you can do with different characters called Star Labs Missions. Outside of the awesome Superhero THROWDOWNS you even get these missons that are all different.
This just might be one of the best Superhero games in a while, some of the Superhero games that have come out recently have incorporated an open world sandbox style, those are excellent but can get a little boring at times due to the nature of the game concept, but this seems to be a perfect formula, little bit of story mixed in with fun battles.
2 Like I don't understand why they didn't incorporate a tag team mode. I was going to buy this so my buddies could crash at someone's house and play like we did with MK9, but without tag there's no point if only 2 can go at once.
1 Like The story wasn't that original. It had a, in my opinion, few twists from "mortal kombat vs dc universe". But the game in overall is actually very original and refreshing in the genre.
Three buttons to smash is ok, but then there is that fourth button that is character specific. The "wager" is also a fun alternative to "boost" special attacks. You can choose between a special if you are in control or a wager when you are losing, something that actually change the way you play.
The levels are much much much more expansive than, take the capitalistic street fighter X tekken that also had around 14 levels.
Fighting games are sometimes hard to give scores to, but if you think about all the different stuff you can collect (alt suits, xp bonusses, backgrounds, concept art, ...) and the diversity in "battles" mode, the "Star labs" and training besides multiplayer and story, than you must give this game a honest score.
My only real minus is that the Joker got a "parry" as character specific skill, but on the other hand it really suits his personality!
ranging from 8 till 9 to 10 is a honest score for Injustice!
9 Like Don't care about the score, sort of confused about the review. Does every game need to have educational tools? Does everything need to be inclusive? People can't search the web or god forbid play the game and figure stuff out? Lack of replay support? PLAY the god-damn game.
Why do you review so many fighting games, Maxwell? You always have the SAME gripes with every single game. Maybe you are just not getting it. Maybe, just maybe, you are not the best person to be reviewing these games.
6 Like The tutorial's fine. Independent study has always been the best way to learn characters. Was this game seriously scored lower for not holding our hands the whole time?
1 Like @flammable_zeus Yeah, i was getting killed by Joker until i figured out how to fight him... heh
No tutorial can teach you timing...
1 Like This is an amazing game; the 'round' system makes the game feel somewhat differentiating from other fighters.
9 Like "Lacks replay support"... I have many games with that useless, waste of space of a feature, that I've never used. When I'm done with a fight I simply move on to the next one, period.
"Disappointingly dull story" ... Yes Maxwell, I'm sure you would have come up with a much BETTER plot, right?
"Minimal educational tools" ... Really? If Tutorial mode wasn't enough to educate you on how to play the game, you should stick to reviewing what you're "good" at. Leave fighting games to the pros ;-)
This game has earned 8.5 from me, but I gave it a 9.5 because your review was so... inspiring.
4 Like Well, i couldn't say better! Thanks dude! The game deserve 9.5, i totally agree with you! As a fan of dc for the last 25 years, i must say that the story was great. To all fan if fighting games and/or fan of comic books, don't let this review disapoint you! Go try it !
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Injustice: Gods Among Us
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- Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer(s): NetherRealm Studios
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: T
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