Injustice: God Among Us is a solid fighting game that lacks a few things holding it back from greatness.
Injustice: Gods Among Us looks to change all of that. And change is what you get. Those expecting a combat system like the MK vs. DC or the last Mortal Kombat are going to be disappointed. While there are some similarities here and there to the last two Netherrealm games, Injustice has more in common with Street Fighter in how it controls.
Injustice uses a light, medium, heavy attack method with holding back on the directional pad to block. The circle button here activates the character trait for each character. These vary depending on who you choose. Batman summons tiny robots that can flung at your opponent, Wonder Woman switches between her lasso and sword as a primary weapon, and Superman is briefly made more powerful. These are just to name a few of the unique abilities that each character has.
There are some throwbacks to the previous Mortal Kombat, however. You have throws which are done by tapping L1 or square + X. You also have a bar that fills up which can be used to either strengthen a super move, launch a super attack, or be wagered in a clash. The super move boost and super attacks are pretty much the same as Mortal Kombat's super moves and X-Ray attacks. They're cinematic wonder pieces that do solid damage. The clash is something new where two fighters square off and hammer each other hard while wagering a certain amount of your super bar. The winner of these is granted some health.
Aside from that, level transitions which first appeared in MK vs. DC are back. They're devastating and nearly as powerful as super attacks. You can also use R1 in levels to grab items and toss them at opponents, kick them into the background, and other fun things. Overall, combat is pretty versatile, but I felt combos are a bit on the weak side compared to Mortal Kombat. I also feel the characters are a bit clunky. They don't move nearly as fast they should especially when compared to previous games.
The meat of the game is actually the story mode. It tells a tale of an alternate DC universe where Superman has gone insane and turned into a dictator of the world. "Our" DC characters are pulled over to this world by their Batman, the only hero who hasn't been killed or converted. Overall, the story mode is pretty nice. It's somewhat shorter than Mortal Kombat's, coming in at around 4-5 hours. Still, it's far better than MK vs. DC was.
Outside of the story mode, to play an arcade style setup, you'll need to go to Classic Battle. This will spar you against 10 different opponents with an ending for your character. After that, you can unlock different versions of Classic Battle where certain conditions are in effect such as no super attacks. You have your standard multiplayer here, but no tag team unfortunately like Mortal Kombat had.
Visually, the game is very good in my opinion. It uses the heavily modified Unreal Engine 3 to great effect. The characters are somewhat modified from their roots, but maintain enough familiarity that you won't be mistaken in who they are. The environments are highly detailed and interactive. With objects to grab and throw at your opponent or doing a clash, these can cause the places you fight in to slowly fall apart. Level transitions and super attacks are visual masterpieces showcasing your character's powers to the fullest and how well the game is constructed. Characters also suffer physical damage from attacks, but this is somewhat subdued compared to Mortal Kombat.
The sound design is also solid. Dialog is realistic and never cheesy. Many voice actors from the Justice League series return so some voices sound familiar, but others like Joker and Lex Luthor will sound foreign by comparison. The background music is of a serious and darker tone than what one might expect with a game so heavily based on comic book source material.
Value is where we run into some snags. The story mode really isn't all that long, ending with an obvious set-up for a sequel. There are only 20 characters to choose from in the game (24 if you have all DLC) and we're missing some of the core characters of DC like Martian Manhunter and Darkseid.
On the whole, Injustice is a good game. It's not the revelation that the rebooted Mortal Kombat was, but it's a good centerpiece for how Netherrealm studios has evolved their fighting game franchises. There's more seriousness in the story of the game, better balancing of characters, and a serious attention to detail. Small things stick out at me like the Arkham Asylum level transition where you are attacked by Scarecrow who looks exactly like he does in the Arkham Asylum game. If you look closely you can see various DC character throughout the backgrounds just like Mortal Kombat did.
The biggest issue I had is it just leaves you wanting more and not in the good way. You're expecting more characters or a longer storyline. Injustice won't go down as the greatest fighting game or even the best comic oriented fighting game, but it's serviceable for the better part if you're willing to overlook a few things.
The Good: Excellent character design, super attacks and level transitions are a blast, well balanced combat, character traits are a neat idea, interactive levels really change your strategy.
The Bad: Story mode is short, lacks some key DC characters.