Games / Game Reviews

Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us

By Sean Booker
April 24, 2013 - 17:29

Take all the great things that NetherRealm Studios did with their rebooted Mortal Kombat back in 2011 but switch in a good cast of DC Comics characters and you get Injustice: Gods Among Us. There are a lot of similarities between the two games as well as some nice fine tuning. Not only does Injustice improve on the Mortal Kombat formula but there are a number of ideas that long time fighting game fans will find interesting. With all the tightly designed controls and mechanics going on in the game, it’s also a treat to see that the storytelling hasn’t taken a backseat in this. Gods Among Us stands strong as a great mixture for both frame counting gamers and comic book fans alike.

The game takes place when the main team of superheroes get teleported to an alternate world being run by a tyrant Superman full of rage and out for blood. Alliances twist and you will find yourself fighting doppelgangers and teaming up with some of the DC Universe’s most notorious villains. The game has a great cast of characters to play as including the obvious Batman, Green Lantern and The Joker as well as some smaller picks such as Killer Frost, Nightwing and Aeries. As you play through the story it’s easy to quickly become engaged with the situation unfolding and the constant twists keep it interesting all the way through. And the almost seamless transitions from cutscene to fights make for a real nice presentation. It was really great to see that the story wasn’t an afterthought throughout the development.



But for fighting game fans, Injustice surfaces some really cool and interesting information. First off, pausing the game mid-fight will bring up a short list of moves for your character. This is for a quick in-and-out check but you also have access to the full move list. A real treat is that players can also customise this list by choosing what moves they want shown on a character by character basis. This allows you to have this quick access to only the moves you like using the most. On top of that, when highlighting a specific move, there will be information beside it that shows how many frames that move takes to execute. To anyone playing the game more casually, this will be just seem like white noise but for the more serious it’s a really cool bit of information being surfaced. There are a lot of nice choices being made in Injustice to not only help the more casual audience, but also the die hard fans.



It’s also worth mentioning that the game features an online practise mode that allows you to fight with another player using unlimited health. This ensures that you can really practise with a specific character or a specific match up. And the use of voice communication online lends itself for some real good practise and teamwork when figuring out how characters work against one another and even teaching new players the ropes.

The game also borrows from the Dead or Alive series by allowing you to knock your opponents through walls and into different areas within in stage. For example, using a strong enough attack at the edge of the batcave will send your foe into the basement with new scenery. Every stage has a number of intractable components for you to use that can range from exploding barrels to background elements to kick your opponent into. Simply tapping one button (RB on 360 and R1 on PS3) triggers the event when you and your enemy are in the correct locations. So not only does knocking your enemy into a different part of the stage damage them and look cool, but it allows for a new line up of possible items to interact with.



Injustice mixes up a few other mechanics that Mortal Kombat fans would expect. For starters, the developers have scrapped the finishing moves but kept the super moves seen in the 2011 reboot. These involve the full use of a your super meter and will trigger a devastating cutscene-filled attack on your enemy. Combined with the absurdity of comic books, some of these super attacks can get pretty crazy.

The challenge tower also makes a return appearance under the name S.T.A.R. Lab missions. Like before, this single player mode has a huge number of specific fights set up for you that involve playing in odd and unique ways. For example, some will only allow your character half their health, draining life or only the use of grab attacks. Injustice builds on this mode by separating the list of challenges based on each character and even writing in some brief narrative to make everything feel more cohesive. Another addition is that each mission is ranked with up to three stars and there will be a number of sub challenges to try and complete within the main task itself. This mode becomes incredibly difficult and can last far longer than the main story mode itself. So even if you’re not into the online fighting game scene, there’s still a ton to sink your teeth into.



Injustice: Gods Among Us shows what makes comic books so much fun and allows you to spend a lot of time enjoying it. There are a ton of great and difficult game modes to play through whether you prefer fighting against people online or in single player. The game does a really great job of introducing some mechanics for new players while also surfacing some usual information for people wanting to get in deep. And getting in deep is incredibly easy with the great cast of characters and the engaging and fun story that has been set up. Injustice easily caters to both comic book and fighting game fans old and new

Rating: 10 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12