[PAX Prime 2012] Injustice: Gods Among Us

[Lekon]

When Injustice was first announced, I heard a few grumblings about MK vs DC. Oh, it'll be another PG rated, one, cheesy, not taken too seriously, etc. I'm more than happy to say Injustice is not a silly game. What I played at PAX was a damn fine fighting game with great controls and a great take on the iconic DC characters.

Plus: a boot to the head

The build at PAX contained a good chunk of characters, along with a promising amount of blank slots for coming soon folk. What impressed me was just how different the various characters played, and how true to their roots they were, even with the updated looks. Spandex is out, layered armor and mesh patterns are in. Batman looks like he's armored enough to take a punch from Grundy, and Flash's suit looks like something that could survive the speed force he puts it through. Even just looking at idle/walk animations was a treat. Flash is jumpy and always swaying, Superman and Wonder Woman float above the ground instead of walk, and Solomon Grundy plods along. As an exta bit of awesome, each character has a unique intro to the fights, Superman changing from Clark, Cyborg coming through a rift in space and time, Flash ... well, runs in, but he's Flash so we'll let him have that.

It's pretty obvious that Injustice is being made to become its own series, separate from MK. The controls were responsive, and diverged from the usual MK or even Street Fighter styles. All characters had the face buttons mapped to three attacks and a gimmick. Blocking was done by holding back (yay, crossups!) while another button press from the shoulders helped grab items from the background to smash people. Each character's attacks are fitting for them: Grundy's moves are throws and bashes, Cyborg has blasts and Harley Quinn uses gun play even in her base moves. Special moves were what we usually expect, fireball or back forward motions, no trouble doing any of them, even in the middle of combos. While it's great that the mechanics for the characters were so solid, the stages were what really made Injustice one of my favorite games of the show.

Bats tends to end up on the wrong end of guns

Though I only had a chance to play two stages at PAX (The Bat Cave and Metropolis), it was clear that the stages themselves will make a huge difference in the fighting game scene. Hopefully Injustice will become a frequent feature at EVO and other competitions, mostly since the fighting arenas will be amazing crowd pleasers. Each stage is made up of a few arenas, as well as several hazards and items strewn about. Each character has unique ways of dealing with the environment to help beat down their opponent, ways that match the character's style. Case in point: In the opening area of Metropolis there is a car in the background. Get near it and activate the button, and something happens. Batman throws them into the car. Flash grabs their head and makes a blur of slamming them into the hood. Superman? He just grabs the entire car and throws it at the enemy.

Several spots in each stage had other hazards as well. Hanging sparking wires caused extra damage if enemies were hit into them, walls could be broken to access new areas, buildings could have people thrown through them to get to other areas while causing damage, buttons could be pressed to fire missiles from the Batmobile, etc. A few hazards spawned new items, such as a container in the Batcave that dropped out bombs anytime it was hit. These bombs could be picked up and tossed at enemies for a nasty bit of damage.

Nightwing lays down the law

So far, I've written about the basic mechanics and the stages, so let's end this with what makes Injustice stand out further from other fighting games. First, the Gimmick button. Each character brings something special with their gimmick. In Wonderwoman's case, she switches stances from lasso and flying, to sword and shield grounded combat. Flash gets a short time buff where he's much harder to hit. Grundy gets angry and does some bonus damage. Cyborg shoots folk. Harley Quinn... does random things, be it pulling out an exploding toy box, a picture of Mr. J, it's hard to guess what her button's going to do.

All characters also have a three bar power meter, which can be used much like in MK to power up special moves for a small cost, or using the entire meter to launch a huge attack. These attacks are voiced, well animated, and painful. Batman put two stun guns to the enemy's neck before back flipping and letting the Batmobile run them over. Grundy hit people a lot with several nasty items, ending by hitting them over the head his own tombstone. During the fights a clash occasionally occurs, where both characters hit each other with a flash of light, jump back, and yell at each other. During this exchange, both characters hit a button to wager some or all of their power meter. The one who wagers more, wins and does a fair chunk of damage to the loser. Sadly, I couldn't hear what the characters were saying over the roar of the PAX floor, but I was assured that each character pairing would have a unique clash voice over.

Just look at all the neat toys in the background!

Fighting game fans have a lot to look forward to when Injustice releases. Even at this early stage, the game is a blast to play. I can see it hitting up the tournament scene just as easily as being a game for a few friends to play and laugh about over PSN or XBL. If they keep up the great online modes from MK, and keep up the quality and detail for the not yet announced characters, Injustice is going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Easily one of my top five games of the show.

[menage]

My main problem with mk style games has always been the button input. Instead of a natural back to front slide, you had to go purely on the more abstract back back front kinda stuff. Never clicked with me.

It does look 'kinda' interesting. I just don't really get the way these games play.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by menage

My main problem with mk style games has always been the button input. Instead of a natural back to front slide, you had to go purely on the more abstract back back front kinda stuff. Never clicked with me.

It does look 'kinda' interesting. I just don't really get the way these games play.

I don't remember there being any back back front moves. There were a lot of Down-Forward, and Back Forward moves, but I don't honestly recall having to do back back forwards, at least at PAX's build.

[Psykoboy2]

This was fun. I still suck at fighting games, but I enjoyed playing this.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by Psykoboy2

This was fun. I still suck at fighting games, but I enjoyed playing this.

Gave me hope honestly. I like games that are easy for the casual to pick up and look awesome at. The super technical games just... aren't as fun for me honestly.

[Deadend]

Originally Posted by menage

My main problem with mk style games has always been the button input. Instead of a natural back to front slide, you had to go purely on the more abstract back back front kinda stuff. Never clicked with me.

It does look 'kinda' interesting. I just don't really get the way these games play.

the last MK game, if I recall correct accepted SF style rolls as valid inputs.

[PathMaster]

Looks gorgeous. And yea, I suck at fighting games, so I most likely won't be grabbing this.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by PathMaster

Looks gorgeous. And yea, I suck at fighting games, so I most likely won't be grabbing this.

Psykoboy isn't that good either and he did pretty well. Seems like a newbie friendly game with the focus more on reactions and environment instead of heavy combos.