Injustice 2
Fighting
1-2 Players
System: PS4
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Year of Release: 2017
Beaten: May 22nd, 2017
For a good long while I thought Mortal Kombat was a dead series, the whole early 3D era did not do the franchise any favors. And yet, after Armageddon, and a DC crossover, Mortal Kombat's 9th game came out and proved to everyone it wasn't over yet. Since then NetherRealm Studios has been switching between MK and the Injustice series. As a long time DC comics fan, I can't tell you how happy the Injustice games make me, as a concept alone. While taking place in a very dark version of the DC universe, this is just a really solid fighting game with super heroes as characters.
There are quite a few people who don't really care for NetherRealm's style of fighter, claiming it's too slow and stiff. Personally, as a casual fighting game fan, this style suits me much better. Even still I lose a lot. Injustice 2 further refines how combos feel, and make things slightly less stiff, just as the previous games have done. I was content with how Injustice played, so the improvements in 2 just improve the general experience. Injustice might be a bit clunkier than some other fighting games, but it still feels good to play for players of just about any skill.
One of the main draws for Injustice is, uniquely for a fighting game, the story. Injustice Gods Among Us had an incredibly story mode, with a Superman finally pushed beyond his limits and abandoning his morals for a "safer" world. This lead to a five volume prequel series, a sixth series from Harley's perspective (because, why not?) and currently another series that acts as the bridge between the two games. Personally though, Injustice 2 let me down quite a bit. There are some cool moments and cameos, and I'm fine with this Superman acting completely out of character considering the circumstances, but it all just felt a bit off.
You've got Gorilla Grodd bringing together some kind of legion of doom, who is actually working for Brainiac who wants to capture the last piece of Krypton that escaped his grasp, but in the end it turns into another Batman/Superman brawl. Brainiac isn't even important in his starring role, he is literally just an excuse to let Superman out of prison, which leaves Bruce to figure out what to do after they solve the Brainiac issue. Many of the fights felt very forced, especially whenever Doctor Fate would show up, I get that this is a fighting game and they need to give each chapter four fights and it won't always work out. It just felt like they could have done better, following MK, MKX and Injustice I know they could have done better.
Another major problem in my book is that almost none of the new characters are playable in story mode, granted many of them are villains, but this could have been used to the advantage of story mode. Maybe have a hero-centric story and a villain-centric story. While it looks like the villains were helping Brainiac, maybe they were plotting against him in their own way. Or not, just let us play the villains, show they had a few wins during all this chaos. This could make Brainiac feel like the real threat, and still leave room for an epilogue where everyone has to deal with the Superman sized elephant in the room. I might just be overly critical, as both a huge fan of DC comics, and as someone who has wanted more from stories in fighting games (I blame Deception's "awesome" story mode) it just feels, overall, like a missed opportunity. There are still fun moments, and it will give you a decent feel for the gameplay.
The real meat in regards to single player content is now the multiverse. Combining both classic arcade modes, as well as NetherRealm's living towers multiverse offers a wide variety of constantly updating fight scenarios. And the variations are endless. A short string of fight, long strings of fights, single fights against buffed bosses, super difficult to super easy, as well as a seemingly endless multitude of other random variations like meteors raining down, or allowing you to call on another heroes powers for aid. As a filthy casual, this is my bread and butter. It never ends, and they even run special events every so often, like this last weekend was a Wonder Woman event that awarded players with her movie outfit. Each multiverse mission you complete earns you rewards, but also finishing entire sets of these missions, sometimes with specific conditions, will net you even greater rewards. Like loot boxes. Wait, what?
Yes, loot boxes full of gear for your characters are everywhere in Injustice 2. The gear system was actually a huge selling point. Gear not only affects character cosmetically, but statistically. It goes so far that even new abilities and moves can be attached to fighters, some drastically changing how they play. It seems risky, but from what I understand in most online modes the stat bonuses are negated and just the look is saved. It's mostly for single player, or specific online matches set up for gear. I'm not totally sure about though. If gear does affect online matches, especially ranked, it just seems like a broken system. Though at least it doesn't become a pay to win kind of system, even though there are microtransactions.
Ugh, somehow they managed to worm their way into the game. It almost sounds overwhelming to say there are four currencies in Injustice 2, but it actually isn't so crazy. There are two kinds of coins, normal coins and guild coins. Both are earned through basically any kind of gameplay, and both allow you to either buy more loot boxes, or access certain multiverse missions. The difference is guild coins are for guild boxes and multiverses, while normal coins are for... well, normal boxes and multiverses. Guilds act as a way to just earn more loot boxes, and have more multiverse options, though they seem harder to me. Regen tokens are the third, and only serve to re-roll armor stats up to the character's current level, though it's random. You can choose to keep the gear the same, or update it after seeing the results, but either way you use up the token. Pretty simple. Lastly there are source crystals, these you can purchase with actual money, but they seem to be only good for purchasing shaders, and premier skins. These affect how players look, with premier skins changing characters to look and sound like a different one entirely. Who still has the same exact moveset though. These crystals can also be earned through gameplay, just very slowly. Like a mobile game. Great addition. I can't say there's a real issue here, just keep playing and eventually you too can be Jay Garrick, or Vixen.
Microtransactions are, sadly, just the tip of this DLC iceberg. This is one of those games, by one of those studios, where ultimately everyone knows to wait for a complete edition in a year or two. But, look, I can't. I love DC, and Injustice is one of the few fighters I ever got even just semi-competent at. So for me, I wound up getting a discounted ultimate edition for about eighty-five dollars. I'm saying that because a friend of mine got burnt purchasing Mortal Kombat X, and wound paying way too much for it.
I'm beating around the bush though, I apologize. On day one you can already purchase source crystals in various sized bunches, an ultimate upgrade which nets you a few extra shaders and premier skins, as well as a new character Darkseid for five dollars, and you can even pay five dollars to unlock Brainiac, who unlocks for free by just playing the story mode which lasts all of five hours, max. This is really typical of NetherRealm studios so far. Three fighter packs have been announced as well, all of which are included in the ultimate edition. Currently, you are unable to buy them separate, or even in a bundle, so the pricing on them is unknown. Each will contain three characters, and at least one premier skin. So far the ultimate edition sounds pretty good, but after MKXL there is no telling if they will release additional content that will require a purchase even with the ultimate edition.
DLC is such a touchy subject, many hate it altogether, others love it blindly. Personally, I'm in the middle. If you aren't individually judging DLC by it's quality compared to it's cost, you're doing it wrong. Depending on the price of these packs, they so far sound really worth it. Although there is a strange flaw I've noticed. NetherRealm is lying to us. In the ultimate edition you get three premier skins, these are the same skins you get if you get the cheap upgrade through the store as well. In the first fighter pack you get a premier skin as well, Power Girl. Except, this is one of the three you get with the ultimate edition. No matter how you slice it, they're advertising more content than you're really getting. It isn't malicious, but it bothers me a lot. I'm wary, but I think it's safe to say unless Injustice 2 is a must have, waiting for the complete edition will be the best option.
You know a sure sign of an excellent writer? When they wanted to talk about something, but didn't fit it in naturally so they just kind of ungracefully shove it towards the end? Yeah. Injustice had an amazing cast of characters, mostly consisting of already popular characters. Injustice 2 dug a little deeper, to amazing results. Thirteen characters return, all of which are touched up, at least a little, and play even better than before. Including DLC, seventeen characters were dropped, and while some are missed (Lex Luthor, Hawkgirl) others basically were swapped out (Killer Frost, Nightwing). Nineteen characters, including so far announced DLC are brand new, and every new character plays how they should and feels exactly right as well. Overall the game has an excellent roster, and from rumored leaks, that roster will only become more impressive.
Ultimately, Injustice 2 is a step up from the original. The gear system is a little strange (and is handled horribly from a UI standard point), and the DLC practices are potentially horrible, but the game is chock full of content and further refined fighting mechanics. Again, this is NetherRealm, so it's a bit slower, a bit clunkier, but for me the fighting system is still incredibly fun, fluid with enough depth to keep me coming back to learn each character. I might have seemed down on this game, but only because I don't know enough about fighting games to go indepth about how much better this sytem is than previous ones. Having a fighting game filled with some of my favorite superheroes alone is enough to woo me, to simultaneously be fun and full of content? Instant winner.
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