Another Review Bought to you by Mixtape
Injustice Gods Amoung Us
Ok, so i got Injustice opening day, and here are just my thoughts and coments about the game. Lemme just get some of the easy stuff out the way.
The game looks great and the voice acting is pretty good as well. Sound is awesome, and the tales of this game having a great story mode are true. Finished story and I must say it was pretty interesting. A quick blur about the story, it basically involves Batman, The Joker, Green Arrow, Green Latern, Wonder Woman and Aquaman being transported to an alternate reality. In this reality Super was tricked by the joker into killing Lous Lane , His unborn son , and pretty much all of Metropolis ( yes… that order was intentional, because thats pretty much how superman looked at it). Superman in turns kills the joker and pretty much any super villian who got a probelm with the S on his chest. Heroes pretty much got the same treatment, join the regime or die.
Now to the good stuff.
The game sports around 24 characters give or take, i dont feel like counting. The game has basic normals, a universal overhead and wall bounce move, specials and EX specials.
This game is very much like Mortal Kombat 9 but with a few twist. To be honest, it feels like they add a bit of capcom to the mix but in some good ways. First this game doesnt have a block button liek MK9 and uses the “hold back to block”. The most important thing this adds to the game is that jump attack cross ups now work. MK9 had a tekken like thing going on with buttons attached to limbs (left punch, right punch, etc) . In Injustice they have the old school Light, Medium, Heavy Attack and a Character Trait(Special Button). The Character Trait button is similiar to how BlazBlue uses the Drive Button. Every character has a different trait that is suitable to that character. Some traits are special attacks, and other are buffs, think install supers for free. For example. Superman traits increases his attack power for a limited amount of time, and also allows him to break through most armored moves. Flash’s trait actually slows everything but him down, so he could do combos that were previously impossible (Think Amaterasu slow down hyper from MVC3). Green Arrow trait allows him to utilize a bunch different trick arrows , and Batman can throw automated bat-o-rangs (functions alot like an assist). The traits make things feel pretty fresh i must admit, and give the the credence that you have to know the match up, specially how that characters trait will effect your game plan.
Combos in the game are pretty much focused on juggles. Air to Air hits will most always confirm into a juggle, there are also ground bounces and and wall bounces. I don’t know if their is a limit to ground bounces and wall bounces, my gut says that their isn’t. Combos kind of work like Tekken (i hope im not mistaken) , but the longer the juggle goes, the further out the player floats in the air and the faster they tend to fall to the ground. So while its likely you won’t get juggled to death, good juggle combos will do about 30% damage, while great ones may reach ther 50% mark. There have been alot of combo videos coming out of some pretty high damaging stuff 90% to 100%, but as of now, these combos aren’t the most practically and usually require a great deal of meter. Also anything too broken will likely be hit by the Netherealms Patch Hammer in due time.
Interactables. There big stand out feature of this game is Interactables. They are very cool and my first impression tells me they are pretty damn important. Characters fall into two categories: Power and Gadget. This effects how they interact with alot of things. Superman will grab a chandeller and throw it at you , while batman might rig it to explode. Some people might be aware of the debate to play with them are not, since netherealms did us the kindness of making it a togglable feature. So far it doesn’t seem broken, it just adds a level of depth to the game because you have to be aware of your surroundings. The best use of the feature is how it adds a means for people to deal with corner pressure. On some stages, interacting with your back to the corner allows the character to spring off the wall and get out the corner, or in some stages (Aqua Mans) you break the glass on a tank and a tidal wave pushes the opponent back, giving you some space. This is amazing, because if MK9 had a problem, it was definately about corner pressure. If you got pushed into the corner in MK9 , Holy Shit your chances of losing that round were pretty damn high.
The game also sports a system similiar to the combo breaker mechanic. If your on your second round, and your getting comboed you can clash. This brings up a little mini game almost where you bet meter on your clash power. If you win your clash… you do damage and you regain some life back. Its important to note that you can’t get KO’d if you lose a clash, so there is absolutely no reason not to attempt one at the end of the fight if your about to die. If anything saving some meter when your close to dying will force your opponent to do the same, eliminating some things you have to worry about in your comeback.
Last important thing about the combat system is that your health doesn’t reset after a round ends. You keep that life lead you had at the end of a round. Which makes getting a life lead even more relevant. I think it might encourage some lame play, but it at the very least makes people who don’t have the lead need to be active. Defensive options in this game aren’t outstanding, so it might even be difficult to play lame and win. Projectiles are easily avoidable and for most of the cast extremely punishable if dodged.
Final Verdict. This game so far feels refreshingly great so far. I think baring some kind of broken exploit , this game is here to stay. If you’ve ever talked to me before, you know how much of a fan I am of MK9 as far as being a game is concerned, this is just a better verson, with a cast that we all truthfully have a bigger attachment too. Some people, don’t like the animations, i hear the , they look to stiff argument. And I must say, I think this is generally not true, and for the most part the animations are quite enjoyable.
