Review: Injustice: Gods Among Us
Everyone has their niche in gaming. Some people pick up the newest installments in sporting franchises each year, others wait for the annual release of their favorite shooters, and others get down on the latest fighting game which, as of this past month, is Injustice: Gods Among Us. As for the aforementioned niches, I fall within none, but I absolutely suck the hardest at fighting games.
I read a few positive reviews about this game and decided to check out the demo, which led me to shell out my own money and get a game that I knew I was going to suck at. Being able to fight as Bane was a big selling point, having fallen in love back when Knightfall came out (not with that stud Tom Hardy), but besides a few big-name super heroes and villains, I didn’t know half of the fighting roster. Cyborg and Raven existed outside of Teen Titans? Mind effectively blown. When it comes to laying down combos longer than three buttons, I’m a functional imbecile. You can block in this game? I may never do it. Counter attacks and parries? I will never land either of those. I just don’t possess the focus one needs to successfully play a fighting game. I am, essentially, a fighting-game oaf.
There’s been noticeable coverage on this site about Injustice: Gods Among Us, and for good reason; it’s actually pretty good for a fighter. Ed Boon (that one guy who did that one game; Editor’s Note: That game is Mortal Kombat) directs a solid plot (that I didn’t pay too much attention to) and was one of the only stories that doesn’t paint Superman to be a total pansy. The campaign is short and you are limited to playing as a few of the fighters, but the genre hasn’t really required these games to demonstrate brilliance in the writing department.
Upon actually playing this game (on the “Normal” difficulty setting) and unsuccessfully making it through the tutorial, there have only been a few “IT’S CHEATING” moments from me thus far, resulting in skyrocketing blood pressure rates and ample destruction of vocal chords. The game baits players (me) unfamiliar with the genre in with very playable characters and completely badass move sets for each. Discovering the two dozen or so special moves that are unique to each character is half of the fun, because no matter how over the top they are, they are easy enough for simpletons, like me, to pull off. This is nice compared to some of Boon’s other ventures, because even though I’ve owned four or five Mortal Kombat games, I’ve never pulled off a Fatality. I’m that bad.
Online play is laughable in that if you perform at a sub-par skill level at the game, you should never play online. The players who go out and purchase the joystick accessories for these types of games shredded me mercilessly. After two near TKO’s, I gave up on competing against humans in this game.
Oh, and on the off chance that I would somehow accidentally nail a button combo on an edge of one of the maps in the game (most likely vice versa), I get treated to some epic level transitions that border on hilarity. The only times I’ve been able to achieve such feats have been in Practice mode, where the opponent doesn’t move at all. Finesse.
Overall, Injustice: Gods Among Us is like every other fighting game you’ve played. Sure, it’s got a nice coat of paint on it and the mindless mayhem that comes with being a super hero or badass villain takes me away from the banality of reality for long enough to forget to eat dinner. It’s got the destructible environments, mildly interesting story mode, and some great characters to choose from. I look forward to see what DLC will be available, so that maybe I can suck with some new villains.