Superheroes battle it out with lots of comic book flourishes

Aug 16, 2012 20:31 GMT  ·  By

Injustice – Gods Among Us is the most recent fighting game from the team that also created Mortal Kombat and, after revealing the new title during E3 2012, the developers brought a playable version to Gamescom this year.

I played a few matches, using characters like Batman, Harley Quinn, Superman and Solomon Grundy and I came away feeling that this could be a solid fighting title for those who are willing to suspend their disbelief and accept some of the conventions that Netherrealm is imposing.

Injustice is driven by the need to perform combos in order to charge up special attacks, which is an old concept for the genre, but the game places a huge emphasis on starting combos from grapple moves up close, from what I have seen.

The development team has put a lot of work into each character that it offers, even if the selection is limited, and the variety and feeling of uniqueness is welcome, with Batman using his cape and batarangs more often than his punches and Harley Quinn finishing most of her own moves with a pistol shot or a quick bomb throw.

The specials, although I saw fewer of them than I would have liked, are also impressive, with the best so far being Superman’s, who punches his enemy, in this case Grundy, up through the atmosphere before joining him in space in order to send him back to Earth with another punch.

This is where the suspension of disbelief comes into play.

All the characters are superheroes or villains and the DC Universe Comics that inspire their Injustice incarnations often describe them as unstoppable or unkillable.

Those who play Injustice will see the likes of Superman pummeled by Batman (or kryptonite involved) and that is, in many ways, an affront to the sensibilities of the comic book fan even it will probably not bother the fighting game lovers.