Injustice 2 – Review
Follow Genre: Fighting
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4, Xbox One
Tested on: Xbox One

Injustice 2 – Review

Site Score
9.0
Good: Graphics, Story, Tactical fighting system
Bad: Not for button mashers
User Score
9.0
(3 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 9.0/10 (3 votes cast)

In 2013 a new fighting series saw the light, by the same creators that are currently bringing us the Mortal Kombat games. This new series proved to be a bit more child friendly, and less gory than the latter and involved many of DC’s beloved superheroes and villains, duking it out to shift the battle between good and evil once and for all. Nonetheless, the first Injustice game messed with many people’s minds, as Superman was pushed to the edge of insanity by the Joker, who was swiftly killed by the once righteous superhero. This time we return to this series for its second installment, that will once again make us doubt our moral code and decide what is right and what is wrong. We were eager to see many familiar faces, as well as some new ones thrown into the heat of this battle among gods and humans alike.

Injustice2

Story

Just like the first Injustice, Injustice 2 offers a great story experience for fans of the DC Universe. The story will take place after the events of the first game, thus you’ll find Superman in jail, together with Damien Wayne, who both conspired to kill criminals, rather than let them face justice the proper way. Other members that followed Superman’s regime, are also wanted, which means that the Justice League is no longer defending our planet. Of course, Batman is keeping tabs on everyone, and there are new heroes that are helping him defend the world as best as possible. Nonetheless, a new threat arrives on the horizon, as the entity that destroyed Krypton has now laid eyes on our blue planet. It seems the Justice League, might have to convene once again after all, as it will take the best of the best to defend our planet, if everyone can toss aside their differences for the time being.

It’s fun to see how the sides of good and evil are totally scrambled in this continuation of Injustice, but it’s also impressive how good the story actually is and how much it could actually be turned into a movie. You’ll get more than your money’s worth out of the story alone, even though it may be a bit too short for some.

Injustice 2 1

Graphics

This game looks amazing from whichever angle you might look at it. The characters look lifelike, with great facial expressions and proper lip syncing, which is often still a problem in modern games. You’ll be treated to a cast worthy of the title of superhero or super-villain, as they look slick, detailed and in many ways original, as the developers clearly gave the cast their own original touches. Some characters remain true to the source material in the comic books, while others follow the recent movies and series that situate themselves in the DC universe.

The environments look as slick as the characters, as they are each perfect for the character they are linked to. You’ll notice a lot of background action in the stages, which makes them come alive, and you’ll have a reasonable amount of items which you can use in combat, slightly altering the appearance of the stage you find yourself in. Many stages consist out of different sceneries, if you knock your opponent to the next segment, making them bigger than you’d initially expect.

Sound

During the story portion of the game, you’ll be treated to cinema quality voice acting, as the story is pretty much the equivalent of a fully-fledged movie, with a few battle sequences per chapter. Outside of the story, you’ll be treated to typical catchphrases, cheesy one-liners and very short conversations at the beginning of each battle. Other than that, there’s not much more there in terms of voice acting, but it’ll suffice.

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The music of Injustice 2 is also rather cinematic, but it’ll remain on the background most of the time, never becoming truly invasive during your gaming session(s) or the story portions of the game. Nonetheless, the backdrop is pleasant, and does get you in the mood to pound some superheroes and/or villains.

Gameplay

Injustice 2 is a rather tactical fighter, a bit more so than the first installment of the game. You’ll be bashing your opponents most of the time, and while button-mashers will surely get through the story and win lower difficulty battles, it’s clear that this game focuses heavily on performing successful combos, albeit short ones. A few new twists in this game are the fact that characters have a unique ability and are also able to wear gear. The latter can be used to change stats, but you can also use this just to change the appearance of your character, if you and your opponent do not want to play with altered stats.

Overall the combat feels more tactical than most fighters, as it’s all about performing short bursts, trying to aim for small combos and then retreat and go for it again. This makes the game feel a lot less like an average button masher, and the different counter and recovery moves give Injustice 2 a lot of depth, making sure there’s a proper learning curve for both beginning players, as well as veteran fighter fans. This does mean that newcomers to the genre, who want to spend a lot of time, will be thrown into a rather deep fighting game, but it also means they’d better start off at a low difficulty setting, as the game tends to be rather merciless at times. The controls themselves are rather responsive, and the special moves are easy to perform and learn. Each character only has a handful of special moves, making it easy to master them all, but it also means you’ll have to focus on when to use them, and then focus again on your combos, or chaining special moves with short combos.

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The gear system creates another layer of depth, and allows you to customize your favorite characters. While the gear you’ll find will look spiffy cosmetically, it’ll also alter the stats of the character, which means you can empower characters. If you’re not a fan of having altered stats, you can just use gear for cosmetic purposes, and play without alterations to your stats. You’ll also receive loot boxes, which are similar to those in Overwatch, which will treat you to more gear. While the latter isn’t anything special or original, it’s a fun touch to the collectible system in this game.

Conclusion

Injustice 2 is a great successor of the first game, and it continues to build further on the first game in terms of characters, story and options. You’ll have a lot more extras to explore in terms of gear and customization, which will certainly please completionists, and those who want to invest extra time in this game. Those looking for a casual experience will also find their pick of the litter with a movie-like story mode, and enough characters to try out and master before you’ll be playing with the big boys and girls. We can’t wait to see how this series continues, even though we might also be one of the few who’d love to see a revival of the Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe series.

Injustice 2 4

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Rating: 9.0/10 (3 votes cast)
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Injustice 2 - Review, 9.0 out of 10 based on 3 ratings

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  1. […] Still not convinced if Injustice 2 is your kind of game, be sure to check out our review. […]

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  2. […] series and staying incredibly truthful to the DC universe, Injustice 2 was released in May 2017. Since we reviewed the game back then, the E-sports community and fans across the world have been loving the game in all its glorious […]

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