Injustice 2: Super-powered fisticuffs with a story worth watching
Jonathan Ore | CBC News | Posted: May 17, 2017 7:51 PM | Last Updated: May 17, 2017
One-on-one fighting game by NetherRealm Studios, makers of the Mortal Kombat games
DC Comics' recent history bringing its heroes and villains onto the movie screen has been spotty at best.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad both made enough money at the international box office to fill the Batcave, but received poor reviews. The upcoming Wonder Woman and Justice League films hope to turn the critical consensus around, but whether they'll succeed is anyone's guess.
DC's video games have enjoyed greater success, thanks to NetherRealm Studios, the makers of the popular Mortal Kombat fighting games.
2013's Injustice: Gods Among Us tells a bloodier, alternate story where Superman becomes a totalitarian dictator after The Joker murders a pregnant Lois Lane. It's a grim setup, but took equal influences from pulpy comic book plots and the lighter side of the franchise, like the Justice League cartoons from the 2000s.
The end result was arguably a more entertaining take on the DC mythos than Hollywood's recent efforts. Its tight — yet accessible — gameplay didn't hurt, either.
Their track record continues with Injustice 2 (out this week on the Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Xbox One), a hefty package of storytelling and brawling packed with enough content to satisfy button-mashing newcomers and obsessive competitive players alike.
The story continues where the first game left off. The despotic Superman has been deposed by Batman, and the heroes who joined his Regime are either imprisoned or exiled.
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Things are looking up until uber-villain Brainiac arrives, threatening to destroy the planet and forcing the fractured Justice League to put aside their differences — if they can manage it without tearing each others' throats out.
It's a typical setup with a predictable plot, but it serves its purpose by setting up dozens of fights along the way in which the player can take part.
NetherRealm's lavishly produced cutscenes transition smoothly into the gameplay, giving rare credence to the idea of games' potential as an "interactive movie."
The roughly three hours of cutscenes are impressive on their own. Fan-favourite voice actors reprise their roles, including Kevin Conroy as Batman and Tara Strong as Harley Quinn.
The plot doesn't totally escape the creeping grim-dark nature of DC's media — this version of Superman is obsessed with the idea of murdering criminals to protect humans from themselves, and his former Regime members like Flash and Green Lantern all go through their own guilty-conscience narratives.
But the storyline never takes itself too seriously, and supporting characters like the quip-filled Green Arrow (Firefly and Star Wars: Rogue One's Alan Tudyk) and the sarcastic Catwoman (voice actor veteran Grey DeLisle) add levity to the otherwise super-serious affair.
Storyline aside, most players will come to Injustice 2 expecting the tight gameplay of the previous game. They won't be disappointed. Other than a few iterative refinements, it plays much like the predecessor, with prettier visuals and a slightly different cast of fighters to choose from.
Franchise stalwarts like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are joined by lesser-known characters like Dr. Fate the gold-helmeted mystic, and Atrocitus the rage-filled, blood-barfing Red Lantern (accompanied by his partner Dex-Starr, a talking murderous cat).
The total cast numbers 29 at launch, but NetherRealm promises to add at least nine new fighters to the crew, including Red Hood and Starfire, throughout the coming year (as long as you're willing to pay extra for them, of course).
Injustice 2's gameplay is classic one-on-one fisticuffs, just like you'd remember from Mortal Kombat games of old. Everyone has their unique punches, kicks, and superhero powers.
There's something for players of all skill levels. Spectacular special moves can be performed with simple one-two button combinations, letting virtually anyone see theatrics like punching your adversaries through entire boroughs of Metropolis, or feeding them to Aquaman's pet prehistoric shark.
Experts, meanwhile, will closely analyze how many frames of animation each move takes, and craft dizzying combination attacks as their hands dance around the controller (likely a $250-plus arcade stick) like a concert pianist.
The new "gear" system allows you to customize your hero's appearance, making their costumes even more ostentatious and discordant while increasing their strength, defence and other attributes.
It's a complex and often bewildering system, and tournament organizers will prefer to turn them off. But casual players will relish playing dress-up, assembling their favourite heroes' ensembles like a kryptonite-fuelled fashionista.
It's not a seamless addition, as managing thousands of pieces of gear can get confusing. It doesn't help that they're acquired through the now-popular Loot Box mechanic, the video game equivalent of LottoMax, which you can conveniently buy with real money.
Thankfully for Injustice 2, video game sequels are often more iterative than revolutionary. Players can ignore its more arcane managerial functions and focus on the solid brawling and arguably the best on-screen take on the DC universe this decade.
Your move, Snyder.