Can Superman redeem himself in this epic sequel?
Despite being terrible at fighting games, I absolutely loved the original Injustice. I managed to complete the campaign and even win the odd match online, but it was the story itself that stood out to me, especially being a fan of DC. Seeing Superman go completely nuts, kill the Joker and enslave the planet was something I never saw coming and it set things up for a follow-up perfectly and now…it’s here.
Injustice 2 takes place several years after the events of the first game. Superman and Nightwing (Damien Wayne, Bruce’s son) are locked up for their crimes, while a new threat in the name of Brainiac emerges on Earth to kill the last surviving Krypton otherwise known as Superman. What we get a glimpse of at the beginning is Krypton’s last day and how Supergirl makes it off the planet, but we also see that it was Brainiac that killed the planet.
The story unfolds and it becomes clear that Batman cannot defeat Brainiac by himself, he will need the help of the Man of Steel, despite their differences. It’s what can only be described as a fragile alliance at best. The campaign isn’t quite as lengthy as the original game, but it’s still fairly long and you can replay it for a different ending depending on who you choose to play as during certain fights.
There’s also a range of challenge fights known as The Multiverse which pits a character of your choice against a range of same-level or higher-level fighters. It can be a succession of 3-4 different fights before you complete the specific Multiverse event, so it’s no cakewalk. You’ll also gain XP and loot for your characters along the way through the campaign and the Multiverse mode, as well as earning loot crates to open for items. You can also sell them to buy more loot crates or buy them with whatever you have, even real cash if you so wish.
As with the original Injustice, you can unleash devastating finishing moves on your opponent when you build up your power meter all the way, these are incredible to watch and are really inventive. For example, The Flash runs your opponent through the Speed Force to go forward and back through time, only to then make your opponent crash into a time remnant of themselves.
As I’ve said, I’m terrible at fighting games but these finishing moves do take the edge off and give us useless fighters a small chance of success. There are a few cheap moves, like those of Deadshot and Brainiac that feel a little unbalanced to say the least. For example, Brainiac can crush you and take half your stamina bar away, which is more than a finishing move. The variety of moves and combos you can pull off are brilliant…if you can pull them off, that is.
You can play online too, as well as levelling up your fighters up to a maximum of Level 20 and equip them with specialist moves and clothing with buffs to help. You can also make several layouts for each fighter, almost like COD/Battlefield in that respect. Visually, it’s an amazing game fully supporting the PS4 Pro and HDR for a breathtaking visual experience. Voice-acting is great too, even if some lines are cheesy…it’s DC. What more do you want?
The Verdict
Injustice 2 is a great follow-up to the original and it surpasses it in every way imaginable. It sets things up for another inevitable sequel and while I’m not a huge fan of loot boxes, the customisation for multiplayer and classes is a big step up in my book. Even as a terrible fighter, I can highly recommend this gem.
Score: 9.0