➤ Injustice 2 review for PC: the future of fighting games 🎮

Lead your hands in the most instinctive way possible, simplifying as much as possible and choosing among the heroes of the DC Universe. And Batman is the coolest. The future of fighting games passes through Injustice 2, let's find out why in this review

Midway. Halfway between the eastern and western fighting game, trying to summarize from the first the propensity towards the ability to be able to give rise to super-moves composed of keystrokes in which the player's skill is the master, and from the second the strategy and simplification. Speed of execution has been a feature that has established itself in titles such as Street Fighter and the like. Then at a certain point we witnessed a decrease in the pace of play (we are talking about stuff for some imperceptible) in favor of a "harmony" of the action, in which sometimes it seems to be more of a chess game than a fighting game. I did not say open this article with "Midway" random. I was born and raised in the midst of fighting games and one of my favorites, if not "My favorite“, Is one of the titles produced by Midway Games: Mortal Kombat. What does it have to do with Injustice 2? Now we get there.

Injustice 2 review for PC: the future of fighting games

His Majesty: Midway Games

From the Ashes of Midway Games, vends Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, your back replaced by NetherRealm Studios, development house of this Injustice 2. So here we are, after this information, in front of a series of evidences that we just cannot let slip on us. You need to know that NetherRealm Studios it is not new to fighting games: it has developed the latest Mortal Kombat which, let's face it, are a beautiful product, halfway between the traditional Midway title and the needs of the market, increasingly oriented towards widespread accessibility (even the 5-year-old cousin can perform spectacular combos). And this is how we get to the heart of the matter: Injustice 2 is a good fighting game, as is Mortal Kombat X. We can see traces of the latter in the cutscenes shown during the super-moves, extremely violent (but far from those of MK) and on a myriad of elements, not least the combatsystem based on a careful use of the actions which, if used in the wrong time, they can give the flank to the opponent and his combos.

In the subway to fight with Rayden. Midway got used to it well.

Injustice 2: joy for eyes and ears!

Pop Corn e curve: the first for the cinematic sequences, well made, with careful direction, photography and detailed scenography as we are used to by the Hollywood studios, and the second for describing the detailed graphics, able to reveal the "roundness" of the male characters and (especially) female.

Wonder Woman tied and at our mercy.

If you have a nice sound system, perhaps with a nice subwoofer, go ahead and turn up the volume as far as it is allowed: the sound sector, between music and sounds, is a joy for the ears. This is perhaps one of the characteristics that more than anything else left me breathless. I have the opportunity to take advantage of the good sound system of my gaming station and I have heard sounds several times that reminded me of the sound effects received while watching a film at the cinema, especially those of US production, with a prevalence of drop bass, that make the walls and stomachs of the spectators vibrate. Perhaps the only flaw: the subdued Spanish dub, which clashes heavily with the maniacal care of musical realization and noises.

Did I mention that in Injustice 2 the sound is something spectacular?

Injustice 2, what a story!

Without anticipating anything of what is another strong point of Injustice 2, the plot has a non-linear plot, but elaborated and studied, which tells what are the events of Batman, and the allies he managed to recover, against the Company (a faction / gang of criminals) preparing to conquer the (drum roll) world. Together with armed gorillas, the Company will give the bat-hero a hard time who, in addition to relying on unlikely help, has to deal with Superman, still active and thirsty for justice and blood. There is nothing else to add, if not that already from the first bars of the single player campaign, there are substantial twists, which should immediately make us feel the air that is pulling for our planet. The plot has nothing to envy to the films that have DC heroes as protagonists. Said this: if you like the twists and the plot proposed by films like Justice League, sit back and enjoy it.

Batman has always been a gentleman.

In Injustice 2 also the graphics sector does not disappoint

Graphically speaking, although we were very happy and satisfied with the sound, we can only appreciate the technical realization of the title. The character models are extremely responsive and perform all kinds of moves making every action believable. Punches and kicks turn out to be natural, as Mortal Kombat have taught us, linear and with timing faithful to reality. Each character, in the equipment customization section, is a small digital action figure with great attention to every detail. Facial expressiveness, thanks to digital modeling techniques mixed with the studies of facial movements, turns out to be at the top. All this is poured into the many and numerous cutscenes, which accompany us during the single player campaign, in the development of the plot and in making us discover characteristics of the DC heroes with whom we will have to deal with in Injustice 2. So, once the graphic sector has been praised, which in some moments it leaves you speechless, I raise a small doubt: why are certain videos, especially in those where there are spaceships and explosions, woody? For example, there is a scene in which two spaceships wander in space, in the initial stages of the game, and although graphically everything is flawless, the animation of the two turns out to be hard and not very credible. Putting aside this perplexity, which is very minimal (however, considering that I played the title on a highly respectable game machine, at the top of its features), let's move on to the real core of the game.

My expression when I saw the animation of the two ships in the woody cutscene.

And the gameplay?

Fatality. Let's talk a little about the gist of the game: the gameplay. For those coming from a Mortal Kombat fighting school, it will feel very much at home. Going into detail: the combat system follows western fighting games, or a slower pace devoted to strategy and the opponent's misstep. The usual action keys (low punch, high punch, low kick, high kick, block and catch) are revolutionized, becoming simpler and more intuitive, thus allowing anyone to be able to easily start competing in the single player campaign and in a possible online battle. . Therefore, only 3 keys are kept for pure offense, divided by range and intensity (low, high and powerful); the parry is obtained through the classic "back" with respect to the opponent, or in some cases it is possible to stay down to automatically parry the enemy's attack and make a possible counter move; the socket instead is relegated to LB (I used an Xbox pad). A fourth action is dedicated to the use of the special ability, which is recharged gradually during the game based on the recharge time, characteristic for each character. The latter in some characters are not very effective, in others they can give rise to long combos and not easily blocked. A final important element is that relating to the super move.

The clash of clashes.

During the fights there will be sections where you will have a face to face with the enemy in which the skill and speed of execution naked and raw will be rewarded.

Goodbye crescent + high punch + low punch. In classic fighting games we were used to being able to download the super-move bar, accumulated based on the hits assigned and those collected, through the succession of a series of moves that, in some cases, were really difficult to operate. For example, the crescent was a move that involved the use in rapid succession (let's say almost simultaneously) of the “up + forward + down” keys. Only if we succeeded in such maneuvers could we give life to the super move which, if launched at the right time, would have reshuffled the cards on the table with our opponent. So, imagine the frustration of a friend of yours trying to throw his super move without success, getting random movements of his character and, consequently, showing his side to your attacks. For some time, with the new generation fighting games (stuff that has actually been seen for a few years already), the special sequences that allowed the super attacks have been replaced by a more comfortable method. In Injustice 2 you simply have to choose the best moment to trigger a super-attack, spectacular in terms of cutscene, as you will witness a video sequence where the victim will be thrown to a monstrous plant, or will be thrown into the sky or will be ravaged by a couple of ferocious hyenas and so on. So just press LB + RB and hope you have chosen the right moment. Otherwise you will have wasted an opportunity (the bar will then run down) and you will have given the enemy the opportunity to counterattack.

This is a super move.

This is also a super move.

A bit of RPG, which never hurts. As we face enemies (both in the single player campaign and in online) we will be able to obtain rewards that will consist of armor, special items or weapons. These items can be immediately equipped by unlocked characters (which will clearly be available as you progress through the game). You can therefore improve the characteristics of defense, resistance to hits, speed of execution of the combos and many other small things. Last but not least is the ability to aesthetically customize your characters, with more eye-catching armor, which will make a bad impression when you face opponents in the beautiful online mode.

You can decide to wear the new armor just obtained, or exchange it for more credits.

I finished the campaign! And now??? We can answer this question with some confidence: now the real game begins. The campaign, although it has a nice story, has its ultimate goal in making you learn all the characteristics of the various characters, thus allowing you to practice with them and improve your fighting skills. Once finished, you will have the possibility (which in reality you will be allowed from the beginning) to launch yourself in the many single or multiplayer game modes that will allow you to accumulate points and unlock equipment. We will then have the possibility to launch ourselves in the various missions in the single player section, or enter the Brother Eye Vault (conceived by the paranoid brain of Batman, to mark the progress in the game), or we could manage the inventory of our characters, or we could go in the "guilds" section, creating your own guild together with friends. Or throw us into online battles (and here I highly recommend you have a great connection, because timing is everything in this genre of games). And before leaving us with the main menu, I present the section "buy / download content" which will allow us, in fact, to purchase new exclusive content to improve and customize our DC heroes.

I liked this shot and I put it on. I don't want Green Arrow.

Injustice 2, the verdict of the review

Summing up a bit, how can the experience proposed by Injustice 2 be summarized? We will have a fun campaign, defined several times as the entry level of fighting games, fast and intuitive. After the latter we will be able to launch into the proposed challenges, to accumulate points to be used to unlock equipment and skins. We will have a fun and clean Online, far from Hardcore gaming, but no less fun.

There are skins that will make our characters very creepy.

Injustice 2 is a product worth buying by anyone who appreciates even the slightest bit the world of fighting games or the DC universe. The game mechanics are simple and effective just to meet any type of gamer, perhaps sharing a game session with your friends, by connecting a second pad.

Let's not forget that this is an adventure with heroes from the DC Universe and that therefore the characters are skilfully characterized. It will be a pleasure to see your favorite heroes take on threats and fight opponents, drawing weapons and performing combos. Furthermore, the plot fits perfectly into that cinematic (and comics-related) trend DC: what price are you willing to pay to maintain order, security and discipline in a society?

They make the desert and call it peace.

Written listening to: Carpenter Brut - Roller Mobster

9 Fun and immediate