Injustice: Gods Among Us -- The Death of Metropolis
NetherRealm unveils its ambitious story mode
by Scott Butterworth JANUARY 30, 2013
The fighting genres blundering misadventures in storytelling might be something of a running joke in our video game community, but when a gameany gameopens with the headline Metropolis Destroyed, Millions Dead, its really hard not to sit up and take notice. Im not saying Im totally sold yet, but the team at NetherRealm Studios (you know, the Mortal Kombat guys) sure knows how to make an entrance.
IGNs latest hands-on demo with the DC Comics-based brawler Injustice: Gods Among Us finally blew the lid off the games story mode, which understandably apes MK9s style of interspersing cutscenes between each fight to create an overarching narrative. While the devs declined to give me a rundown of the overall story citing unspecified spoilers, they did let me play the entire first chapter.
The mode kicks off with a dramatic slow motion montage complete with a sweeping orchestral score and the aforementioned newspaper headline, along with a few choice shots of panic and destruction just for emphasis. From there we find Batman interrogating a particularly smug Joker in a heavily fortified jail cell, though it isnt long before Superman bursts through the camera-facing wall and grabs Joker by his bright purple lapels.
He breathlessly accuses Joker of drugging him before trailing off and mournfully whispering about Lois and his family. Batman implores Superman to calm down, but after Joker taunts the Man of Steel (I know its soon, but do you think youll ever love again?), the screen abruptly fades to black to the tune of entrails squishing and the Joker wailing. And to think people were worried Injustice wouldnt be as dark as Mortal Kombat.
The game then quickly picks up at the beginning of the first actual mission, which seems to flash back to the events leading up to the Jokers interrogation (though the game does a fairly poor job of communicating this -- we just sort of pieced it together). While a veritable whos who of the DC universe throws down in some kind grand rumble (also not explained), Batman journeys to Arkham Asylum to confirm that the Joker is still rotting behind bars.
Needless to say, he isnt. Instead, his cell is packed with explosives, which Batman defuses before being attacked from behind by Deathstroke. And just like that, my match with Deathstroke had started. No Round One, Fight! Nothing. The camera simply pulled back to reveal a minimal heads-up display and suddenly I was in control.
The transition from cutscene to combat was seamless, direct, and clearly a deliberate stylistic choice aimed at making us feel totally immersed in the story. Even the break between rounds just featured a simple animation of one character picking himself up off the floor while the other subtly celebrated, then it immediately dove back into the action. And once I defeated Deathstroke, the transition into the next cutscene was equally smooth.
The only real deviation from the formula came in the form of a quick-time event before my fight with Lex Luthor. As he rushed towards me from the opposite side of a space station, I matched button prompts to pelt him with Batarangs. Each one that landed chipped away a small piece of his health, giving me a slight advantage once our match actually started.
The last laugh?
According to the developers, the story mode will be peppered with small interactive mini-games like this to break up the action and add a little variety. While this particular idea is new, most of the formula sticks to the setup found in Mortal Kombat: each chapter of the story mode follows a particular character for three to four increasingly challenging fights before placing you in control of someone new. The matches and events are all preset, so you never select a fighter or a difficulty level. If you keep losing a particular match, the enemy AI just gets a little dumber until you eventually overcome.
Theres a little more to it than that, but basically, the developers dont want anyone to get stuck, especially since Injustice features 33-percent more cinematic content than Mortal Kombat and expects you to win matches with more characters than ever. Hopefully the narrative -- penned by many of the same people behind Mortal Kombats story, with the help of DCs Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti -- will be strong enough to compel us to soldier on.
As for the fighting itself, I experienced all the same over-the-top action we saw back at New York Comic-Con, but I also learned a few amazing new facts. By far the most significant: youll actually be able to choose between two completely different sets of controller inputs. If you enjoy Mortal Kombats traditional down-forward-punch style, you can stick with that, but if you prefer Street Fighters quarter-circle-oriented inputs, you can switch over to those instead. To my knowledge (and correct me in the comments if Im wrong), no fighting has ever gone to these lengths to accommodate player preference.
The developers have also added a few other convenient touches like a two-player online practice mode, the ability to tag moves in the menu so theyre permanently displayed on-screen during a fight, and the option to turn off the interactive elements in the games environments. Hardcore fans will no doubt be pleased, and while I still have a few reservations (no Mark Hamill?!), the initial skepticism that surrounded Injustice has begun to feel more and more unnecessary. Lets hope my cautious optimism is rewarded when the game launches on April 16.
New Characters
During the demo we were also shown a variety of characters that may or may not be playable. The list includes Hawk Girl, Aquaman, Doomsday, Raven, Ares, Bane, Captain Marvel, Black Adam, and Sinestro. They could be seen in various cut scenes fighting already confirmed characters. We've reached out to WB and NetherRealm for more information about the roster and will update this article if we hear back.
