Injustice 2

Injustice 2 is like its cast of superheroes, namely exceptional. The battle mechanics of Injustice: The Gods Among Us have been improved in the right direction. The number of potential hours of play that the new Multiverse mode offers alone is impressive. The heroes and villains of the DC Universe have never looked so classy in other games, despite the title's sinister and depressing side story. Like its heroes, Injustice 2 thus faces adversity, carried by content as I have rarely seen at the launch of a fighting game, and a unique combo system which, once mastered, becomes purely enjoyable. .

Injustice 2 strikes the perfect balance between retaining the qualities of the previous installment and offering changes that intelligently improve pre-existing game mechanics. From new versions of attacks based on the elements of the scenery - such as the possibility of crushing enemies with a car or giant stuffed alligators -, to flashy transitions making the link between each zone of the arenas, passing by an arsenal of Full special moves - like crushing your opponents with the Batmobile or traveling through time to send your opponent into the mouth of a dinosaur - all of this brings welcome changes. One of my favorite abilities is filling my Super gauge to unlock moves that allow me to dodge projectiles from enemies, counter hits using scenery, and increase my speed to perform more actions. fast. These accelerated movements make the clashes much more lively and agile, a welcome development when we remember the heavier movements of the previous episode. New defensive movements also make the battles against specialists in ranged attacks, such as Deadshot or Green Arrow, much less frustrating than some heavy face-to-face events in the previous section which were limited to blocking enemy attacks indefinitely. In addition, the addition of new fighters, like Dr. Fate and Deadshot - whose specialty is the control of the battlefield, Black Canary - adept at offensive blows as fast as technical, or Atrocitus and Gorilla Grodd with methodical styles and violent, fills the gaps of the roster of Injustice first of the name.

One of the nicer things about Injustice 2 is the wide variety of combos on offer, which is only matched by a few games in the genre. For someone like me who loves spending time beating up a silly fighter in Practice Mode to find out what crazy combinations of punches I can pull off, it's extremely fun. You can bounce your opponents off the walls and send them into the air to juggle. Using the super gauge can sometimes even change the characteristics of a special move and provide new combo opportunities: for example, when the Joker uses his "BANG!" », The latter usually draws his weapon and shoots his target. But by activating the super gauge, the bullet from the pistol can make opponents fly through the air, allowing the Joker to juggle his victim. Each character can make their combos last in several different ways. And it is possible to go even further by taking advantage of environment attacks and position in the combat zone.

There is a lot of content, whether it is for people who love fighting games but do not enjoy facing other players, or for those who like to mix everything together but also like to go hunting for success and loot. In any case, Injustice 2 probably has more content in its single player mode than any other fighting game released to date. Most of the content is excellent, with the exception of its main component: the single player campaign

I wasn't a fan of the grim treatment of the heroes in Injustice: The Gods Among Us , and its side story in which Superman goes adrift following a tragic death. And although the character animations in the cutscenes and in-game stand out and sometimes border on photo-realism, I very little appreciated the way the fighters are represented. Including the usually symbolic characters of hope and light who now approve of killing their enemies, claiming that atrocious events have been caused by their inability to deal with these villains once and for all. Batman seems to be the only voice of reason until you realize he has dared to ban Superman and Wonder Woman as he associates himself with people like Harley Quinn.

Injustice 2 repeatedly tries to break this monotony with the entertaining Green Arrow and the ever-popular Flash, the latter aptly symbolizing the consequences of the Batman and Superman feud, and what the heroes are fighting for. Sadly, the game features a Joker who turns out to be one of the most false and unfortunate depictions of the Clown Prince of Crime. Goodbye the charm and dark humor of the crazy winnowing clown, the infectious laughter and the flamboyant wardrobe, and hello the psychopath with generic threats and who waves a knife in all directions. Like recent DC films, Injustice 2 confuses gloom for gravity, and finds itself in a weak position in the face of the whimsical, funny and colorful universe favored by its rival Marvel, especially in the latter's games, like the future. Marvel vs Capcom Infinite fighting game.

As you explore the conflict between Batman and Superman, and the great threat behind it, you take control of each of the playable characters. It imparts an epic feeling, allowing you to see the main threat coming through the eyes of every actor in this saga. But it also involves getting to know the style of each of the 28 characters on the fly. Transitions from one hero to another can be frustrating at times, including passages where you are suddenly placed in front of an experienced AI and in the boots of a fighter you don't know at all. There are no universal combos. So, Green Lantern two-three hit combos may not exist in Batman. Each hero is indeed unique, even on the side of his basic attacks. Some have complicated combinations and parries that are not innate to place, like Robin and Bane. While this style of storytelling brings grandeur to the DC Universe by letting you take part in events under the ocean, on Krypton, or in the Gotham Shallows simultaneously, this build detracts from the rhythm of the story. Everything is frustrating and unequal compared to Street Fighter or BlazBlue, the universes of which we explore through different intrigues specific to each fighter.

Failing to find anything appreciable in this particular DC story to say the least, I really liked the Multiverse. This mode is the answer of fighting games to Destiny since it gives you the opportunity to evolve your fighters, gain equipment and use them to complete different challenges that change every day. Common and rare gear sometimes only increases a single stat: strength, defense, health, or abilities. However, the rarer and more legendary pieces can do a lot more like changing the color or size of projectiles, or even allowing your hero to start a fight with his super gauge already full. This brings a strategic dimension which pushes to choose the objects to equip your character in order in particular to increase the capacities most adapted to your style of play. Even if Injustice 2 rebalances the basic statistics of all the characters during the confrontations in line, it is always possible to face your friends with all the power of your equipment or to ignore these bonuses to balance the game. In all cases, the cosmetic changes remain.

I loved discovering that the rarest equipment also changed the appearance of my characters. It is thus possible to create a unique look for each of the fighters. Some modifications can be minor such as the choice of the style of the breastplate, the addition of luminous lenses to the Batman mask or the addition of a hood to the Scarecrow outfit. But they can also be very notable, like the ability to change the Superman logo. Between the colorways to unlock, the different modifications for the arms, legs, torso and head, and finally the new weapons, there are a surprising number of options for anyone who associates their wardrobe with success.

Injustice 2 also allows you to unlock chests rich in rare equipment by completing specific objectives, such as achieving a perfect score in Multiverse missions, completing a fighter's tutorial or completing chapters in Story mode. One more reason to visit the Multiverse regularly.

Be warned: between the Multiverse mode, the 5 to 10 hours of Story mode (depending on your level) and the different skill trees of each fighter, the depth of the content offered may intimidate newbies, at least until 'they take the measure of what they throw themselves into. Because although there are generic tutorials like focused on a particular hero, these provide a very slight overview of what the game has to offer, especially in the second case. The training sequences offer a very brief taste of the basic commands of each member of the roster. To be clear, there is a gulf between fundamental hits and 20 hit to 600 damage combos that Injustice 2 doesn't really bother explaining to newbies. Compared to Street Fighter V's Mission mode, which teaches players how to pull off increasingly complicated combos, Injustice 2's tutorials just teach you the minimum. Those who are used to performing complex, memory-appealing patterns can go for it headlong and have fun, but if you're new to fighting games, you should know that getting past the first few levels is going to require you. much more time and practice.

During our test on the servers, the multiplayer mode did not fail like a Kryptonian, with very little lag and freeze. The quality of the connection between players is rated by a bar system (one to four), and even with just two bars, I managed to find playable games. As the number of connected players increased, I did not notice any problem with the servers and I was thus able to continue to face ranked opponents. And while online battles can't replicate the feel of lag-free games with an AI or a local friend, Injustice 2's Training Mode includes an option that simulates a slight delay. This makes it possible to reproduce the sensations of lag in an online game and thus to work on the timing of its combos.

The merit of this series for me, of the first chapter in particular, was to have combined beat 'em mechanics with a more than satisfactory plot, preceded by a few months by the comic of the same name where the facts prior to the plot of the game are told. For those who follow the paper adventures of DC superheroes it is not uncommon to find works that strip the characters of all their strength to show their human side - even of those who, like Clark Kent, are not human. Injustice has gone a step further, bringing its protagonists into a conflict whose outward appearance is only a fraction of what everyone is fighting within them. A victim of deception by the Joker, Superman kills Lois Lane and his unborn son. Annihilated by grief he understands (he is convinced) that humanity is not able to protect itself and together with some members of the Justice League establishes a dictatorship called "The Regime". Nobody dares to fight such a delusion apart from Batman, who thanks to the help of Catwoman and a few other faithful founds the so-called "Insurrection": a relentless conflict ensues - a war that possesses the royal profile of Krypton and breathes the cruel grammar of the command. Finally, the tyrant's coat of arms has fallen and the symbol of a humanity rediscovered and conquered with blood has been raised, the surviving heroes work to build peace but a new threat is lurking and winning it asks for one of the highest prices: free Superman.

Injustice 2: Legendary Edition is set five years after the events of the original game. Superman is locked in a kryptonite cage in the heart of the ARGUS (Advanced Research Group Uniting Super-Humans), kept alive but weakened enough to not be able to use his powers. The prologue is structured in a flashback that takes us back to the last hours of Superman's home planet, Krypton, destroyed by Brainiac's hand. This sophisticated android constantly hungry for knowledge does nothing but bottle entire cities after having reduced their size with a ray of his invention: this is what happens to Kandor, whose fate escapes both Kal-El and his cousin Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) with which will be seen in this second chapter. In the present Batman continues the reconstruction process after the devastation brought by the regime, made difficult by the faithful of the dictatorship who attempt continuous sorties to free Superman under the command of Gorilla Grodd: it does not take much for it to be discovered how the real puppeteer is Brainiac, firmly intentioned before to exploit Clark for his purposes, then to put the Earth under glass. Batman has no choice but to release his nemesis to help her stop the threat.

The standard set by NetherRealm with its own narratives is always at a high level, as demonstrated by the most recent Mortal Kombat and Injustice, a structure that even Capcom has tried to follow for Street Fighter V without however succeeding. If the traditional fighting game campaign involves choosing a character from a rather large squad, series fights to the final boss and the only consolation of a conclusive movie, Injustice 2: Legendary Edition is a film in all respects, dotted with cutscene and fistfights but whose progression remains steady until the most relevant battles have been won. If several characters are involved, the player has the choice of who he wants to play, thus giving the impression of a branched path. The basic package offers 28 characters and the Legendary Edition obviously adds the DLC released so far. Overall, NetherRealm managed to include them all pretty well in the story, despite some less strong presence than others: the brief appearance of Swamp Thing is a bit out of place and even a rejuvenated version of the Joker, a hallucination fruit of the drugs of the Scarecrow, can leave bewildered considering Superman's bad end in Injustice: Gods Among Us. But on the other hand, "why so serious"? It's not a real party if the Joker is missing - that's okay.

This time, NetherRealm has included a level-up system for each character (whose maximum is now 30 with the Legendary Edition) which in addition to encouraging the continuous game is well linked to the Multiverse mode and the loot system, a fundamental feature of the second chapter. Much like an MMO in this sense, Injustice 2: Legendary Edition takes up the division of equipment between head, arms, torso, legs and weapon, and enriches it with new unpublished objects that will make those most inveterate collectors happy. There is always a reason to go into battle and whether it is a purely cosmetic object or that equipment capable of increasing the desired statistics, the choice of developers has proved essential to keep an already rich title even more alive. per se. The only disadvantage, if we want to call it that, is the same one that afflicts heavily loot-based titles like Diablo or Borderlands, that is, those minutes required at the end of each session to manage our character and the new objects obtained. Nothing that hasn't been seen in the past.