Injustice: Gods Among Us, Chapters 1-4

The first thing you see upon starting the story mode of Injustice: Gods Among Us (subtitled The Mighty Among Us in the Middle East), is a quote from Lex Luthor: "I believe there are infinite alternate universes all going on at the same time and in all the different combinations of possibilities, etc." (Loosely paraphrased.) This is a very important premise to buy in a format that depends on the different alternate universes of no fewer than ten superheroes from ten distinct publications. However I've never held any illusions that I cared at all (or indeed knew anything about) any of the universes other than Batman's. So it's nice that you get to start your journey through the fighting game's story mode as Batman. But before you start fighting, you have to figure out what universe you're in.

The first universe you see involves the destruction of Metropolis (which I know enough to know is from Superman's universe) by a nuke that was somehow controlled by Joker (Batman's universe). Superman is so mad that he kills the shit out of the Joker and (SPOILER ALERT) becomes some kind of power-crazed autocrat. But before we see that happen, we're immediately transported to a second universe (hereafter known as U-2, with a dash to differentiate from the pop band), where the Justice League is trying to prevent the events of the first universe (U-1). Interesting piece of trivia I found out: the group that was also known as the Super Friends was almost called the Justice Society, but was changed to mimic the popular American League and National League. This is one of the rare instances (outside this blog) where the two subjects of this blog, Baseball and Batman, come together.

In the U-2 universe, Batman begins the game by fighting two characters who were featured in the first two games represented by the Unreal 3 engine: Deathstroke from Arkham City and Bane from Arkham Asylum. Now, in none of the Batman universes with which I am familiar can the caped crusader take on the Venom-enhanced barbarian in a straight-up fist fight, so right away we're playing fast and loose with the rules we all know and love. But that is to be expected in a game where characters can only interact with each other in straight-up fist fights. The fighting mechanics are easy to pick up if you're familiar with 2011's Mortal Kombat. The controls are a little dumbed down, with only three strike buttons instead of four - the back/high kick button was replaced with a one-button character specific power. The pacing is a little more jumpy than Netherrealm Studio's previous fighting entry, perhaps sacrificing some of the smoothness in favor of more interaction with the fighting stages.

I understand using a simpler control scheme to try to draw in more casual comic book fans whose fighting game affinity stops short far before the complexity of the Mortal Kombat series, and I understand wanting to have Batman be able to utilize the secret rockets concealed in the Batcave during a fight. But what I don't understand is Batman's damn fighting stance: standing upright, legs straight, his rear fist extended behind him like he's poised to throw an invisible javelin (see above). I was picturing something more crouched and active, like the pose you strike in the Arkham games when you hit the counter button when nobody's around to counter. While the Injustice Bat-stance doesn't appear to make tactical sense from any martial arts standpoint I've heard of, it did immediately strike me as similar to Scorpion's stance from Mortal Kombat. And when you consider that Batman's use of the grapple gun as part of his special moves repertoire shares more than a few characteristics of Scorpion's spear, perhaps this similarity starts to make sense. Batman's other moves include a standard Batarang projectile, a parry that allows him to counter an incoming attack, and a super move (read: X-ray attack) that involves an exploding Batarang, a taser attack, and a hit-and-run from a remote controlled Batmobile.

Anyway, before Batman's third fight against Lex Luthor, you have a chance to experience a new gameplay mechanic: a button matching minigame allows you to attempt to weaken your opponent's health before combat commences. Just another little add-on to make sure you're paying attention during the cinematics. Speaking of which, after defeating Luthor, a lengthy cinematic depicts how a group of U-2 characters (namely Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, and the Joker) somehow get transported into an alternate U-1 future while attempting to stop the clown prince of crime from detonating his nuke in the middle of Metropolis. Which becomes the inciting incident for the rest of the game.

After U-2 Batman and the Joker square off in an alternate U-1 Gotham, your time playing as Batman is over, and along with it my resolve to pay very close attention to the characters. As cool as it is to follow the game's storyline through however many alternate universes we're eventually going to explore, I just don't have any real emotional connection to Green Lantern or Aquaman, even when they are fighting dark doppelgangers of themselves (which provides excellent excuses for showcasing alternate character skins). Through the exploits of these lesser heroes, we learn that U-1 Batman is leading a resistance against evil U-1 Superman (known as the High Councillor) and the legion of heroes that have joined with him in his quest for absolute power (which means that there are two active Batmans in U-1, making it infinitely cooler than any other possible universe). Things start to get interesting when you pick up play as the Joker in Chapter 4 and see what happens when a long-dead seminal figure in the world of supercrime suddenly returns and starts causing trouble. Will he join with Batman, Lex Luthor, and the other time-transplanted U-2 superheroes against their common enemy? Or does he have another trick up his sleeve? I've downloaded a move list from GameFaqs, so now I'll be ready to super competently march onward through the story and see what happens.