Shaxster checks out the demo of Injustice: Gods Among Us. Does this fighter tower above the competition?

I’ve been very excited for Injustice: Gods Among Us for a long time now. Whilst I’m by no means a fighting game nut, I thoroughly enjoy button mashers such as Marvel vs Capcom 3 and Mortal Kombat, where insanity flows freely and the combat is wild. And so the promise of a game developed by the studio behind Mortal Kombat that revolves entirely around my favorite DC characters was more than a little tempting. From the demo I’ve played, it doesn’t disappoint.

This is, for me, the perfect fighter. It’s incredibly easy to pick up and play, and you can easily win your first fight without even glancing at the move list. You just press the buttons, and see what they can do. Or, if you’re me, you mash different combinations until you find one that works and then overuse that for about 5 minutes. Each to their own, you know? 

In all seriousness, the combat is simple and easy, yet has a huge amount of depth. The move list is expansive, and for those that want to there are many combos to learn and perfect. Better still, the controls are tight and responsive, and combos generally make logical sense: unsurprisingly, jumping and pressing the stab button will result in a delightfully stabby jump. It seems to be much like other NetherRealm titles: easy to play, but difficult to master, which should please both serious fighting fans and more casual players. Everyone’s happy. Except for just a few things.

For one, there wasn’t much difficulty: even on medium I was winning every fight easily, and I am not at all good at these kinds of games. It was only when I bumped it up to hard that I felt even a semblance of a challenge: not necessarily a criticism, but definitely something to watch out for. Furthermore, the fights felt a little too slow paced, and you don’t have quite that level of hilarity that Mortal Kombat has. The game feels somewhat restrained and serious, whereas I think it would have benefitted from letting its hair down a little. This does fit in with the new, gritty DC that the company has been aiming for over the last few years, but that doesn’t necessarily translate over to games too well. I should probably add that this isn’t the case all the time: the super attacks are generally quite amusing, especially when Lex Luthor directs a laser from space at his opponent.

Speaking of which, NetherRealm have exceeded my expectations with the characters. Each of the three characters in the demo feels completely unique and independent, something that’s difficult to achieve in fighters. Batman has a real sense of power behind every punch and Lex Luthor feels heavy in both his movements and his explosive artillery. The standout is Wonder Woman, who has two weapons she can switch between with ease. Choosing when to use the lasso or when a bit of sword action should be employed adds a layer of tactics to each fight, and means that the combat isn’t as mindless as it could be. The same effect is achieved by the destructible environments, which you can interact with via R1/RB. Whilst I could never quite get in the right position, my opponents had no trouble hurling water towers at me on the rooftops of Gotham. I’m also told that the final game will have tiered arenas, where you’ll drop down to another level during your fight. This should hopefully add another interesting dynamic that makes Injustice stand out from the crowd.

And stand out it does. The demo has me convinced that this is going to be a game I’ll enjoy. Of course, this isn’t a full representation of the game: not all the characters may play this well, and the campaign and mini-games may not live up to expectations. Yet from the demo, it does seem that this is one well worth watching out for. Whilst it’s not quite as good as Mortal Kombat, that’s more than made up for by the joy I’ll inevitably get from seeing Batman defeat Green Lantern. It’s everything a nerd could want.

The demo of Injustice: Gods Among Us is out now on Xbox 360 (previewed) and PS3. The game comes out on April 19 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U.