A Review of Injustice 2: Why Super Man Secretly Sucks (Part 1)

Superman sucks, he really, really sucks.

I was playing Titanfall 2 yesterday with LZ Schneider and he mentioned that PMI needs some more opinionated pieces. Between ducking and dodging Titans, he clarified that PMI needs diversify its content.

What LZ did not realize is that Hermes The Good is a troll, therefore opinionated and controversial are synonymous to me. That’s why, today, I bring you Part 1 of my Injustice 2 review. To get to why Superman sucks, read Part 2 by clicking here.

Part 1 - Injustice 2

Let’s start with source content for my opinionated opinion. Injustice 2 is a fantastic little fighting game released May 16, 2017. To summarize, the game is a giant. Its cutscenes look amazing with 76 total fight scenes that play out in very unheroic fashion.

The primary story from the first game in the series, Injustice: Gods Among Us, was that Superman sucks. The game released in 2013, so no spoiler alert for you, Superman is the bad guy. Injustice 2 picks up where that game ended- No, no, wait. It begins with a flashback. Then it picks up where- Hold on… Nope, then a second flashback. Ok, one hour into the game and the story begins, with Batman trying to hold the ship together after everyone who matters in the Justice League went ham and murdered anyone with a criminal record, from smoking pot to being Condiment Man.

Devil incarnate.

Our Hero, Batman, struggles to coordinate tricking innocent people into the deathtraps known as any fictional DC City, while also stopping the Evil League of Evil.

Not This One.

I’m not going to spoil the story, because it is quite compelling upon first playing. But I will break down everything I hate about it.

• The Society is the worst evil organization name ever.

• Comics used to be very weird, and Winston from Overwatch being the primary antagonist of the first half of the game proves it.

This is Winston, right?

• Oh my God, the faces are gorgeous but so creepy at the same time!

And I thought Mass Effect: Andromeda had creeptastic faces.

• Everyone is immortal.

• No one can multitask. If your character was chewing bubblegum, they would be incapable of moving or fighting.

• The Society doesn’t actually do anything evil except exist and defend themselves.

THERE! I roasted the game! Now to move onto things I like about it. The game’s story has a good pacing and isn’t contrived, there are no twists or turns that aren’t well set-up, the voice acting is outstanding, and I’m not at all weirded out that every global fight lands people next to the theater that the Wayne’s were murdered at.

The writing is also very funny.

However, the actual fighting is mediocre. My favorite fighting game is Super Smash Bros, and by comparison, Injustice is a slow, drunken brawl. You move slowly, no matter who you play as, and a few attacks and grabs have hit box issues that can be frustrating. This sort of goes against the fast paced guerilla tactics of the Flash, or the flying super hero shenanigans that every other DC character is capable of. So, the fighting element can feel underwhelming in the scope of comics, and that’s sad.

That said, the fighting system is pretty solid, despite it's slowness. Injustice 2 does nothing new, but it does nothing bad except Wonder Woman’s lasso that causes some weird animation glitches if you use it outside of its preferred range.

On the multiplayer side, we have some options. You can set up a team of AI characters that automatically fight against other people’s teams, giving you rewards as they win or lose. You also have rooms to talk and start ranked or unranked matchmaking. All of this is standard fare for a modern day fighter, but one mod that stood out is king of the hill. Like classic couch tournaments where loser passes the controller, the winner takes on the room in a circuit of fights until he or she loses and passes on the controller. What made this great is that it has a chat function, making it easy to make friends. Watching five people get destroyed by Green Lantern with a bowling ball fetish makes you feel better when the same thing happens to you, making your loss less frustrating as it could have been. It also causes people to work together, trying to find a strategy to take down the king, making the king of the hill feel more like coordinating a team to destroy a dark souls boss than feeling like you just suck at a fighting game.

I do suck at fighting games, so king of the hill makes me feel less crappy about it.

Lastly, we have customization. Dear reader, if there is one thing I play games for, its customization. Injustice 2 has this in spades. The inventory system could be better, and the mystery box style of disseminating items is overdone, but boy do you have options. Want Green Arrow to wear a baseball cap? Do it. Want to play John Stewart, the more awesome Green Lantern? Do it.

The game has tons of customization, and while the items that change your appearance are tied to equipment that changes your stats, you are given the tools to make sure that stat limitations will never dictate your appearance. You can transfer appearances and reroll stats on customization items, which means no more sacrificing health for a sexy Catwoman.

Personally, Supergirl is my favorite for customization, mostly because you can reskin her as Power Girl. I really like Power Girl.

I like her for scientific reasons.

And that Concludes the Injustice 2 review segment of this article! This game has a good, good voice acting, and decent fighting mechanics. Combined with the butt load of super hero customization makes it worth a buy for any fan of comic books or superheroes. Or does it?! I'm kidding, there's no doubt that its a good game but Superman seriously sucks. Find out why by reading Part 2 here.

See on Amazon.