The new fighting game from the makers of Mortal Kombat is out this week, and it’s got the biggest selection of DC heroes and villains ever.
It’s been four years since one-on-one beat ‘em-up Injustice: Gods Among Us was released; a game similar in style to Mortal Kombat but featuring DC comic book characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
The game was not only a major hit but its grimdark atmosphere and portrayal of an evil Superman was a major influence on the DC cinematic universe. (Although the movies don’t seem to have realised that Injustice was always slightly tongue-in-cheek.)
The big gimmick this time is not only a much bigger range of characters but also the chance to earn new armour and equipment with every fight, so that even if you end up fighting someone with the same character you can customise your version to be completely different to everyone else’s.
When is Injustice 2 released in the UK?The game will be out on Friday May 19, a few days after the US release on Tuesday 16th . It’ll be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. There’s also a mobile version that plays similarly but has a smaller cast of characters
What’s the story? (warning spoilers)
The idea is that the games take place in an alternative universe where the Joker kills Lois Lane, which gets Superman so mad he sets himself up as a ruthless dictator (a common story idea from the comics). The heroes and villains all end up taking a Kryptonite pill so that they’re as strong and invulnerable as Superman – although that’s really just an excuse for why non-powered characters like Harley Quinn can go toe-to-toe with someone like Supergirl.
The sequel takes place after the initial defeat of Superman, where the regular supervillians are trying to take advantage of the sudden power vacuum. Although the biggest threat comes from Brainiac, who is one of the most powerful bad guys in the DC universe (and the origin for the term brainiac, if you were wondering where that came from).
Who can you play as?The base game has 28 fighters: 16 superheroes and 12 supervillians, although there will be plenty of other cameos of non-playable characters in the backgrounds.
Heroes:
Aquaman
Batman
Black Adam
Black Canary
Blue Beetle
Cyborg
Doctor Fate
Firestorm
Flash
Green Arrow
Green Lantern
Robin
Supergirl
Superman
Swamp Thing
Wonder Woman
Villains:
Atrocitus
Bane
Brainiac
Captain Cold
Catwoman
Cheetah
Deadshot
Gorilla Grodd
Harley Quinn
Joker
Poison Ivy
Scarecrow
What about DLC?There are four DLC characters that have already been announced, with more to come. DC Comics uber bad guy Darkseid is available for free if you pre-order and the other three are included in the Deluxe Edition:
Red Hood
Starfire
Sub-Zero (from Mortal Kombat)
There’s also an Ultimate Edition that has even more extras.
Any other extra characters?There’s also a lot of more minor characters that are in the game as ‘premier skins’, which you also have to buy separately. That means they play the same as one of the main fighters but look completely different. The list below is the ones known about at the moment, with the fighter they’re a skin for in brackets.
Jay Garrick Flash (Flash)
Jon Stewart Green Lantern (Green Lantern)
Grid (Cyborg)
Mr Freeze (Captain Cold)
Power Girl (Supergirl)
Reverse-Flash (Flash)
Vixen (Cheetah)
Editions of the gameFor Injustice 2 there’s also three different versions of the game, each with their own extras. Standard edition, The Deluxe Edition has three DLC fighters Red Hood,
Starfire and Sub-Zero, one exclusive gear shader pack, and a ‘premier’ skin that turns Supergirl into Power Girl, including new voice and dialogue (she is sort of the same character, according to comic book lore).
The Ultimate Edition has nine DLC fighters and three premier skins, that turn Flash into Reverse-Flash and Hal Jordan Green Lantern into John Stewart. Plus, you get Supergirl and two exclusive gear shader packs.
