Recently we were lucky enough to attend a demonstration of NetherRealm Studio's upcoming DC Comics fighting game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, by Mortal Kombat creator himself, Ed Boon.
Boon started the presentation by stating that because he had been making Mortal Kombat games for so long, he felt it was time to try something dramatically different from the series - and fighting games in general. With Injustice: Gods Among Us, his team have given the arenas themselves just as much focus in the outcome of a match as the fighters themselves. To demonstrate this, Boon launched into a match-up between Superman and Nightwing. It became apparent that Superman was a power based character (obviously), while Nightwing utilised gadgets to get by in a fight. Nightwing was also able to switch fighting styles by connecting his two Eskrima sticks together to form a pole to fight with instead.
Boon demonstrated to us through the use of Superman and Nightwing how different characters utilise the different arenas. In a city level, a hover car was slightly in the background, just within reach of the characters. Nightwing uses the hovercar to hang from and launch himself towards Superman to perform agile attacks, while Superman simply grabs the whole hovercar and smashes it over Nightwing's head. From here, Superman punched Nightwing over to the roof of a nearby building, creating a totally new arena to fight in with new obstacles for the fighters to utilise. Boon mentioned that some of these levels can have up to three areas in total, while some other levels will only have the one. Another example of interactivity was used when the Batcave was demonstrated, where the push of a button on the Batcomputer caused the Batmobile to launch rockets at the opponent.
Super moves were also demonstrated; Superman picked Nightwing up and flew him above the stratosphere, then knocked him right back down to Earth. Nightwing's super move was calling in his motorbike to repeatedly run over Superman.
After demonstrating the style of the game, Boon talked candidly about his plans for Injustice. DC gave NetherRealm studios a surprising amount of freedom after their success with Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, and there may be plans for the game to spawn its own comic book series, depending on its success. When asked why Superman wouldn't just end a fight in one second, Boon assured us that Superman's watered-down strength will be explained in the story mode, and then jokingly asked why nobody complains that Chun Li can take a punch from the Hulk in Marvel vs Capcom. He also told us that the story would explain why all the heroes such as Batman, the Flash and Superman are all fighting each other.
While no specifics were given on the Wii U version, Boon did say that the team were experimenting with the controls and hoped to take advantage of them where they could, and reiterated that we'll hear about more specifics for the Nintendo edition in the future.
Comments 19
From the trailer video it doesn't seem like Superman's strength has been watered down, it seems more like a lot of heroes have had their abilities strengthened.
@ThePillowGolem: It really depends which era of Superman you think of when you're watching/playing the game. I grew up on the TV show Lois and Clark, so this Superman seems super watered down to me.
The fact that Batman can take a punch from the guy tells me he's not as strong as usual, lol.
Superman looks like he took some of Batman's tech for his suit. Kinda pointless if you ask me
I guess its cool. The grey tone of the game is really bumming me out though. Could use more color.
I'm not a fan of the grimdark artsyle, or the designs of the costumes(Hal's is the worst). I also don't like how almost half of the current confirmed cast can be tied directly to Batman. Or how apparently the Joker is a major focus of the story mode.
I will be buying this!
@ChunkyDroid I'm saying that some of these heroes probably got some kind of increase in their capabilities, like Batman for example. It's not really a common occurence to see him punch someone through a wall.
I'd prefer it if they were making a new MK game.
The Mortal Kombat reboot was excellent so I'm pretty excited for this one.
I'm pretty excited for this. The new MK game was top-notch and I felt the single-player mode was actually interesting (instead of just having a standard arcade mode where you play eight enemeies and fight the final boss).
Also, what's up with all the "OMG, Superman could kill everyone. This is dumb" ? Most fighting games aren't based on reality. I like his comment about Marvel vs Capcom. I mean, come on...when you play Tekken, do you really think any character could stand up to devil Jin with his laser eyes or does it really make sense for someone to be able to easily fight a bear?
I'm also pretty excited about the interactive environments. That's what always made DOA stand out against most of the other fighters for me.
Looks promising to me. Radared.
@ThePillowGolem: Yeah, good point! Apparently all of it's supposed to be explained in the story mode, hopefully we'll get a better idea of why Batman is super powered and Superman is not so (other than balancing issues obviously )
@shinpichu: I'm not liking the sound of that, either. I agree w/ you.
I'm not into Mortal Kombat/Combat games, generally. (This) Game looks like it has that Mortal Kombat/Combat flair of extra heavy action-violence. A little bit dark (in both tone, & aesthetics ~ see shinpichu's comment) for my tastes, especially taking the (above) trailer into account. I'm still going to keep my eyes on this. Don't know if I'll buy it, though. I wouldn't wanna buy it anyway, if I don't end up liking the WU, or end up owning any other platform it is playable on.
Why is pretty much every superhero game nowadays dark & gritty (whether it be this, the Arkham games, or even InFamous)?
It's not just a problem with superhero games though. Outside of Rayman Origins or Skylanders, I can't think of many (or any) big name or major budget western developed games that aren't all dark & gritty.
They do realise there's a such thing as bright colors, don't they
can't wait for this
@RR529 I think they're trying to set a certain mood. Think of how Arkham Asylum/City would've been if, say, it was animated like The Animated Series.
And look at Marvel vs. Capcom, everything's bright and flashy because the game is supposed to be campy and satirical.
I'll take it!
for ps3...
@RR529 The Conduit games are pretty colorful for realistic style FPSes (or as realistic as you get with a heavy sci-fi theme).
that last pic, why does wonder woman have a masculine looking face (if that is her)?
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