Wishlist: Injustice 2

I recently purchased the Ultimate Edition of Injustice Gods Among Us for PS4, and with information coming in on Mortal Kombat X, I have a list of things I would like to see in the next installment of the game.  So lets get started.

1) Character Variants

Perhaps the most interesting addition to Mortal Kombat, this is a clever way to expand the raster while catering to individual play styles.  This would be useful because many of the characters in Injustice have a personal ability that changes the play style anyway, this just opens new opportunities.  Another advantage to this is that the game takes place in 2 separate universes, so therefore it makes sense for them to play a little differently from one another in the story mode.

2) Incorporate Elements From The Mobile Version

It's not often that a mobile port has anything to offer to it's console counterpart, but in this case there are exceptions.  One such element I would like to see is costume abilities; every costume has an ability that is unique to is.  For example one Doomsday costume could get stronger every time he loses a health bar, while another one resurrects himself to add more health.  This makes the skins feel like alternate universe versions of each other rather than a simple wardrobe change.  Anther thing I like is team battles.  Like Kick-Ass said; after heroes show up the, the next logical step is teams.  Next I want to see character levels; this could help balance online play as well as add a new layer of competition between friends.  Then there's the Gear system; adding items to a character to modify how they play.  Lastly I want to see multiple levels of super moves.  This would add a new layer of strategy, do you blow your super meter on weaker moves that can be used more often, or save it for a devastating finishing move?

3) Replacement Characters

To start this point I want to say spoiler alert.  Anyway for those who played the first Injustice;s story mode you know not everyone makes it out alive.  Shazam gone there needs to be a new champion of magic, With Wonder Woman dethroned there needs to be a new maiden of might and so on.  This was sorta explored with Damian replacing Dick as Nightwing after his death.  So why not expand this a bit; let Bruce retire, Roy take up the bow, or Cassie become Wonder Woman.  Conversely how about have old heroes characters become new heroes, something the arcade mode alluded to.  Examples might be Barry, Hal, and Harley seeking redemption by shedding their tainted mantles.  All of this would simply be cosmetic in standard play, but in story mode could make the characters all the more interesting.

4) More Diverse Roster (AKA Less Batman)

The one thing I disliked about Injustice is the overabundance of Batman characters.  In a game based on everyone choosing sides and waging war, why does Aquaman get no villains yet Batman gets 6 plus 2 sidekicks?  This is made worse by the fact 1 is DLC, and most of the villains contribute nothing to the story.  Ideally we would just see more characters added, but this might not be possible so removing the non essentials may be best ( here's looking at you Grundy and Bane).

5) Powerful Super Baddie

What made the threat in Injustice do great is that Superman is in fact more powerful than the other heroes.  Now with him behind bars, a new villain needs to take his place.  The obvious choice would be Darkseid, but perhaps a less obvious choice could also work, maybe another hero snaps, or an obscure villain becomes exponentially more powerful (maybe Atrocitus takes advantage of the Lantern imbalance and seizes power).  

Characters Wishlist

In a perfect world, we would see the roster simply expand, but that can't always be the case so here is the list of everyone I want to see in the future, obviously DC's trinity is a must so I won't include them.

1) Red Hood

My personal favorite Robin, yes I did say I wanted less Batman characters, but Jason could replace Deathstroke as the weapons fighter thus swapping one bat character for another.  Another route is with Joker dead, Jason becomes a less violent person in the Regime universe. 

2) Constantine

With a television series on the way, Constantine is on track to become a popular character in the future.  Not only that but his magic affinity sets him up perfectly to become the new champion of Magic...an unwilling one.  Plus imagine the fun play variants that you could get with this guy.

3) Parasite

One fighting game character type common with multiple games is the mimic, the character that makes each round a random selection.  Parasite is the perfect candidate to pull this off as his power involves leeching the powers of others.  What could separate him from simply choosing random (besides incorporating a level, gear, and personal ability) would be giving him variants that modified him slightly, one could make his combos all a grab bag, or maybe choosing between strength and tech types in regards to environmental objects.

4) Brainiac

Another member of Superman's rogues gallery, and my personal favorite DC villain.  Brainiac can match Superman as a fighter while his intellect could make could make for interesting play styles.  Not only that but his technology could make for some great combos.

5) Atrocitus

A character that is relatively unknown to the general public, Atrocitus can replace a heavy hitter like Bane as well as take the role of a Lantern.  Thus we already have a brawler and a skillful variant ideas for this guy to accommodate players.  Also as a bonus skin we could get Razor from the Green Lantern animated series.

Everyone else I want were already in the first game, so I won't list them.  Although there are some interesting skins I think would be cool; perhaps the insurgent Harley Quinn becomes the new Nightwing/Robin/Batgirl, Red Arrow, Green Lantern Aya (not sure how to work her into the story), Tim Drake, Kyle Raynor, Eradicator...It's an easy way to increase the roster and introduce players to new characters.

Do you agree, disagree, or have an idea for what you want to see?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Video Game Reviews: Injustice Gods Among Us

       It has been quite some time since I did a proper review.  So I want to get back to it with the game that has been taking a lot of my time lately.  Injustice is a game from Netherrealm studios that follows their classic Mortal Kombat format with one major difference, instead of their trademark characters we get DC comic's finest.

The Plot

       The plot to this game....that's right I said plot for a fighting game, is really well done.  The game opens saying that there is more than one universe, and that some only differ than others by one major event.  In this case we have the regular Universe where Superman is helped by the Justice League and manages to stop the Joker from destroying Metropolis.  However in another universe Superman goes after him alone, s dosed with Scarecrow gas and tricked into thinking Lois is actually Doomsday, so he kills her and their unborn son.  To make things worse there was a detonator connected to Lois' heart, so when she died a nuclear bomb Joker planted in Metropolis went off killing millions.

       This event drastically changed Superman to the point where during Joker's interrogation Superman breaks into the prison and murders him.  Tired of letting supervillains live to kill another day he adopts a no tolerance policy and begins to recruit others, both heroes and villains, to his cause which becomes known as the Regime.  Somehow the heroes from the other universe are transported to this new more militant Earth (I know the reason, but I don't want to spoil it) and meet up with the Insurgency, another group of heroes and villains led by Batman trying to put a stop to Superman to end his reign of tyranny.  Most of the game is the visitors attempting to sway the members of the Regime, or at least stop them Guerrilla style.

       The insurgency has a plan in place to stop Superman, but it required more man power than they had, however with the visitors help they stand a chance of success.  The visitors however have a different plan, bring over their Superman and try to reason with the other one.  To avoid spoiling the ending I won't tell which plan ends up working, but simply keep in mind it's a fighting game and leave it at that.

       While this is going on, the Regime's leader: High Councilor Superman, is growing more violent after learning their is a world were Lois is still alive.  His methods are becoming more extreme, even developing a collar that can control Doomsday.  Eventually he goes too far, and characters end up switching sides.

       There is also a side story involving the visitor Joker, and the Insurgent Harley Quinn.  Harley was heartbroken when Joker died and even joined Batman's insurgency to fight back.  When the new Joker arrives she begins to mindlessly follow him in his attempt to add a third power to the game, but slowly begins to realize Joker was wrong for her the whole time, but is in too deep to swap sides again.

The Gameplay

       The gameplay is similar to Netherrealm's last game Mortal Kombat.  However this is the natural progression of it.  That being said it is still for a very specific audience.  If you were not a fan of Mortal Kombat, this probably won't change your mind.  It's a 2D fighting game disguised as 3D.  The game also takes advantage of the power of the characters, for example Superman can throw a car at opponents, you can knock each other through walls into new arenas and so forth.  Basically it's a more child friendly version of Mortal Kombat you can play with your kids.  There isn't much more to say here so lets move on.

The Flaws

       As much as I like this game, it still has problems.  The biggest one is the roster, the game has 26 characters if you include the DLC characters, and 9 of those are Batman characters.  Many of them add to the game and have a place, for example Joker and Harley are integral to the plot, same for the alternate Nightwing.  But Bane, Grundy, and Batgirl are simply there.  This is made worse when character like Aquaman don't even have a villain and end up as their own rival, Hawkgirl and Green Arrow don't even get that, only one of them is in the game's story.  Bane and Grundy are only there to serve as muscle for Superman, so they could easily be replaced, and Batgirl as a DLC is not necessary at all.  Plus its a game where you try to stop Superman, but none of the heroes are magic based?

       Another issue I found can easily be fixed through a patch, and for now is just an entertaining glitch, at the end of a fight the one who is defeated will stand up for a second and fall down again.

       The next problem I want to address is the unlockables.  As I said before the game is far more child friendly than Netherrealm's other games, however the unlockables are extremely difficult and time consuming to get.  For example in order to get a few of the suits you must put countless hours into challenges that are difficult for me, let alone a child.  Other suits take hours of grinding in the iOS version of the game.  But even more difficult than those, there is a suit that requires a win online, and for those like me, who aren't amazing at the game this is next to impossible.  As for the easy to unlock suits, as a nit pick I feel some of them should have been the default costumes.  Since most of the game is spent in the other reality it only stands to reason that the default costume is the one actually used in the story mode, but not here.

The Verdict

       Even with the flaws, this game has been incredibly enjoyable, and I was still able to get most of the suits, including the one I actually wanted.  The story was incredibly compelling, not only for a fighting game, but it is even comic book worthy.  The gameplay is also great, as a fan of fighting games this one definitely holds up on its own.  And with all things considered I have to give this game a B+.

Hopes for the Sequal

       Something new I want to do for my reviews is convey my hopes for the sequel, even if there isn't one being planned.  This will follow my wishlist format for the most part, and I want to point out right now it's my hopes for a sequel, so spoiler alerts are implied.

1) More of the other Universe

       With DC's vast collection of characters this doesn't seem like a hard thing to ask.  I want to see what happens after Superman's Regime.  Does a new power decided to step up? or does Superman simply embrace he's the villain now?  Both routes have potential.  Also the roster can be changed to accommodate all of Superman's followers being arrested, and other characters having a fatal case of being dead.  Or they could bring in replacements for some of the characters, like with Earth 2 or Marvel's Ultimate Universe, give us something so different that we don't complain about the treatment of characters.

2) Custom Characters

       I may be reaching here, but to me the best part of fighting games is having control over a character to tailor them to specific players.  Dragonball Z did this where you choose a characters attacks, and stat boosts.  Soulcalibur has you build a character from scratch.  What I really want is the later.  I want to create a new hero or villain that would play a key role in the plot, like he is destined to determine the fate of the Earth.  You choose the power set, if he is good or evil, and so forth.  However I would also enjoy a level up system tied to each character, kinda like how Dragonball Z did it on the PS2, and allow for multiple customs for the same character.

3) More...

       Because a sequel would more than likely be on the upcoming generation of console, than it clearly will be capable of simply more of everything.  A bigger story, possibly bringing in a 3rd reality, more characters, or even more hopefully a map for each character.  In Injustice most of the maps come from Batman and Superman, with a few others like Atlantis thrown in.  I want to see locations like Star, Central, and Coast cities; perhaps even Oa and Titan's Tower.  But the biggest increase I want is in costumes.  Most of Injustice's roster only has 2 costumes without utilizing the market, yet Superman and Batman have more than 4, and the DLC characters don't even get alternate costumes.  Another problem with the costumes is there is no classic suits, sure its understandable they want to establish their own series, but if you want to use the classic Superman you're out of luck.

4) Fix the flaws

       I mentioned above the flaws of the game, and I feel with a sequel they could address these and make the game more child friendly, a 7 year old could never beat an unemployed 25 year old who plays all day, so don't make it the only way to unlock something they want to use.

       That is my review, like the new format?  Have something else you want to tell me, then feel free to leave a comment below.