For the second time, superheroes and super villains are gathering in the virtual room to give each other a hard hit. The delightful Beat'em'Up uses DC's comic book universe as a setting. Fans can slip into the costumes of well-known heroes like Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman, but they can also embody unscrupulous villains like Joker or Bane. The fighting game Injustice 2 has been available as a mobile game in the app stores for a few days. How we liked the second part of the Injustice series, you can read in the following game test for Injustice 2 for smartphones and tablets.
Once upon a time ... Injustice - gods among us
It was in 2013 when the superheroes were first unleashed on well-known top villains. Back then, Netherrealm Studios was responsible for the video game Injustice - Gods among us (English title: Injustice - Gods among us). The first part of Beat'em'up was released for the popular last-gen consoles PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii U. The Ultimate Edition was also released for Playstation 4, PS Vita and PC. Already Injustice - gods among us* has achieved good to very good ratings. The version for the Xbox 360 received a Metascore of 81 and a user score of 7.9 on Metacritic.
That the predecessor of Injustice 2 was able to convince, is also thanks to the many years of experience of the developers of Netherealms, who previously already realized the reboot of the bloody beating game Mortal Kombat. The head of the development studio is Ed Boon, who created the legendary fighting game series "Mortal Kombat" together with John Tobias. At the beginning of the 90s, there was no way around Midway's Mortal Kombat for beat 'em' fans: the arcade fighting game inspired millions of gamers worldwide with a mixture of storytelling, iconic characters and enormous brutality.
Atmospheric spanking app
Injustice 2 at least wants to build on the qualities of the first part. For a mobile game, the presentation alone is impressive. Beautifully animated video sequences set the mood for the game content and immediately cast a spell over mobile gamers who engage in a smartphone brawl. As is now usual with "mobile phone games", players are introduced to the content step by step in order to gradually explore the menu items. at Injustice 2 Harley Quinn takes over this task, who is at the player's side with tips within the tutorial. Learning the movements and character skills works quickly and easily.
The playful control center is the home screen of injustice 2, reach the most important game content via the user with just a few touch gestures. In addition to various combat modes, this also includes character management and of course the in-game shop, via which Injustice 2 financed. The fighting game was released as a free-2-play game for smartphones and tablets, so it can be played for free. The use of real money is optional, but it speeds up progress.
Players will be rewarded for logging in daily. This is known from other F2P games and works similarly here. In addition to the in-game currency, active players will receive further rewards over time, including coveted character fragments, currently for example for Superman, who in the armored version needs a proud 360 fragments for activation.
Cut into pieces: collect hero splinters
There are currently a total of 38 different variants of superheroes and villains to choose from, which can be unlocked by players. There are several versions of every known hero from the DC universe: players not only fall back on the classic Batman, but also on an offshoot as an Arkham Knight or a futuristic hunter. Batman, Superman, Catwoman or Bane are just a few of the most famous characters. Among others, the terrifying Scarecrow, Dr. Fate, Cyborg, Deadshot or Black Canary. Become comic fans Injustice 2 love because of the diversity of characters. Each character can also be leveled up. A five-tier star rating is available for this. In addition, an increase in character level brings improvements in combat strength. The value system motivates and it's fun to grow your favorite characters on your smartphone or tablet. Equipment management offers additional incentives, with five slots for armor items available to each character: helmet, chest, hands, feet, belt. The pieces of equipment provide additional combat bonuses and can in turn be upgraded using earnable currency. Many entertaining hours of play pass before a superhero or villain is really "Kick-Ass". Injustice 2 is basically more than just a simple fighting game and combines fast arcade-heavy fights with role-playing or character development elements.
In order to unlock characters, players need to purchase boxes. Crates, which can be unlocked for 4.000 gold emblems each, contain random rewards. Every three hours, players receive a free box opening. Hero boxes that are guaranteed to contain a hero cost 150 crystals. The last currency is of course less available, but it can not only be earned, but also purchased for real money. Each hero box also has a small chance of getting a gold hero. To increase the star rating, players need a set number of character fragments for unlocked heroes - more as the rating increases.
Into the Arena: Numerous game modes
Numerous different game modes ensure motivating brawls. Through the campaign, players improve their heroes and villains and unlock better pieces of equipment. In addition, offers Injustice 2 Players have the option of sending characters who are not assigned to the active combat team on operations in order to earn in-game currency. Operations run automatically and in real time. After the operation time has expired, the heroes return with a corresponding reward. Challenges and resource missions are also part of the repertoire of Injustice 2. The arena offers the opportunity to compete against other human players in order to collect emblems, crystals and arena tokens. The better the rank, the higher the rewards that are given daily or weekly. Leaderboards provide information about the currently most skilled mobile gamers from Injustice 2. A league system is also in the starting shoes.
The story mode is undisputedly the real heart of the fighting game from Netherrealm. Visually and acoustically impressive cutscenes drive the background story, which is divided into chapters. The cutscenes are interrupted at critical points at which the player-led battles against different opponents take place. Flogging fans expect some tough fights and some surprising twists and turns. So we can look forward to the course of the story.
Injustice 2: Spongy controls make superheroes lame
Injustice 2 could be so great if it weren't for the noticeably spongy controls. In some cases, the characters react to the player's touch input with a considerable delay or "swallow" individual gestures completely. This makes blocking particularly difficult: a block is simply too difficult to time to be used sensibly. Even hopping or ducking movements make some players despair. Rushing and dodging backwards, on the other hand, works well.
The iconic character skills can also be used precisely to the point. Apart from server-side latency problems, there seems to be a fundamental problem on the side of the slave control, because even with a perfect WiFi connection and at unorthodox game times, some fights seemed slow. The controls currently spoil the fun a little, even if Injustice 2* is a real guarantee of fun, especially for fighting game fans, despite spongy touch inputs. Warner Bros. will certainly work on improvements in the coming days and weeks - also to remove bugs and localization errors.
Media for Injustice 2
Infobox
Number of players: 1 player (online)
Age: 12 (USK)
Playing time: 60+ hours
Difficulty: medium
Long-term motivation: high
Developer: Netherrealm Studios
Year of publication: 2017
Platforms: Mobile Devices
Language: German
Cost: Free2play with in-app purchases
Conclusion
The mobile fighting game sets optically and acoustically Injustice 2 new standards and is in no way inferior to its big brother on the console. The development and equipment options for the superheroes and head villains motivates in the long term and should also entertain frequent gamers for a longer period of time. Whether the arena and league system can prevail in the future depends not least on the technical performance of the Injustice 2 App from: Jerks, long loading times and input delays are currently causing some players to doubt balanced fights on an equal footing. The control on comparatively small smartphone screens, which already takes getting used to, is made even more difficult. We assume that Warner Bros. is experienced enough to resolve such issues in a timely manner.
Otherwise there is Injustice 2 as a classic arcade knocker, which does without big playful surprises, but consciously puts the strengths of the genre in the foreground. If you like superheroes, comics and / or flogging, you should Injustice 2 not to be missed on the smartphone or tablet.
