Another entry in the Batjustice series of Batman fighting games featuring a few other DC licenses.
I'll start with the fact that this is a Batman game first and foremost. When I was younger I used to love Batman, until every writer under the sun started overpowering him and DC Comics started shoving him everywhere, even had Batman-themed events(Metal Nights...). This game features a whopping 38 characters, which is pretty cool... except for the fact that 10 of these characters come from Batman. And none of them are my boy, Nightwing. We get Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Batman, Red Hood, The Joker, Deadshot, Poison Ivy, Robin(Damian), Scarecrow and Bane. Either Harley Quinn or Catwoman could've served the same purpose, Deadshot is here instead of Deathstroke(Who is actually a Titans villain), and why are Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Bane here? Any other villain could've taken their places. And the Joker is dead in this universe, but they justified his appearance by having Harley hallucinate him this one time in the story mode. Ah, but we can't bring back Nightwing, oh no. I always found Superman boring, but he is the other DC Comics staple, and he only gets 4 characters, and I'm being generous by counting Darkseid as a Superman character. At least I appreciate having Black Manta around, we needed an Aquaman villain, and I liked Atrocitus... but not at the cost of Sinestro. And yes, you can turn Robin into Nightwing with the right items, but that means A) Getting lucky and getting the items and B) He still has Damian's face and voice.
Since I'm talking about the roster, just like MK11 did after this game, there are too many guests. I loved Injustice's Scorpion, so I love Injustice 2's Sub-Zero.... but why Raiden? Why? Who wanted a Super Hero-ed Raiden? No, really, who? I want names. Alongside them, we get Hellboy and the Ninja Turtles. Look, I love the Ninja Turtles, but I don't think they fit this game... and they had three crossovers with Batman in the comics!
As for the story.... I have a few bones to pick with it. No more Alternate Dimension shenanigans, that's good. Buuut, this follows the previous game, which means that about half of the heroes in this game are villains. Superman and Wonder Woman, two of DC's trinity, are villains. Even Aquaman is almost as much of a prick as he was on Flashpoint. Needless to say, coming into this game means accepting the fact that more than a few heroes are evil, y'know, just so that Batman can defeat them and prove he is the bestest ever. And yes, there's plenty of Batman love, he gets three chapters, two of them are his alone, and the other one he shares with Superman. He is the only character that gets these many chapters, with Superman trailing behind at two, one shared with the Bat himself. Luckily, at the end of the story mode you can pick either Team Batman or Team Superman, which leads to two different endings.... but Batman is clearly the good guy and Superman is strictly the bad guy. Because this is secretly another Batman game. Oh, and Batman's first chapter retcons part of the Injustice comics, that wasn't very nice of them. As for the story itself, I enjoyed it, and it's as cinematic as their outings with Mortal Kombat X and 11, so it's quite an audiovisual treat that almost feels like a movie. I just wish that it wasn't yet another "Batman is the best ever" story.
Firstly, this game isn't as bad as Mortal Kombat 11. They tried their hardest to turn the game into a service, so there's a currency that's hard to amass but you can buy with real money which is used to buy color palettes for your characters, and they are quite expensive. There's a pretty in-depth customization system that actually alters the stats of your characters, and in a few cases, might alter some of their moves. These pieces are Head, Arms, Torso, Legs and Feet, and they do change how the character looks. Which is pretty cool.... except that these pieces are random, so it's not like you can directly get what you want for the character that you like. And as cool as it is to customize a character's appearance... I'd much rather get real alternate costumes, like the original Injustice. So yeah, customizing your character IS fun, but you need to play the game a lot to get loot boxes, you also need to play with the character a lot to level him up and allow him to equip the loot and you also need to get lucky enough to get the pieces you want for the character you want. Not such a good feature now, eh? And you can only have 3 Loadouts at first, your character needs to reach level 10 first, which could take about an hour, to unlock a fourth loadout slot.... which is a must if you want to have all four Ninja Turtles readily available. Lame.
Surprisingly for a Netherrealms game... there's not a whole lot of Single Player content. You get the story mode, a pretty in-depth tutorial, single VS CPU and 'Multiverse' challenges that change every day. There's no Arcade Ladder with individual character endings, nor is there a mission mode with silly challenges. The Training menus does have individual character lessons and trials, but it's not the same. Clearly they wanted this game to be a service, for you to play online and aim to get more lootboxes and the whole nine yards.
Luckily, the game is pretty fun to play, returning characters play a lot like they did in the first Injustice, so you might even recognize some animations, poor Hal Jordan really needed new kick animations.... Interactive background items are still a thing, and you still block by holding back. There are three attack buttons, and a fourth button that does something different for each character, just like in the original. Overall? It's a fun alternative to Mortal Kombat. It looks similar, but plays differently enough.
There's a lot I would've changed with this game. Remove customization or make it simpler to acquire what I want, add alternate costumes for everyone not just a few(Like Flash/Reverse Flash) but above all, make it less Batman-centric, and have it span more licenses than just the tired old Bat. Also, I'd bring Nightwing back. Still, I like the overall game, it is fun to play and it does have some cool renditions of many DC characters, many that have never been in a game before(or after!).
7.5
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