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is just how the game keeps causal players
coming back after completing the story mode.
I’m not talking about the online multiplayer
(which is is surprising a pretty standard affair),
but with the new multiverse mode the game
places a large focus on. This mode seems
tailored more for non-fighting game games than
anything, so this could go either way for many
people.
The multiverse mode allows you to access
Brother Eye who will find various universes that
need your intervention. You can think of each
world Brother Eye finds like a Challenge Tower
in Mortal Kombat, but laid out much better and
with a deeper purpose. Each of the worlds that
Brother Eye finds will only be available to play
for a set amount of time. This means that every
time you log in, you’ll find a slew of new
challenges. Some are open for a few days, while
other only a few hours. It’s a bloody great way to
keep players coming back.
This mode is important and necessary thanks to
the new system the game relies on, and
marketed itself around. The tagline “Every battle
defines you” that the game uses is really all
about costumes you can collect. Injustice 2 pulls
a very RPG move and has you unlocking
equipment that not only buff each character, but
gives them a whole new look. Most of these are
pulled from various comic arcs and alternate
universes, while others are all new and pretty
outrageous.
Each piece you unlock gives your character a
stat boost, and because this is an RPG element,
many of them can’t be equipped until your
character reaches the proper level. The game
smartly uses loot boxes to unlock equipment,
feeding the causal player just enough cool parts
that are slightly out of reach so you keep fighting
and leveling up. It’s a neat system, but one that
doesn’t translate over to ranked matches for
obvious reasons. Unranked matches will allow
you to use that Robin Hood Green Arrow unless
you turn off the option in match-making.
GAMBIT
That said, the focus on this new gear system
doesn’t really do anything for the core game. It
clearly doesn’t take away from the experience,
but it doesn’t add anything either as ranked
matches and competitive tournaments will
probably rightly ban the feature. It’s really only
there to add longevity to the game for comic fans
to unlock classic outfits. It’s not often a fighting
game markets itself on a feature that doesn’t add
anything to the core experience.
In the end Injustice 2 is still a fantastic fighting
game that will satisfy both casual and hardcore
fans of the genre, but one that comes close to
overburdening itself with a new upgrade system
that adds little to the overall experience other
than being a cosmetic gimmick, and having a
story that is a blithering mess, even for comic
book standards.
- Jorge Luis