Injustice: Gods Among Us Review (Part 2 of 2)

So I played the multiplayer portion. It's pretty fun. Works well. I like King of the Hill. No major hiccups.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Review (Or At Least Most of It)

I done goofed.

I knew since I promised you guys I'd write a review of Injustice: Gods Among Us that it'd be a little late coming out of the gate. Maybe Thursday or Friday instead of the regular Wednesday. But instead, I go to college, where we have work to do. Between a paper and a speech on said paper (which went awesome, thanks for asking), I didn't get a whole lot of time to play around with Injustice at the time of its release last Tuesday. I felt compelled to wait until I experimented with all it had to offer before I gave my opinion on it; in the meantime, I, you know, went to school. Juggling activities is hard, and to quote the philosopher Swanson,

After a week of nothing, I figured I'd give you guys my opinion on what I have experienced, which, to give me some credit, is most of the game. And I have to say, it's pretty friggin' awesome.

Injustice's main draw is its story campaign. I'd have to describe the story as the best episode of Justice League: The Animated Series you've ever seen. And I have to assume the writers had that in mind. There's everything from the team dynamic of the League, clever writing, and a terrific voice cast ripped straight from the cartoon. The only misstep here is Phil LaMarr as Aquaman. The guy's one of the most talented actors in the business, but the voice of "Literally every black guy ever" doesn't quite mesh as the King of Atlantis.

Like this, but more in line with a pissed-off Hermes Conrad.

For all of you wondering why Green Arrow and Harley Quinn would team up to take down Wonder Woman, I can assure you it works here. Anyone familiar with DC's use of alternate Earths will feel right at home, and newcomers can get caught up with a bit of suspended disbelief. And don't worry about finding the tie-in comics to get caught up. They do a good job of exposing how ridiculous the story is when they look at each individual development, so I'd recommend you just piece together the game's allusions to the backstory. As for the reason Bats can take down Superman? Drugs. Listen up, kids. Your favorite heroes take HGH.

Injustice features an impressive 24 fighters for you to try out. They all add a nice sense of variety to a game that could've simply had the major players and called it a day. Admittedly, there are some major balance issues among the fighters. Nothing is in place to discourage move spamming, so you could potentially rise to dominance by using Deathstroke's guns the entire time. A few of the characters seem a little overpowered as well. Solomon Grundy has several moves that can't be blocked or cut off by other attacks; and if you play a friend who uses Doomsday, they probably won't be your friend after. As long as you and your friends share the same sense of exploration when trying out the fighters, you shouldn't have any frustrations with cheap strategies.

The gameplay is also mostly amazing. Controls can be customized in every way, from button layouts to control stick usage - feel free to stick with the directional inputs of Mortal Kombat, or switch to the quarter-circle turns of Street Fighter. Most of the characters feel very responsive, allowing long combos and juggles that feel awesome pulling off. Stage transitions and interactive environments offer something fresh not found in other fighters, and each character's special move is absurdly cool. Hey, remember that "mostly" earlier in the paragraph? A few of the characters such as Bane and Killer Frost have seemingly no melee range, forcing you to get up close and risk being launched into a ground-and-pound. Furthermore, Injustice is difficult. Like swearing-and-throwing-things difficult. Luckily, the difficulty lowers slightly after a couple straight losses, but I don't think I should need to throw matches just to get past a round in the "Battles" mode.

Speaking of modes, Injustice: Gods Among Us has a metric buttload of them. My international readers can tell you that a metric buttload is about 1.3 times that of a standard buttload. There's the story, the arcade-like "Battles," the weird-if-it-wasn't-there versus mode, and the somewhat confusing S.T.A.R. Labs missions. Several missions offer a new level of challenge to normal fights, such as dodging falling debris or keeping an opposing Superman out of the sunlight so he can't heal. Others feel out of place and not much more than mini-games. Others still are just downright frustrating. Try to avoid getting hit for a full twenty seconds by a Joker who waits until the last five to pull out an unstoppable pistol. It's...it's freaking stupid. And I hate it. And Joker sucks. Sound frustrating?

Just looking at this picture is giving me an ulcer.

I had mentioned earlier that I would only discuss what I was able to play. By that, I mean to say that I was able to try out everything but the online multiplayer. But hey, if I wanted contact with new people, I'd go outside. I'll give you an addendum once I make my way to Xbox Live.

In closing, Injustice: Gods Among Us is well worth your time. Honestly, it can be stupidly frustrating at time, but for all I know it's a secret attempt at studying aggression in gamers. If you're a fan of fighters, comics, or simply nostalgia for the cartoons of your childhood, I really encourage you to give this one a try. If you do, make an effort to play "Under the Sea" while playing as Aquaman. I tried it the other night, it works great.

"What do they got, a lot of sand? We've got a hot crustacean band..."

Have any of you gotten around to playing yet? I really want to know what you guys think of it. Also, in the comments below, write your favorite Disney song/video game match-up. Mine is "Colors of the Wind" and Assassin's Creed 3.

This Week in Nerd News

Writer's block strikes again! I took a break from posting last week, and I had hoped to come back with both a vengeance and a comparison of DC's New 52 and Marvel NOW!. But it was terribly uninteresting, and I'd never put out an article that's only half decent. Here's an article about things happening that isn't decent at all.

Yesterday, GameInformer broke the story that the next Batman: Arkham [something or other] game was coming, and quickly. On October 25th of this year, we'll have our hands on Batman: Arkham Origins, a prequel to Asylum. The title features a younger, less experienced Dark Knight taking on eight assassins in Gotham City, the most notable being Deathstroke the Terminator. I'm pretty open about the fact that Arkham City is my favorite game of all time - it has a great story, terrific gameplay and feel, and it's disturbingly beautiful. It's just one of those games that clicked for me personally. Naturally, you'd think I'd be the first to pre-order; however, something has me a little cautious of the new title: It's developed by Warner Bros. Games Montreal and not Rocksteady (the studio that put out the other two). Apparently, they developed the Wii U port of City; but only six people in the US bought a Wii U, so I haven't played it. More information can be found in the new issue of GameInformer. It's a magazine with, you know, paper and words, so be careful and don't hurt yourself.

Jimmy Fallon is set to take the reins of The Tonight Show from Jay Leno.
Heh.

In "Making News Out of Stories that Aren't Really News" news, Apple banned today's 12th issue of Saga on the Comixology iOS app for its depictions of gay sex. Apparently, this is somehow more offensive than its depiction of straight sex, which happens every other issue and doesn't seem to have any boundaries.

Just kidding, they didn't ban it. Apparently, the boys at Comixology just kind of...messed up. Now don't we all feel silly?

For the second year in a row, The Consumerist has named Electronic Arts the "Worst Company in America." EA beat out Bank of America in the March Madness-style bracket by a landslide. It wasn't pretty. One can only assume this comes from EA's use of deadlines to detract from game quality, as seen in games such as Mass Effect 3 and the recent launch of SimCity. The new micro-transactions like those found in Dead Space 3 probably just added fuel to the fire. Congrats, EA. Let's go for a hat trick next year.

That's about it for this week. Next week, I'll do my best to give you something a bit more substantial with a review of Injustice: Gods Among Us. It's the one game I'll buy this month, so I might as well talk about it.

Gay Hobbits and Missed Experiences (The Two Aren't Related)

Hey, everybody. I know that our blogger/reader relationship has been pretty hot and heavy over the past couple of months. But before we go on, I need you to know something:

Before last Friday, I had never seen The Lord of the Rings.

Hush, baby. Ain't no need to be upset. I realize that I associate myself with the title of "nerd," and I know that most people consider Peter Jackson's trilogy to be a hallmark of nerd culture. And in all actuality, I had seen some of the movies before. A friend lent me the extended editions over the summer, and I quickly lost interest. A word to the wise: If you have something you love that you want to share, keep the extended/director's cut/special editions to yourself - unless you want to be a terrible person (love you, Shannon). Yet, I want to say that there's no problem with the fact that I had been kept in the dark for so long. If this blog's readers actually left comments, that statement would get me in some trouble.

Let's take a time out real quick. I very much enjoyed the three films, even though next to nothing interesting happens for most of the second movie. I say that because I believe that I've developed the persona of a one who only looks for negative aspects of art to point out. But come on, we already discussed this.

I must note that from what I have perceived, the lifeblood of The Lord of the Rings franchise is its excess of homoerotic tension. Almost every scene in The Two Towers features two or more male characters conversing with text straight out of the Nicholas Sparks Novel Writing Handbook. They exchange stares that last a little too long but feel a little too right. I found myself on the edge of my seat, just waiting for a Hellbenders-esque moment to arrive. If that's what keeps people coming back for each installment, I get it. Most people already know my views on such hot-button issues.

However, I'm not here to tell you that the films were as good as I expected, or that the extended editions feature Pippin and Merry doing some heavy petting (special features, indeed). I would like to address the fact that had I still not seen The Lord of the Rings, I wouldn't care, and neither should you. And that's just okay.

"It is okay, Sam. It's natural."

Somewhere along the line, our society realized the greatness of the art it was putting out, and fabricated the idea that all of it should be taken in. Haven't heard Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon? You don't know true music. Haven't read the complete works of Jane Austen? You must not appreciate literature. Nerds have become the worst offenders: If you missed out on a certain film or comic or game, your "nerd cred" immediately comes under the microscope. And in my professional, high-brow opinion, those people can suck it.

I've never seen an episode of Star Trek. I've never picked up a copy of Sin City, film or comic. I will probably never read Game of Thrones, or any of the Martin books. Most of all, I don't see any of this in a negative light. I could talk for hours on the importance of art, and why we should care about it. Even so, I recognize the sheer mountain of art available, and even more the unlikeliness that any one person could absorb it all. The most we can ask for is that we all take in as much as we can and enjoy it. If not, we'll spend all of our time regretting what we haven't seen, read, heard, or done.

The next time someone mentions to you something similar to "I have never seen The Lord of the Rings," pretend they're me. By that, I mean you should sympathize and then offer them the DVDs, monetary recompense, and/or sexual favors. Just like The Golden Rule says.

Like, comment, subscribe, or tell me that those are things only on YouTube. Either way, write something down in the little white boxes to appease me.

Spoilsport: Avengers vs. X-Men

It's my spring break right now, so I guess you should be happy that I chose to wake up and give you the same quality content - er, the same content as any other Wednesday. Speaking of any other Wednesday, the new issue of a new comic book event, Age of Ultron, hits the shelves. I probably won't be reading it, as money is hard to come by these days - my usual corners were taken by meth dealers. Instead, I'll be vaguely recollecting an event from last year, in a new segment called Spoilsport. When I Googled the phrase to make sure I wasn't stealing it from another publication, I came across some serendipity: while I use the word to reference the spoiling of the story, it also means a person who ruins the enjoyment of others - a phrase which sums up this blog pretty well. I'll try to keep up the clever wordplay, since I'm now pretty much the new Mr. A-Z.

Moving onto other expertly crafted works (Segue, yo!), Avengers vs. X-Men came out last summer and cost way too much money. It was a 12-part crossover with several tie-ins that I didn't read. The event also pitted Marvel's biggest franchises against each other in bouts of combat and needless arguing. Mostly, AvX was known for its overly convoluted backstory; it had more prerequisites that most of my classes this semester. This backstory is way too complicated to retread here, and it would confuse way too many readers for me to try and work into a paragraph.

Before AvX, the Scarlet Witch (a mutant avenger) used her reality-bending powers to say "No more mutants," bringing the once-expansive mutant population down to about 200 (virgins refer to this event as "M-Day"). Cyclops, who had become the self-appointed face of the mutant race, wasn't too jazzed about it. He moved the remaining mutants to an island called Utopia and became a monumental douchebag. This led to a spat between him and Wolverine, who then moved the younger mutants to a new school, to teach them instead of train them for war. We feel sorry for Cyclops, though, because he's been through some stuff. His girlfriend killed herself to save everyone from the Phoenix Force, a big space-fire-bird-thing, which brings destruction and rebirth, as mythology suggests. The Phoenix Force is coming back to Earth, and it's headed straight for Hope Summers, the first mutant born since M-Day. The X-Men believe the Force will bring life to their dying race, and the Avengers believe it'll kill everyone all crispy-like. Confused? Good.

The X-Men are pissed at the Avengers for being too simple.

The byline for AvX has its who's who of Marvel Comics creators. Writers include Bendis, Aaron, and Brubaker, and their scripts come to life through Adam Kubert, John Romita, Jr., and John Romita, Jr.'s fascination with cheekbones, among others. And I'm wasting too much time with logistics. Here's the story.

Our tale begins with the Avengers doing Avengery things. Everyone's favorite nobody, Nova, crashes down (most likely killing hundreds, but they never address that part) with the message, "It's coming." Jump to some exposition with Cyclops being a dick, and we see that Hope can make everything go all Tabasco with her Phoenix powers, which she prematurely has or something. This causes the Avengers to find out what readers have known for some time: the Phoenix is back, and it's headed towards Hope.  So they go to Utopia to negotiate, but Cyclops is a dick. So Dickclops decides it would be fun to start a war with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes; we get our "Avengers Assemble," a big portrait of all the Avengers, and the fight begins. End issue one.

From here, we go into an all-out brawl, complete with out-of-place philosophical quotes. My favorite is, "Irradiated muscles strain. Organic metal groans. Windows shatter miles away. The San Andreas Fault shudders with each blow." I guess Jason Aaron is on the same level as a sophomore philosophy major. After more quotes like this gem here, we see Spidey and Wolverine going after Hope. She fries Wolvie and bounces, end issue two.

Somehow, the X got the jump on the A while they were vs.ing, and Magik helps them all escape. Captain America then splits up his team and sends them across the world to look for Hope. Cap, who took Wolverine with him on his crusade, pulls a Cyclops and kicks Logan off the plane, Air Force One style. End issue three.

"I'm the best at what I do." That's the quote, right?

Wolverine, now stranded in Antarctica, kills a polar bear and uses it to keep warm. In Antarctica. Science. He's saved by Hope, who decided to track him down, for reasons. They steal a rocket ship from A.I.M., and head to the moon. Because screw it, we want to go to the moon. It's the hippinest hoppinest place in space, because the Avengers and X-Men have no trouble getting there as well. Don't worry it's the Blue Area of the moon, with an artificial atmosphere. Science. Also, the Phoenix Force is here. End issue four.

More fighting, but on the moon. But here's where it gets interesting. Hope's juicing out the Phoenix Force powers something fierce. Wolverine had just made a pact with her to kill her if things got out of hand. She didn't want to go all Dark Phoenix on everyone's asses. But Cyclops ain't having that, no sir.

Hope's there to fend for herself while Tony Stark flies a big suity thing straight at the incoming Phoenix Force. He messes up, because the Phoenix splits and goes into Cyclops, Emma Frost, Namor, Colossus, and Magik, creating the Phoenix Five. End issue five.

Here we have Charles Xavier making a visit to Cyclops and his new god complex, telling him to cut it out. But he can't, because the Phoenix Five have become Jesus in spandex, making the world a better place to live. Oddly enough, they just had everyone get a recycling bin. In this issue, we find out that there's some ancient Asian prophecy that's clearly Hope defeating the Phoenix with the power of the Iron Fist (don't ask). So the Avengers break into Utopia to grab Hope, who's been held there for a while now. They get their asses handed to them until the Scarlet Witch (remember her?) appears and saves them. End issue six.

Seven is a short issue, so it's time for the lightning round. X-Men aren't happy, they go hunting for the Scarlet Witch. No luck. Tony Stark learns that he should try combining science and faith to beat the Phoenix, or something. Namor finally gets to the Scarlet Witch, and she takes him down. To exact revenge, Namor uses a tidal wave to attack Wakanda, a fictional African nation led by Black Panther. End issue seven.

With that, a big fight with Namor ensues. In the fray, Wolverine takes Hope to a place I cannot spell, because it has ties to Iron Fist. They do things. The Avengers (with most of the heavy lifting done by Scarlet Witch) take out Namor; the other Phoenix Four arrive just in time to see the Avengers leave and absorb Namor's portion of the power. All the Avengers are now in K'un-Lun (I looked it up, it's K'un-Lun), and Wakanda is destroyed. End issue eight.

Issue nine is probably my favorite of the series. I'm a big fan of Spider-Man, so this pretty much cemented that feeling. The issue begins with the Avengers fighting a war they've all but lost with the Phoenix Four. Just in time for Spidey to give Hope a chat about power and responsibility, we see that Colossus and Magik have taken some Avengers prisoner. It's time for a rescue mission to go to crap. And it does. So Spider-Man turns on his lovability and pulls an "I'll hold them off, save yourselves." Once Spider-Man's all good and destroyed, he uses some of his comic relief powers to trick Magik and Colossus into fighting each other, thus giving their powers to Cyclops and Magik. End issue nine.

Lightning round, part two. Cyclops attacks the Avengers. Hope fights him with the help of a...dragon. Hope somehow wins and teleports him away. The normal X-Men aren't too happy with how things have been going, so they call on Xavier to talk some sense into Cyclops. End issue ten.

For reading this far, here's a picture of a red panda.

Perseverance!

Issue ten opens with the Avengers recruiting The Hulk. This has no impact on the story whatsoever. So I thought I'd tell you about it. Next, Xavier rallies the troops and combines the Avengers and X-Men to fight Cyclops together. Because Cyclops is a dick. Speaking of Cyclops and dicks, his relationship with Emma isn't going too well. Both want power, and that's not okay. So Xavier tries to reason with Cyclops. Since you can't negotiate with a phallus, it doesn't work out. And since this is a comic, there's a fight scene. After many punches and quips, Cyclops attacks Emma and takes her power. In a fit of pissiness, Dickclops sets his sights on Charles Xavier and kills him. It's happened before, so I'm sure he'll get better. Nevertheless, this is all he needs to become Dark Phoenix. Spooky. End issue eleven.

Last one, promise. This one's just a giant fight scene. Dark Phoenix Cyclops is wrecking everyone, up until Nova (yep, the one from issue one) comes out of nowhere and tackles him to the ground. Scarlet Witch and Hope arrive - it turens out that their cooperation is the key to defeating Cyclops. They use the power of friendship to kick his teeth in. Because stories can't just end, the Phoenix Force then transfers to Hope. Several sighs later, she uses it to fly around the world and put out Cyclops' fires. Lastly, she holds hands with her new BFF to say "No more Phoenix." Afterwards, they have a sleepover and watch The Notebook. With that, everything's hunky dory again. And since Marvel needs new interest in the X-Men books, they start having new mutants pop up all over the world.

Cyclops goes to jail and Captain America launches a sales campaign for Marvel comics. End issue twelve.

There's Avengers vs. X-Men for you. If this post was exhausting to read, just know that the series was just as exhausting to follow. I'm going to go watch some TV. My head hurts.

The emoticon penis thing seemed to work last time, so just do that again. Would you like to read more about (hopefully shorter) comic events? Like, comment, subscribe. Or whatever the blog equivalent is.