Injustice 2 - gamescom Preview

Continuing my time with Warner Bros. I took the chance to see the upcoming Injustice 2 in action and got some hands time up against other fellow journalists.

With an introduction from NetherRealm Studio we saw whole host of new additions to the popular DC series. Starting with the brand new Gear system. This system as you would of guessed involves gear, you can now customise your characters with new gadgets, equipment and other sets of loot to not only buff your character, but also increase their defense, attack and special power. It's not like in the previous Injustice title, where you could customise your characters look with different costumes from around the DC universe, although Injustice 2 will still feature these, in Injustice 2, you unlock and gain armor to equip, and they vary from gauntlets to cowls - that are also different in appearance. Not only that, they also come in different levels of rarity, so of course, the more you challenge yourself online or in the story the great rewards. That's unless you're willing to purchase inevitable loot boxes with the game, but let's not talk about that.

From a gameplay standpoint, Injustice 2 doesn't hugely differ from its predecessor. You've still got the same over of the top frenetic combat in the previous Injustice, but combat has been ramped and has been vastly improved upon with the groundwork laid out in the previous title. All your favourite DC heroes and villains are in as well as some additional characters such as Deadshot, Supergirl and Atrocitus.

Additional improvements are made throughout the combat and the epically scaled supers are bigger and more badass with each character having new superpowers as well as an ability to boost their meter and perform evasive maneuvers and escape the clutches of an enemies super. Stage crashing transitions remain as well as clashes and environmental takedowns. All in the justice to raise the bar in DC hero and villain combattery. During my time playing as Batman my opponent wasn't a slouch and as we fought in the defining round I managed to perform Batman's special by launching them into the air and have the Batwing rain down upon them in hail of gunfire. I was victorious, but the subsequent fights not so much. But it was down to the change of character, I tried Atrocitus a demonic looking Red Lantern and enemy to the Guardians of the Universe, but due to his slow bulky nature mashing the buttons just wasn't enough up against Supergirl's swift attacks.

We played on PlayStation 4 and the game was visually impressive, still built upon the Unreal Engine, it was a step up from before and perhaps more so than Nether Realms other bone-crushing fighting game, Mortal Kombat X. Stages varied from the ruined streets of Metropolis to the inside of a bar with onlookers watching in excitement. Character models too were highly detailed and the close ups during clashes were impressive with a slow motion effect to show force of the impact as the combatants demolished one another in a fury lifted straight from the comic book pages.

Injustice 2 is looking like another big contender in the fighting genre. No longer is it just a licensed fighting game from days gone by, Nether Realms aren't handicapping this. It's fun but still can be brutal and while it doesn't have the bloody gorefest fatalities of Mortal Kombat it is still looking to be an exciting sequel for any DC fan.

Injustice 2 arrives in 2017 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, no PC version was confirmed.