Rollin’ Back the Week’s Best Tips: Injustice: Gods Among Us Edition

Welcome back to Rollin’ Back the Week’s Best Tips, your weekly look at the most current game releases on the market and some pieces of advice to help you play through them.

This week’s been a little bit slow between only a pair of new digital game releases: Atlus’ God Mode and Deep Silver’s The Sacred Citadel.  But while we toil away on those for next week’s edition of this column, we have more than enough to keep us busy with WB Games’ long-awaited brawler Injustice: Gods Among Us.  The game comes courtesy of Netherrealm Studios, the same team behind the superb 2011 reboot of the Mortal Kombat franchise.

So let’s this weekend going right with a few helpful tips for getting into this fighting game.  It’s quite accessible, but it never hurts to know what you’re getting into…

Give the Tutorial a Go

Even if you think you know everything about fighting games, you’ll want to learn about the basics that Injustice: Gods Among Us has to offer.  You’ll have to go through some routine stuff at first (movement, attacks, etc.) but then you get into the thick of what makes Injustice work.

For instance, knocking someone from one stage to another.  In some levels of the game, you’re able to blast an enemy through walls, eventually ending up in another part of the area, where new interactive items can be used to bash them with.  You execute these attacks by getting really close and then hitting towards on the analog stick and the A button (or the X button, if you’re playing the PS3 version).  This sends them flying into a cinematic where they bounce around like a pinball before crashing into the next stage.

You’ll also learn about special moves that your character can execute, such as Batman being able to hurl around Batarangs.  You’ll also learn about some elaborate combos that you can put together, counters that let you get out of a grab and other great maneuvers.  If you skip out on the tutorial or you don’t quite “get” everything as you jump into battle, don’t worry.  Your command list is accessible at any time over the course of the game, so you can see what moves your fighter is capable of.

Finally, you’ll learn how to grab items in the environment.  Some of these are quite crucial when it comes to turning around the tide of battle.  In the Aquaman stage, you’ll be able to use a number of items to hurl at opponents, including a huge aquatic sphere that can be thrown like a beach ball and a stone slab to chuck at your opponent.  But perhaps the greatest attack comes from using Aquaman himself, who can stab the side of the walls and let some water come rushing in, knocking down his opponent.

Don’t be hesitant when it comes to learning what all Injustice has to offer in its gameplay.  These tactics could very well save you – and Earth – in the closing minutes.

Why Skip Over the Single Player Content?

When a fighting game like Injustice is usually released, a first stop for most players is online to take on a number of opponents and see how they fare.  The multiplayer is outstanding in this game, but by no means should you pass up what’s offered in the single player portion of the game.

Probably the best reason to play the game by your lonesome is the story mode.  Most of the time, the single player campaign in a fighting game is rather weak.  For Injustice, a much bigger story has been laid out and while we won’t spoil it here (we’re saving that for a forthcoming Spoiler Alert, so stay tuned!), we will say it’s an interesting tale.  The game has heroes and villains who aren’t quite what they seem, as well as alternate universes that mesh closer than you might realize.  There’s a scene between Superman and Joker that’s a real show-stopper… but that’s all we’re saying for now.

One other note: the campaign also gives you the chance to try out many different characters.  It lets you can get used to certain heroes/villains and start picking favorites.  (We’re quite fond of Batman, no surprise there.)

Netherrealm Studios has also included a S.T.A.R. Labs mode, which works in the same way that Ladder did for Mortal Kombat.  You’re given a number of challenges that you need to complete in order to unlock new goodies within the game.  Some are based around fighting, others around flying and battle stages.  This is a great way to pass the time with over 100 challenges available in all, so don’t be afraid to dive in and get your hands dirty with it.

Get Some Friends Together

While Injustice has superb online play, this is the sort of game where you could easily get together a group of friends who just like superheroes and brawl the night away in local multiplayer.  This is recommended, mainly because you can experience together to see what the gameplay system is like (very similar to Mortal Kombat) and prepare yourself for any online challenges that lie ahead.

So go on, throw a comic book party… and invite us too!

See you next Friday for Rollin’ Back the Week’s Best Tips!

Injustice: Gods Among Us is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U.