Well, time to kick back and relax with the latest fighting game to come out of the corridors of Netherealm Studios: Injustice: Gods Among Us!
(Greatest heroes turned vilest villains!)
When universes collide, only fighting can solve their problems. When one dimension's Joker destroys Metropolis, along with Superman's wife and child, the Man of Steel takes a dark turn and subjugates the planet under the rule of the New Regime. Only the heroes of another Earth, as well as some help from the Regime Earth, can set the world right again, but what would be the cost?
Gameplay is pretty similar to Mortal Kombat (2011) while adding a few new twists to the genre. Interactive stage items and level transitions that make the T-rated game very 'over-the-top', which fits well with the superhero genre nicely. Each of the characters have special abilities unique to their own, as well as a mechanic tailored to their play style, like summoning bats for Batman or switching between a sword and lasso for Wonder Woman. There is a bit of a learning curve to it all and extra missions in the S.T.A.R. labs can have conditions that drive you nuts (not to mention the usual moments of the computer being a cheating bastard). Thankfully, the good overwhelms the bad in this case.
What about the story, though? Is this a case where crappy storytelling prevails or does it fit the superhero genre like a well-made cape? Lets find out.
The game starts out in the aftermath, with Metropolis reduced to rubble and Batman interrogating Joker on how he got the bomb. Before he can go anywhere, Superman barges in to take care of Joker himself. The Man of Steel tries to restrain himself, but Joker keeps pushing his buttons, calling out how everything he loves tend to blow up. The last straw occurs when Joker explains how naive Superman is, thinking he can simply be locked away and get reformed. When Joker makes a crack on how he might let Superman's next family live, Superman has enough and punches straight through Joker, killing the villain.
Soon, at 'Elsewhere', the Justice League is in battle with several villains led by Lex Luthor. Superman has Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Shazam, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, and the Flash on earth, taking on Ares, Black Adam, Sinestro, and Doomsday. On the Watchtower, heroes Nightwing, Cyborg and Raven do their best against Bane, Catwoman, Solomon Grundy, and Lex Luthor himself. As the heroes do their best to hold their own, Batman checks Arkham Asylum to make sure that the Joker hasn't escaped. When Batman finds Joker gone, he gets ambushed by Deathstroke. The two fight, yet Batman wins, teleporting back to the Watchtower to help the other heroes. He fights off Bane and Lex, capturing the mad villain. Back on Earth, the rest of the Justice League is successful, with Superman taking Doomsday into deep space.
However, a red alert sounds out and Batman discovers that Joker and Harley Quinn are setting up a bomb in Metropolis (another plan by Luthor) Batman teleports down to confront Joker, but the bomb is already armed. As Batman tries to stall his archenemy, the other heroes make haste. Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, and Shazam flank from one side, with Green Lantern, Aquaman, and Green Arrow from another, with Flash coming down straight the middle. As Joker starts to press the button, a strange blue light surrounds Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Green Lantern and Aquaman. As the four heroes get closer to the Joker and Batman, the whole area envelopes in bright light. As it dissipates Batman and the Joker find themselves in a different Metropolis. Not wanting to leave Joker loose, Batman disables the Joker, but finds himself surrounded by soldiers bearing the mark of the New Regime. With some quick thinking and clever gadgets, Batman makes an escape, but loses the Joker in the process.
Meanwhile, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow find themselves in this universe's Gotham. The decide to split up a bit to figure out just what the heck happened. Aquaman heads to Atlantis to study from the archives, Green Arrow and Wonder Woman snoop around a bit in Gotham and Green Lantern goes to find the nearest power battery to recharge. He finds it at Ferris Airfields, where he also discovers alternate versions of Cyborg and Raven torturing their Deathstroke. Green Lantern intervenes, taking the two out and freeing Deathstroke. However, when he gets distracted by a distress call from Wonder Woman, Deathstroke disappears.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow are barely holding their own against an alternative Sinestro, with Green Lantern arriving on the scene and stopping his arch nemesis. However, he soon meets his alternative known as the Yellow Lantern (lame, but it works for this case). Green Lantern manages to beat his double, with Wonder Woman and Green Arrow recovering. The trio leave, trying to figure out just what the heck happened to this world, running into an alternative Batman along the way.
Back in the home universe (which isn't where Joker died at the hands of Superman) Cyborg, Flash and Superman try to figure out how to retrieve their lost comrades from the other universe. They aren't too sure of what to expect and are taking special care to figure out the best way to solve the problem at hand.
Back in the alternate universe, Aquaman arrives that world's Atlantis, running into a scholar of sorts. The scholar tells him about a treaty negotiation happening with diplomats, which Aquaman lies about knowing. He asks about information regarding the rise to the New Regime, pretending it would help with the treaty. He learns about the destruction of Metropolis, Superman killing Joker, and the construction of the New Regime. He soon gets called away to meet with the AU Shazam and Flash. When Aquaman reads the treaty and finds out that Atlantis would be given to Superman, he fights off both the Flash and Shazam.
Soon, the AU Aquaman appears and confronts his counterpart, with our Aquaman calling him out for giving up his rule of Atlantis. The two fight, with our Aquaman winning out. As Atlantean soldiers start to swarm him, they all freeze in mid combat. The AU Ares appears, saying he stoked the fires of violence a bit to feed on it. Aquaman fights him, thinking he was the one who brought them here. After the fight, Ares reveals how Superman has almost entirely eliminated warfare, greatly reducing Ares' powers. The War God tells Aquaman how the Insurgency fights against the Regime, which is composed of heroes and villains working for Superman. Ares then teleports Aquaman to the Insurgency's HQ, reuniting back with his friends.
At the HQ, the leader of the Insurgency, AU Batman, gives a durability enchancer known as 5-U-93-R (which explains how unpowered superheroes can survive incredible blows without dying) and talks about a plan to stop Superman. Enter AU Lex Luthor, who is actually a good guy in this reality. He pretends to be Superman's friend while also funding the Insurgency. They group discusses a weapon designed to incapacitate Superman, but requires the help of our Earth's group of heroes. Lex and Batman reveal how they were watching our Earth and picked the heroes out to help them.
In the Fortress of Solitude, AU Superman is working on a device that would control his Doomsday, while AU Wonder Woman tries to get Superman to relax. It doesn't work, but at least she does so in a nice dress. Yellow Lantern arrives and talks about seeing the doubles of heroes, both living and dead. Surprised, Superman orders the doubles to be captured asap.
Back in Gotham, the Joker has been driving around with a dead Regime soldier, taking a stop to observe his surroundings. Eventually, our Batman gets the jump on him (literally), but suffers a sprain after Joker kicks him mid-jump. Injured, Batman is defeated by the Joker. Before the Clown Prince can do anymore harm, he flees when he sees Regime heroes dropping by. Hiding away in safety, Joker watches Batman get taken away by Yellow Lantern and Hawkgirl. After they leave, Joker finds himself down the barely of a gun wielded by AU Harley Quinn (now going by Harleen). She threatens to kill him for mocking the Joker in her reality, but a swift asskicking from the clown himself disproves her. She returns to her normal self (if you can call it normal) and takes him to where the Joker Clan is hiding out.
Back with the New Regime, Superman and Wonder Woman check up on the captured Batman at Stryker's Island, a prison of sorts. While they first think its their Batman, a quick x-ray from Superman disproves otherwise. He threatens Batman by asking where the other doubles are.
Switching over the Arkham Asylum, now run by the Joker clan, our Joker takes the 5-U-93-R pill (that the clan got from the Insurgency) and goes on about how much chaos and havoc they would inflict on the New Regime. However, they get interrupted by the Regime soldiers themselves, lead by Nightwing and Hawkgirl. A scuffle breaks out between the groups, with Harleen sending out an alert for the Insurgency. With the new durability enhancer, Joker manages to beat both heroes by himself. Soon, AU Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow arrive to help, forcing the Regime soldiers, as well as Nightwing and Hawkgirl, to flee. The heroes wisely decide to lock up the Joker, knowing how dangerous he is to the upcoming plan, as well as learning about the capture of our Batman.
Back in our world, Cyborg and Flash come up with a device that should bring back our heroes to our earth without needing to send anyone over. Switching over to the Insurgency back in the AU, Deathstroke and Luthor have a little chat, with Deathstroke deciding to join the Insurgency to get back at the Regime for his torture.
Meanwhile, the AU Batman leads the group of heroes to Wayne Mansion, which is under guard by the Regime. Batman explains how his identity as Bruce Wayne was revealed and all assets from Wayne Industries were shut off from him. He also explains how Superman lost Lois, his unborn son, and Metropolis thanks to the Joker. After killing the clown, he soon formed the New Regime, though others tried to talk him out of it. Most of them ended up dying, with Green Arrow being amongst the first casualties. They soon split up, with Batman and Aquaman going one route into the mansion and Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman go another. As the trio of heroes move through the mansion, they soon encounter a pair of villains working for the New Regime: Solomon Grundy and Killer Frost. The trio manage to defeat them, with Green Arrow getting some good hits against the villains (though Green Lantern manages to disable Grundy by launching him into space. "[He's] a zombie. He'll be fine")
Around the same time, AU Superman meats with Good Guy Lex, showing how the two are pretty tight friends and Superman asking for Lex's help in searching for the doubles. Lex obliges, but says it would take weeks to make a device to track them down. As Superman leaves, he asks if there would be a double of Lois Lane in the other universe, though Lex only answers with "There is only one Lois Lane". Not sure if this was a dick move on his part, or how no alternative Lois would be able to replace the one Superman lost.
Back at Wayne Mansion, the heroes travel to the Batcave, which has seen better days thanks to the New Regime. Here, Batman goes on about the device built to stop Superman requiring genetics from four specific heroes, as well as himself, to open its case. With his world's Green Arrow dead and the others part of the New Regime, Batman had to look for other universes with the same kind of people. They manage to recover the device, but get discovered by the New Regime's Wonder Woman and Black Adam. The heroes manage to fight and win, but an electric blast from Black Adam caused the device to be destroyed, though the kryptonite for the device is still intact. Now they need to figure out how to fix the device in order to use it against the New Regime's Superman.
Meanwhile, on our Earth of sorts, Flash, Cyborg and Superman got the teleportation device up and running. They get ready to bring their fellow heroes back, but a glitch in the system caused Cyborg to get teleported to the other universe. He lands in the Insurgency HQ, running into and fighting Lex Luthor and Deathstroke, thinking they are the same from his universe. Afterwards, he meets their Batman as well as the heroes who got teleported in the first place to explain the whole situation to Cyborg.
Back in the Bat Cave, AU Wonder Woman and Superman check out the area to figure out what Batman took. Superman manages to pick out some kryptonite and gets scared at what the Insurgency might do (after all, kryptonite bad for Superman).
Around the same time, the Insurgency figures that they could teleport to our home universe to fix the device, but AU Batman brings up a worldwide message from Superman, who says that the Batman they captured will be executed soon. The Insurgency figures out its a trap, but still need to rescue their Batman. They come up with the idea to teleport Batman out with the Watchtower teleporter, so long as he is outside Stryker's Island's walls. Most of the heroes would provide a distraction to keep the New Regime occupied, while Green Arrow and AU Batman go in for rescue. Cyborg and Deathstroke get paired up to get access to the teleporter (with Cyborg using a hologram to look like the Regime Cyborg).
Once at the Hall of Justice (the only known site they can access the Watchtower teleporter), we learn how Deathstroke isn't too dissimilar to the ones Cyborg and the heroes know, just that he wants revenge against the New Regime for the torture. As Deathstroke works on hacking the computer at one end, Cyborg tries accessing the teleporter from the main panel. He runs into Catwoman, who manages to see through his disguise, but overcomes the feline. However, he gets hacked by his counterpart Cyborg, who tries to send a message out to Wonder Woman, but its revealed to have not worked. We get a cool hacking bit between the two robotic heroes before they just decide to fight with their fists. Our Cyborg comes out on time as Deathstroke soon arrives.
The two teleport to the Watchtower, with Cyborg busy accessing the tower's main functions (thanks to swiping the password from his double during the fight). Deathstroke scouts out a bit, wanting to settle his revenge in some way. He sees Shazam and the Flash, both talking a bit about how it seems like Superman is going too far. They both spot Deathstroke and try to stop him, but some well-placed explosives managed to disorient them for a bit. As Deathstroke is fighting the two, he manages to overload the main reactor for the tower, giving it about 90 minutes before it explodes (the time, I'm guessing, so that the tower could still be used for other jobs until then)/ When he meets back with Cyborg (and gets called out for his revenge), a message from Luthor orders Deathstroke to pick up some experimental equipment to help finish the laser. Luthor explains how he needs to be the one to fire the laser and that Batman must survive to lead the Insurgency.
Back in our universe, Superman and the Flash try to figure out how to get in contact with their friends again, especially since they are having difficulty using their device due to mostly running on Cyborg mechanics. Meanwhile, Batman orders everyone to be ready, with Harleen opening up the Joker's cell to free him, but he doesn't exactly return the warm and fuzzies right back to her.
Cutting to Ferris Aircraft once more, Killer Frost is explaining to Wonder Woman about the dimensional energies she has found at different locations, with one location having a greater amount than the others. Before they could prove this theory, Deathstroke shows up and fights the two (along with calling Wonder Woman 'Superman's rebound girl'). The merc wins, finding the technology and getting teleported back to Luthor so he can use it.
Meanwhile, the big attack on Stryker's Island is about to being. A lot of New Regime soldiers are present, including Sinestro, Black Adam, Yellow Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Superman himself. Aquaman launches the first attack himself, summoning a large group of giant crab-like creatures. Batman and Green Arrow infiltrate the compound, but get attacked by Nightwing and Catwoman. While Green Arrow deals with Nightwing, Catwoman tries to coerce Batman to leave with her and get out of the New Regime's hair. He refuses, resulting in a fight between the two with Batman winning. Green Arrow calls Nightwing out for being an asshole, thinking he is Dick Grayson. However, Batman reveals that its actually his son, Damian Wayne, who killed Dick Grayson before joining the New Regime. Batman fights his own son and wins, continuing the mission alongside Green Arrow.
The assault on Stryker's Island continues on the outside, with Wonder Woman and Green Lantern showing up to help Aquaman fight Superman. Back in the complex, Batman and Green Arrow find our Batman in a containment unit. However, Raven possesses Green Arrow to fight Batman. After winning, Batman gets attacked by Raven herself, but she ends up getting knocked out by out Batman. The trio try to leave, but Yellow Lantern drops in (literally) and the AU Batman stays behind a bit to fight him. He wins and not a moment too soon.
Superman is tearing through the three heroes, but soon hears an explosion on the island and finds the other heroes trying to leave (they are still within the teleportation dampeners at the time). AU Batman verbally stalls Superman, calling him out for his oppressive ways and how it wasn't his fault that Metropolis was lost. However, Superman has gone too far at this point and before he could make a move, our three heroes get teleported out of there. Realizing that they were using the Watchtower, Superman quickly flies to the Watchtower to try and stop them, but it ends up exploding on him before he could enter. Surrounded by the remaining pieces of Watchtower space debris, he hears a familiar voice calling out against his oppression.
Flashback to about 3 hours ago (which doesn't really mash up with the time tables when you look at it closely) of Lex Luthor preparing to fight Superman himself. As he is flying over to Stryker's Island, he gets blasted out of the sky by Joker and Harleen. Joker, being the asshole that he is, demands Luthor's mechanical suit and sends Harleen to get it for him. She fails and before the Joker can kill her for failure, Luthor steps him and swats him down as well. Having been fed up by him, Harleen prepares to kill the Joker herself but again, Luthor steps in to tell her she is better than him and she relents. Once Joker is put away for good this time, Luthor continues his flight to Stryker's Island.
Its mid battle here, with Green Lantern flattening Yellow Lantern with a plane construct (cool for mythos gag and leading into Yellow Lantern vs Batman fight). He soon gets double-teamed by Hawkgirl and Black Adam. However, Luthor arrives and gives the duo a merry chase in the city, allowing Green Lantern time to help Wonder Woman with Superman. During the flight, Luthor launches several missiles and takes the two villains out, though goes to Hawkgirl to retrieve her special Nth metal. She doesn't let him have it and another fight breaks out, though Luthor wins that one. However, he gets attacked by Shazam, needing to beat him down too and telling him how 'no good comes from hero worship'. He hears the explosion of the Watchtower (which is pretty loud considering it came from space) and gets information on Superman's current whereabouts. He calls the big guy out and prepares to kill him, but Shazam intervenes at the last second and Luthor is stopped. Superman, now extremely angry, demands why Luthor did what he did, with Luthor calling his 'peace' a joke before being choked to death. Superman, shocked at the betrayal of a close friend, listens to all the voices of the citizens questioning Superman's actions before screaming and leaving for the Fortress of Solitude.
After the Stryker's Island debacle, the New Regime tries to regroup and figure out how to properly combat the Insurgency. Superman, having been driven even more mad than before, thinks that the populous don't like his protection and decides to have both Metropolis and Gotham City leveled. Shazam, shocked by this idea, tries to talk Superman out of doing it. Unfortunately, when Shazam brings up how Lois wouldn't approve, Superman grabs him by the throat, freezes his mouth so he wouldn't shout out 'SHAZAM' and use the lighting, then uses his heat vision to burn right through Shazam's skull. Considering that Shazam is really a kid turned into a superhero through magic...yeah, Superman has crossed the horizon faster than a speeding bullet. So as most of the New Regime leaves to carry out new missions, Yellow Lantern and Flash stay behind along with Solomon Grundy to prepare the mind-controlled Doomsday and bury Shazam. Flash, deciding that enough is enough, fights off both Yellow Lantern and Solomon Grundy, swearing off the New Regime and joining the Insurgency.
As the Flash speeds towards Gotham City (managing to find the Insurgency's location here), he takes a side trip to stop Sinestro and New Regime forces from executing soldiers who quit the Regime. After that fight, he finally finds the Insurgency and meets up with our Green Arrow, though the meeting isn't too friendly to start with. After Flash beats Green Arrow, he explains how he isn't here to fight for the New Regime, but instead to stop their mad agenda.
After the Flash explains everything to the Regime, the AU Batman decides to send all the heroes back to our universe. However, our Batman thinks we could instead bring their Superman to fight. Before an agreement could be reached, members of the Regime launch a surprise attack. They end up fighting, with Wonder Woman taking down Bane before getting teleported to Themyscira. Apparently, Ares did it and, given the animosity Wonder Woman has to the Ares in her universe, fights him. Before the fight goes on for too long, Ares explains how the New Regime intends to use the Amazons as part of the destruction of Metropolis and Gotham City. Ares brought Wonder Woman to stop them, though the conflict would spur back his powers, it would only be temporarily if the New Regime succeeds. He leaves Wonder Woman to stop the Amazons, but Raven appears to fight her as well. Realizing that Raven is serving not only Superman, but also the demonic Trigon (interdimensional monster on grand scale...as well as father), she beats Raven before confronting the Amazons.
Down in the harbors of Themyscira, the two Wonder Women meet and fight, exchanging blows and words on how to properly deal with 'the world of man'. The Wonder Woman of our universe succeeds and manages to convince the other Amazons to stop the New Regime once and for all. However, the plan is already underway, with Superman and Doomsday dealing with Metropolis and the rest of the New Regime tackling Gotham City. At the Batcave, the AU Batman tries to have the other heroes teleported out of his universe to try and save them, but some words of wisdom (as well as a good ol' fight between the two) makes him relent and bring in the Superman from our universe.
Once there, Superman and Batman get a plan together to help stop the violence in Gotham City before heading out to Metropolis. Despite initial worry, AU Batman says he is glad to see a more noble Superman once more. Back in Gotham City, the heroes are getting their asses kicked, but Superman's arrival turns the tide. He manages to ground Black Adam and depower Sinestro, even convincing Yellow Lantern to remove his own ring without a fight.
Swithcing over to Metropolis, the Atlantean army is helping with the destruction, with AU Aquaman leading the charge. Of course, Superman arrives on the scene as well, this time with Wonder Woman and the Amazons beside him. The Amazons take care of the Atlanteans (Flashpoint reference FTW), while Superman stops AU Aquaman. However, Doomsday sideswipes the Kryptonian and the two get into a fierce scuffle. Rather than endanger the lives of others, Superman flies himself and Doomsday to the Fortress of Solitude, defeating the monster and trapping him in the Phantom Zone.
No rest of the wicked, apparently, as Regime Superman appears to his counterpart. Our Superman calls him out for his evil behavior, but he doesn't bite, saying how he is 'ruling with fear' and 'Lois would appreciate this' or the like. Our Superman knows that he has gone too far and must be stopped. One climactic battle later, Regime Superman is finally stopped. The other heroes arrive and arrest the dictator right on the spot.
The aftermath has the evil members of the Regime captured and put to jail (including the Flash for his part, but it seems like he will get a lessened sentence), Joker is sent back to our reality, and AU Lex Luthor gets a memorial for his sacrifice. Regime Superman is put in a jail with red solar radiation, weakening his powers dramatically. Our Superman and AU Batman talk a bit, saying how easy it could be for Superman to turn evil, but Batman is sure that Superman wouldn't fall down that path. Otherwise, Batman would personally come to our universe to kick his ass. The story ends with a closing shot of Regime Superman, revealing that he still has a bit of his power left. SEQUEL HOOK!
And that is it for the story of Injustice: Gods Among Us. Alternate realities may seem like the easy way out for most stories that involve canon, but it definitely works out here. There are some parts here that genuinely caught me off guard on what would happen, but in a good way. The characters were pretty fleshed out (though the more screentime they got, the more likely there would be more to their character). My only complaint is the focus of Batman. I know, he is basically the 'Wolverine' of the DC Universe: incredibly popular, so he would need to be featured with a major role in just about everything. If maybe they had someone like Hawkgirl or Shazam take one of the Batmen's places in the story mode, it could've been pretty different and cool. Still, it was a fun romp.
That's it for this review. Until next time...
Injustice: Gods Among Us is owned by Warner Bros Interactive and Netherrealm Studios.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow are barely holding their own against an alternative Sinestro, with Green Lantern arriving on the scene and stopping his arch nemesis. However, he soon meets his alternative known as the Yellow Lantern (lame, but it works for this case). Green Lantern manages to beat his double, with Wonder Woman and Green Arrow recovering. The trio leave, trying to figure out just what the heck happened to this world, running into an alternative Batman along the way.
Back in the home universe (which isn't where Joker died at the hands of Superman) Cyborg, Flash and Superman try to figure out how to retrieve their lost comrades from the other universe. They aren't too sure of what to expect and are taking special care to figure out the best way to solve the problem at hand.
Back in the alternate universe, Aquaman arrives that world's Atlantis, running into a scholar of sorts. The scholar tells him about a treaty negotiation happening with diplomats, which Aquaman lies about knowing. He asks about information regarding the rise to the New Regime, pretending it would help with the treaty. He learns about the destruction of Metropolis, Superman killing Joker, and the construction of the New Regime. He soon gets called away to meet with the AU Shazam and Flash. When Aquaman reads the treaty and finds out that Atlantis would be given to Superman, he fights off both the Flash and Shazam.
Soon, the AU Aquaman appears and confronts his counterpart, with our Aquaman calling him out for giving up his rule of Atlantis. The two fight, with our Aquaman winning out. As Atlantean soldiers start to swarm him, they all freeze in mid combat. The AU Ares appears, saying he stoked the fires of violence a bit to feed on it. Aquaman fights him, thinking he was the one who brought them here. After the fight, Ares reveals how Superman has almost entirely eliminated warfare, greatly reducing Ares' powers. The War God tells Aquaman how the Insurgency fights against the Regime, which is composed of heroes and villains working for Superman. Ares then teleports Aquaman to the Insurgency's HQ, reuniting back with his friends.
At the HQ, the leader of the Insurgency, AU Batman, gives a durability enchancer known as 5-U-93-R (which explains how unpowered superheroes can survive incredible blows without dying) and talks about a plan to stop Superman. Enter AU Lex Luthor, who is actually a good guy in this reality. He pretends to be Superman's friend while also funding the Insurgency. They group discusses a weapon designed to incapacitate Superman, but requires the help of our Earth's group of heroes. Lex and Batman reveal how they were watching our Earth and picked the heroes out to help them.
In the Fortress of Solitude, AU Superman is working on a device that would control his Doomsday, while AU Wonder Woman tries to get Superman to relax. It doesn't work, but at least she does so in a nice dress. Yellow Lantern arrives and talks about seeing the doubles of heroes, both living and dead. Surprised, Superman orders the doubles to be captured asap.
Back in Gotham, the Joker has been driving around with a dead Regime soldier, taking a stop to observe his surroundings. Eventually, our Batman gets the jump on him (literally), but suffers a sprain after Joker kicks him mid-jump. Injured, Batman is defeated by the Joker. Before the Clown Prince can do anymore harm, he flees when he sees Regime heroes dropping by. Hiding away in safety, Joker watches Batman get taken away by Yellow Lantern and Hawkgirl. After they leave, Joker finds himself down the barely of a gun wielded by AU Harley Quinn (now going by Harleen). She threatens to kill him for mocking the Joker in her reality, but a swift asskicking from the clown himself disproves her. She returns to her normal self (if you can call it normal) and takes him to where the Joker Clan is hiding out.
Back with the New Regime, Superman and Wonder Woman check up on the captured Batman at Stryker's Island, a prison of sorts. While they first think its their Batman, a quick x-ray from Superman disproves otherwise. He threatens Batman by asking where the other doubles are.
Switching over the Arkham Asylum, now run by the Joker clan, our Joker takes the 5-U-93-R pill (that the clan got from the Insurgency) and goes on about how much chaos and havoc they would inflict on the New Regime. However, they get interrupted by the Regime soldiers themselves, lead by Nightwing and Hawkgirl. A scuffle breaks out between the groups, with Harleen sending out an alert for the Insurgency. With the new durability enhancer, Joker manages to beat both heroes by himself. Soon, AU Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Arrow arrive to help, forcing the Regime soldiers, as well as Nightwing and Hawkgirl, to flee. The heroes wisely decide to lock up the Joker, knowing how dangerous he is to the upcoming plan, as well as learning about the capture of our Batman.
Back in our world, Cyborg and Flash come up with a device that should bring back our heroes to our earth without needing to send anyone over. Switching over to the Insurgency back in the AU, Deathstroke and Luthor have a little chat, with Deathstroke deciding to join the Insurgency to get back at the Regime for his torture.
Meanwhile, the AU Batman leads the group of heroes to Wayne Mansion, which is under guard by the Regime. Batman explains how his identity as Bruce Wayne was revealed and all assets from Wayne Industries were shut off from him. He also explains how Superman lost Lois, his unborn son, and Metropolis thanks to the Joker. After killing the clown, he soon formed the New Regime, though others tried to talk him out of it. Most of them ended up dying, with Green Arrow being amongst the first casualties. They soon split up, with Batman and Aquaman going one route into the mansion and Green Lantern, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman go another. As the trio of heroes move through the mansion, they soon encounter a pair of villains working for the New Regime: Solomon Grundy and Killer Frost. The trio manage to defeat them, with Green Arrow getting some good hits against the villains (though Green Lantern manages to disable Grundy by launching him into space. "[He's] a zombie. He'll be fine")
Around the same time, AU Superman meats with Good Guy Lex, showing how the two are pretty tight friends and Superman asking for Lex's help in searching for the doubles. Lex obliges, but says it would take weeks to make a device to track them down. As Superman leaves, he asks if there would be a double of Lois Lane in the other universe, though Lex only answers with "There is only one Lois Lane". Not sure if this was a dick move on his part, or how no alternative Lois would be able to replace the one Superman lost.
Back at Wayne Mansion, the heroes travel to the Batcave, which has seen better days thanks to the New Regime. Here, Batman goes on about the device built to stop Superman requiring genetics from four specific heroes, as well as himself, to open its case. With his world's Green Arrow dead and the others part of the New Regime, Batman had to look for other universes with the same kind of people. They manage to recover the device, but get discovered by the New Regime's Wonder Woman and Black Adam. The heroes manage to fight and win, but an electric blast from Black Adam caused the device to be destroyed, though the kryptonite for the device is still intact. Now they need to figure out how to fix the device in order to use it against the New Regime's Superman.
Meanwhile, on our Earth of sorts, Flash, Cyborg and Superman got the teleportation device up and running. They get ready to bring their fellow heroes back, but a glitch in the system caused Cyborg to get teleported to the other universe. He lands in the Insurgency HQ, running into and fighting Lex Luthor and Deathstroke, thinking they are the same from his universe. Afterwards, he meets their Batman as well as the heroes who got teleported in the first place to explain the whole situation to Cyborg.
Back in the Bat Cave, AU Wonder Woman and Superman check out the area to figure out what Batman took. Superman manages to pick out some kryptonite and gets scared at what the Insurgency might do (after all, kryptonite bad for Superman).
Around the same time, the Insurgency figures that they could teleport to our home universe to fix the device, but AU Batman brings up a worldwide message from Superman, who says that the Batman they captured will be executed soon. The Insurgency figures out its a trap, but still need to rescue their Batman. They come up with the idea to teleport Batman out with the Watchtower teleporter, so long as he is outside Stryker's Island's walls. Most of the heroes would provide a distraction to keep the New Regime occupied, while Green Arrow and AU Batman go in for rescue. Cyborg and Deathstroke get paired up to get access to the teleporter (with Cyborg using a hologram to look like the Regime Cyborg).
Once at the Hall of Justice (the only known site they can access the Watchtower teleporter), we learn how Deathstroke isn't too dissimilar to the ones Cyborg and the heroes know, just that he wants revenge against the New Regime for the torture. As Deathstroke works on hacking the computer at one end, Cyborg tries accessing the teleporter from the main panel. He runs into Catwoman, who manages to see through his disguise, but overcomes the feline. However, he gets hacked by his counterpart Cyborg, who tries to send a message out to Wonder Woman, but its revealed to have not worked. We get a cool hacking bit between the two robotic heroes before they just decide to fight with their fists. Our Cyborg comes out on time as Deathstroke soon arrives.
The two teleport to the Watchtower, with Cyborg busy accessing the tower's main functions (thanks to swiping the password from his double during the fight). Deathstroke scouts out a bit, wanting to settle his revenge in some way. He sees Shazam and the Flash, both talking a bit about how it seems like Superman is going too far. They both spot Deathstroke and try to stop him, but some well-placed explosives managed to disorient them for a bit. As Deathstroke is fighting the two, he manages to overload the main reactor for the tower, giving it about 90 minutes before it explodes (the time, I'm guessing, so that the tower could still be used for other jobs until then)/ When he meets back with Cyborg (and gets called out for his revenge), a message from Luthor orders Deathstroke to pick up some experimental equipment to help finish the laser. Luthor explains how he needs to be the one to fire the laser and that Batman must survive to lead the Insurgency.
Back in our universe, Superman and the Flash try to figure out how to get in contact with their friends again, especially since they are having difficulty using their device due to mostly running on Cyborg mechanics. Meanwhile, Batman orders everyone to be ready, with Harleen opening up the Joker's cell to free him, but he doesn't exactly return the warm and fuzzies right back to her.
Cutting to Ferris Aircraft once more, Killer Frost is explaining to Wonder Woman about the dimensional energies she has found at different locations, with one location having a greater amount than the others. Before they could prove this theory, Deathstroke shows up and fights the two (along with calling Wonder Woman 'Superman's rebound girl'). The merc wins, finding the technology and getting teleported back to Luthor so he can use it.
Meanwhile, the big attack on Stryker's Island is about to being. A lot of New Regime soldiers are present, including Sinestro, Black Adam, Yellow Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Superman himself. Aquaman launches the first attack himself, summoning a large group of giant crab-like creatures. Batman and Green Arrow infiltrate the compound, but get attacked by Nightwing and Catwoman. While Green Arrow deals with Nightwing, Catwoman tries to coerce Batman to leave with her and get out of the New Regime's hair. He refuses, resulting in a fight between the two with Batman winning. Green Arrow calls Nightwing out for being an asshole, thinking he is Dick Grayson. However, Batman reveals that its actually his son, Damian Wayne, who killed Dick Grayson before joining the New Regime. Batman fights his own son and wins, continuing the mission alongside Green Arrow.
The assault on Stryker's Island continues on the outside, with Wonder Woman and Green Lantern showing up to help Aquaman fight Superman. Back in the complex, Batman and Green Arrow find our Batman in a containment unit. However, Raven possesses Green Arrow to fight Batman. After winning, Batman gets attacked by Raven herself, but she ends up getting knocked out by out Batman. The trio try to leave, but Yellow Lantern drops in (literally) and the AU Batman stays behind a bit to fight him. He wins and not a moment too soon.
Superman is tearing through the three heroes, but soon hears an explosion on the island and finds the other heroes trying to leave (they are still within the teleportation dampeners at the time). AU Batman verbally stalls Superman, calling him out for his oppressive ways and how it wasn't his fault that Metropolis was lost. However, Superman has gone too far at this point and before he could make a move, our three heroes get teleported out of there. Realizing that they were using the Watchtower, Superman quickly flies to the Watchtower to try and stop them, but it ends up exploding on him before he could enter. Surrounded by the remaining pieces of Watchtower space debris, he hears a familiar voice calling out against his oppression.
Flashback to about 3 hours ago (which doesn't really mash up with the time tables when you look at it closely) of Lex Luthor preparing to fight Superman himself. As he is flying over to Stryker's Island, he gets blasted out of the sky by Joker and Harleen. Joker, being the asshole that he is, demands Luthor's mechanical suit and sends Harleen to get it for him. She fails and before the Joker can kill her for failure, Luthor steps him and swats him down as well. Having been fed up by him, Harleen prepares to kill the Joker herself but again, Luthor steps in to tell her she is better than him and she relents. Once Joker is put away for good this time, Luthor continues his flight to Stryker's Island.
Its mid battle here, with Green Lantern flattening Yellow Lantern with a plane construct (cool for mythos gag and leading into Yellow Lantern vs Batman fight). He soon gets double-teamed by Hawkgirl and Black Adam. However, Luthor arrives and gives the duo a merry chase in the city, allowing Green Lantern time to help Wonder Woman with Superman. During the flight, Luthor launches several missiles and takes the two villains out, though goes to Hawkgirl to retrieve her special Nth metal. She doesn't let him have it and another fight breaks out, though Luthor wins that one. However, he gets attacked by Shazam, needing to beat him down too and telling him how 'no good comes from hero worship'. He hears the explosion of the Watchtower (which is pretty loud considering it came from space) and gets information on Superman's current whereabouts. He calls the big guy out and prepares to kill him, but Shazam intervenes at the last second and Luthor is stopped. Superman, now extremely angry, demands why Luthor did what he did, with Luthor calling his 'peace' a joke before being choked to death. Superman, shocked at the betrayal of a close friend, listens to all the voices of the citizens questioning Superman's actions before screaming and leaving for the Fortress of Solitude.
After the Stryker's Island debacle, the New Regime tries to regroup and figure out how to properly combat the Insurgency. Superman, having been driven even more mad than before, thinks that the populous don't like his protection and decides to have both Metropolis and Gotham City leveled. Shazam, shocked by this idea, tries to talk Superman out of doing it. Unfortunately, when Shazam brings up how Lois wouldn't approve, Superman grabs him by the throat, freezes his mouth so he wouldn't shout out 'SHAZAM' and use the lighting, then uses his heat vision to burn right through Shazam's skull. Considering that Shazam is really a kid turned into a superhero through magic...yeah, Superman has crossed the horizon faster than a speeding bullet. So as most of the New Regime leaves to carry out new missions, Yellow Lantern and Flash stay behind along with Solomon Grundy to prepare the mind-controlled Doomsday and bury Shazam. Flash, deciding that enough is enough, fights off both Yellow Lantern and Solomon Grundy, swearing off the New Regime and joining the Insurgency.
As the Flash speeds towards Gotham City (managing to find the Insurgency's location here), he takes a side trip to stop Sinestro and New Regime forces from executing soldiers who quit the Regime. After that fight, he finally finds the Insurgency and meets up with our Green Arrow, though the meeting isn't too friendly to start with. After Flash beats Green Arrow, he explains how he isn't here to fight for the New Regime, but instead to stop their mad agenda.
After the Flash explains everything to the Regime, the AU Batman decides to send all the heroes back to our universe. However, our Batman thinks we could instead bring their Superman to fight. Before an agreement could be reached, members of the Regime launch a surprise attack. They end up fighting, with Wonder Woman taking down Bane before getting teleported to Themyscira. Apparently, Ares did it and, given the animosity Wonder Woman has to the Ares in her universe, fights him. Before the fight goes on for too long, Ares explains how the New Regime intends to use the Amazons as part of the destruction of Metropolis and Gotham City. Ares brought Wonder Woman to stop them, though the conflict would spur back his powers, it would only be temporarily if the New Regime succeeds. He leaves Wonder Woman to stop the Amazons, but Raven appears to fight her as well. Realizing that Raven is serving not only Superman, but also the demonic Trigon (interdimensional monster on grand scale...as well as father), she beats Raven before confronting the Amazons.
Down in the harbors of Themyscira, the two Wonder Women meet and fight, exchanging blows and words on how to properly deal with 'the world of man'. The Wonder Woman of our universe succeeds and manages to convince the other Amazons to stop the New Regime once and for all. However, the plan is already underway, with Superman and Doomsday dealing with Metropolis and the rest of the New Regime tackling Gotham City. At the Batcave, the AU Batman tries to have the other heroes teleported out of his universe to try and save them, but some words of wisdom (as well as a good ol' fight between the two) makes him relent and bring in the Superman from our universe.
Once there, Superman and Batman get a plan together to help stop the violence in Gotham City before heading out to Metropolis. Despite initial worry, AU Batman says he is glad to see a more noble Superman once more. Back in Gotham City, the heroes are getting their asses kicked, but Superman's arrival turns the tide. He manages to ground Black Adam and depower Sinestro, even convincing Yellow Lantern to remove his own ring without a fight.
Swithcing over to Metropolis, the Atlantean army is helping with the destruction, with AU Aquaman leading the charge. Of course, Superman arrives on the scene as well, this time with Wonder Woman and the Amazons beside him. The Amazons take care of the Atlanteans (Flashpoint reference FTW), while Superman stops AU Aquaman. However, Doomsday sideswipes the Kryptonian and the two get into a fierce scuffle. Rather than endanger the lives of others, Superman flies himself and Doomsday to the Fortress of Solitude, defeating the monster and trapping him in the Phantom Zone.
No rest of the wicked, apparently, as Regime Superman appears to his counterpart. Our Superman calls him out for his evil behavior, but he doesn't bite, saying how he is 'ruling with fear' and 'Lois would appreciate this' or the like. Our Superman knows that he has gone too far and must be stopped. One climactic battle later, Regime Superman is finally stopped. The other heroes arrive and arrest the dictator right on the spot.
The aftermath has the evil members of the Regime captured and put to jail (including the Flash for his part, but it seems like he will get a lessened sentence), Joker is sent back to our reality, and AU Lex Luthor gets a memorial for his sacrifice. Regime Superman is put in a jail with red solar radiation, weakening his powers dramatically. Our Superman and AU Batman talk a bit, saying how easy it could be for Superman to turn evil, but Batman is sure that Superman wouldn't fall down that path. Otherwise, Batman would personally come to our universe to kick his ass. The story ends with a closing shot of Regime Superman, revealing that he still has a bit of his power left. SEQUEL HOOK!
And that is it for the story of Injustice: Gods Among Us. Alternate realities may seem like the easy way out for most stories that involve canon, but it definitely works out here. There are some parts here that genuinely caught me off guard on what would happen, but in a good way. The characters were pretty fleshed out (though the more screentime they got, the more likely there would be more to their character). My only complaint is the focus of Batman. I know, he is basically the 'Wolverine' of the DC Universe: incredibly popular, so he would need to be featured with a major role in just about everything. If maybe they had someone like Hawkgirl or Shazam take one of the Batmen's places in the story mode, it could've been pretty different and cool. Still, it was a fun romp.
That's it for this review. Until next time...
Injustice: Gods Among Us is owned by Warner Bros Interactive and Netherrealm Studios.
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