"It's a Video Game!" - Injustice: Gods Among Us

Welcome to a new segment called "It's a Video Game!" To be honest, that's just a working title for now. I really didn't want to use the term "Video Game Talk," so I'll just stick with this title for now.

When I was younger, I used to love fighting games like Tekken, Street Fighter, and that puddle of blood called Mortal Kombat. I have to say that I haven't been much into these types of games in a long time. I basically lost interest in them and have been playing games that have a more of an adventure or role playing feel to them. That changed when I heard about this game. I was even more excited for it when I heard it was being done by Netherrealm, the developers of the Mortal Kombat games. This game (and another I'll get to one day) is probably the first PS3 game I've bought for full price. Was my money well spent? Just Guess.



Pros

Yes, this happens and it is AWESOME!

• Great fighting mechanics - The gameplay itself works fine. You have a lot of characters from the DCU to choose from. They all have those characters' likes and powers. All of the characters also come with a Super Move and some of them are pretty awesome. For example, Superman knocks someone into space and Batman throws everything including the Batmobile at the opponent. Another thing that's pretty cool is the levels. Not only do they include a lot of Easter Eggs, but they are also interactive. My favorite interactive parts is when you get accosted by the inmates of Arkham Asylum.
• Nice Story - The main story for the game is pretty decent. On another Earth, Superman goes mad when the Joker essentially tricked him into killing Lois (and their unborn baby) and destroying Metropolis. After he kills the Joker (yep), he and other heroes take a more intrusive stance against injustice. Since Batman is the only hero left to stop them, he pulls heroes from the normal DC Universe in order to stop the evil regime. The story itself feels like a combination of the story JLA: Earth 2 and the Justice League episode "A Better World." In story mode, you get to play with a lot of the characters as the story advances and that was pretty cool. One thing that makes the story work is the banter between everyone in it. We even get a reason on why someone like Nightwing can beat the crap out of someone like Doomsday.
• Different fighting modes - As you get further in the game, you'll be able to unlock a lot of different modes. You can do things like fight with little health, fight everyone set at the hardest level, or fight all  the villains.
• Nice Extra Content - You end up getting some pretty decent extra content. You get extra costumes (that don't cost money to get!), renderings to levels and characters, and different objects for your online settings. 
• Nice Online Play - The online section is pretty cool. You have a lot of fields out there. There's One-on-One fighting, King of the Hill, Survival, and Ranked fights. I'll go on and admit that my gaming skills aren't that good. out of about 500 rounds, I've won about 150. There are just better players out there and I don't play as much these days. It gets fun, annoying, and even suspenseful at times. The characters I've used the most have been Superman (of course) and Shazam.
• STAR Labs Missions- This section is okay. Basically, this is one way of getting XP Points and extra content. You're able to use one character to complete a set of objectives. Some parts are pretty easy while others are hard to beat. It's actually one section I really haven't touch in a long time. 
• Decent Graphics - For the PS3, the graphics are okay. They're not bad, but they aren't epic either. Some characters look good while a couple (Wonder Woman) look pretty bad.
• Cool Voice-Casting - A lot of the people from shows like Justice League, Teen Titans, and Young Justice come in and voice their characters. That made the game feel a little more authentic. 

Cons

Deathstroke and Sinestro are two characters I hate going up against in online mode.

• Some imbalance with characters - This is something I really ran into with the Online play. You have certain moves from characters that are either unblockable or just get you stuck in the corner with no way out. Deathstroke and Sinestro are the ones who have some of those moves. In one round, some idiot kept using Deathstroke's gun moves and beat me with that. How is that fair when I can't really do anything about it? 
• Online mode sometimes crashes - Online mode has crashed on me at one time or another. You're sometimes in a middle of a fight or at the beginning, and then the session goes dead. It doesn't happen a lot, but it can happen at times. 
• Weird Voice Acting - While a lot of the voice-acting was pretty good, you had a couple of stinkers. I was wondering what was up with Raven's voice. It was really weird. 

Conclusion

Overall, this is a pretty awesome game. I can safely say that is was money well spent. It may not be the greatest fighting game ever, but it's pretty close. Anyone who's a fan of DC will love this. If you're a fan of the game and think you have a chance of kicking my butt, let me know. Well, I'm outta here. Peace out and watch out for Darkseid.

Seriously, that moment is freakin' hilarious.