Injustice: Gods Among Us has touched down on the iOS store a couple of weeks before the full console version of Injustice: Gods Among Us starts making waves on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U.
Injustice: Gods Among Us on iOS is a free-to-play title, so there’s no need to spend any cash to get a taster of what’s to come later this month, though as is standard with free-to-play games, in-game purchases are encouraged.
Gameplay
Injustice: Gods Among Us is a typical fighting game with some not so typical features. Instead of having buttons to mash you’ll be swiping and tapping the screen to attack or defend against your enemies. The controls work well and on the iPad 2 it was smooth and responsive thanks in part to the large screen. I can’t say for certain, but I imagine playing on the smaller screen of the iPhone 4 or iPhone 5 would get a little troublesome and you’d miss out on the visuals by having your hands blocking large parts of the screen, something that isn’t an issue on the iPad 2’s screen.
As well as tapping and swiping the screen, there’s another unconventional addition to the fighter formula: card play. Each character is represented via a card that can be levelled up (paying real world money will move this along a lot quicker) and there’s more to unlock, you just need to put in the hours, something that won’t be easily done in a day.
The mechanics all work together to form a competent if at times irksome game. Making dents in the collectibles gets tiresome after a while and you’ll realise that money really does make the world go around. It’s not bad though, for a free game there’s a lot of fun to be had and if you want more, you just pay a little extra.
Graphics & Sound
Graphically, Injustice: Gods Among Us is more than good enough to look at. Don’t expect visuals to be on-par with the full release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 or Wii U, but for a free mobile game, you can’t complain. Characters look fantastic and move well around the arena as you engage in some 3-on-3 super-combat, spitting out some super-banter. You’ll definitely see a few jagged edges, you’ll even see some dodgy animations at times, but it’s for free and you’re not obliged to pay anything. The sound effects are serviceable and let you know when you’ve landed a particularly good combo with the appropriate crunches and belting music.
Summary
For a free game you can’t go wrong. It’s an easy time waster to get stuck into when you’re without anything else to do. You’ll find yourself cursing the in-game purchases, but at the end of the day you know what free-to-play means by now. Injustice: Gods Among Us is a solid fighter and requires a bit more thinking than your usual super-duper-awesome-55,000-hit-combo Street Fighter games. Enjoy.
Final Score: 8.0/10 – Super. Worth the space on your iOS device, may even be worth sinking a few quid into if you really get into it.
Tested on iPad 2.
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