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Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Review for PlayStation 4 (PS4)

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Review for PlayStation 4 (PS4)

A DLC Pack in Disc Form

At this point, we have come to expect fighting games to re-release in new versions. It’s a tradition that started as far back as Street Fighter II and its Super, Turbo, and Hyper editions. So no one was really surprised when a new version of Injustice: Gods Among Us , called Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition , came out not even a year after the game’s original release. If it’s good enough for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 , it’s good enough for NetherRealm and the DC Universe. But is Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition worth picking up if you’ve already purchased the original?

No. No it isn’t. Normally, we go through a huge back and forth comparison of the merits and flaws of the new version compared to the old, but Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition really isn’t a new version at all. Instead, it could be more accurately described as Injustice: Gods Among Us “HAH YOU BOUGHT DLC” Edition .

Yes, Ultimate Edition is essentially the same game that came out earlier this April, only with all the DLC included. It’s only been three months or so since the last Injustice character, Zatanna, was available for purchase. Now, you can get every additional character, every new costume, and every S.T.A.R. Labs mission for the same price as the full game when it originally released. Needless to say, this is bound to piss off people who paid nearly $120 to stay current with the game’s DLC as it came out.

There are some people who this version of the game will appeal to. Anyone who purchased the original version without picking up any DLC is getting a decent deal here. It’s not that much better than picking up the DLC piecemeal, but it’s something.

In addition, Ultimate Edition marks the first time the game appears on PC and PS Vita platforms. The PC platform version is probably the biggest reason to get Ultimate Edition , as it has entirely re-worked netcode, which will be huge for people who take their online matches seriously. The PS Vita version is OK and falls in line with what you have come to expect from Vita fighting games. The graphics are fine, and the game responds well. It’s essentially identical to the console version. The only difference is that the Vita version comes with touch-screen controls, but these are really more of a gimmick than a reliable way to play the game. Ultimate Edition will also be available on the PS4, and we will cover that when the console launches, but the only notable differences that have been advertised are a graphics overhaul and touch-pad controls, and once again, touch controls for fighting games just aren’t reliable.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Screenshot

The DLC characters are pretty cool though, and if you haven’t checked them out, they are worth a look. Batgirl is a pure rushdown character. She has a lot of aerial moves and ways to control her on-screen position. Her superhero trait allows her to control whether or not she does more damage on hit or block, which allows her to absolutely wreck turtlers. The only real way to reliably beat Batgirl is to get in and do damage before she does the same to you.

Lobo Is more of a straightforward bruiser character. While he does have a shotgun and chains, these aren’t used to deal damage as much as they are used to get in and start combos. He can also dodge projectiles with his dash, which makes getting in on zoners a little bit easier. His superhero trait loads nuclear shells into his shotgun, increasing the power of moves that utilize it. That being said, his shotgun moves are kind of scattered throughout his move-list, so it’s kind of a catch-all “load a shell if you can” ability.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Screenshot

Zod was considered very powerful when he first released. His superhero trait allows him to call on a wraith from the phantom zone. The wraith stays behind the opponent and attacks when Zod commands it to. This allows Zod to set up sandwich combos, which deal a ton of damage. He’s not quite a traditional shadow character, as you can’t move the wraith independently of yourself, but he’s certainly a good introduction to the playstyle.

The Martian Manhunter has the ability to stretch his limbs into different forms, but only when his superhero trait is active. This allows him to set up combo opportunities that he may not have had originally due to the increased hit-boxes of his attacks. He can also insert this ability in the middle of combos as a sort of makeshift cancel.

Zatanna is an incredibly interesting character with a trait that totally changes her fighting style. When she puts on her hat and takes out her wand, she can no longer dash, jump, crouch, or block, essentially rendering her almost immobile. However, her attacks become very powerful and have vastly increased range. They also have the ability to put the opponent into different types of hit-stun and work incredibly well as reset set-ups. She is perhaps the most interesting character of the bunch.

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition Screenshot

Finally, there is Scorpion, a guest character from Mortal Kombat . When Scorpion first released, he was incredibly problematic. His teleports gave him free mix-ups and allowed him to get the opponent into vortex situations that could quickly deplete a foes entire health bar. He has since been de-fanged, however, and is far easier to handle. Still, he is very newbie friendly and is one of the first characters I suggest picking up if you should drop the cash for Ultimate Edition .

Speaking of defanging, Ultimate Edition starts the game off at its most current patched version. This means that a lot of the easier to abuse tactics from the game’s early days no longer apply. Character damage has been normalized to around 30% without meter with even the best combos. Stage transitions no longer do different amounts of damage per stage. Spammable moves now have cooldown that prevents them from being spammed, and characters who were getting near 100% combos have had either their damage or their hit-stun tweaked. It’s a far fairer version now than it was before.

That being said, nearly everything I have discussed in the last few paragraphs is available in the original version of the game. You can just pick up the DLC characters, download the balance patches, and even download the new S.T.A.R. Lab Missions and costumes if you really want to. On the upside, this means that NetherRealm isn’t squeezing you for money the way that Capcom and Arc System Works did when they released Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Blazblue Continuum Shift EX respectively. But on the downside, this means there is virtually no reason to pick up this game if you already picked up the original. So Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition is a great buy if, and only if, you missed the original release. That’s great for a very small portion of the gaming community, but is a total pass for the rest of us.

NEXT-GEN UPDATE

Injustice: Ultimate Edition hasn’t been changed much for the PS4. As far as graphics go, every character is using the same type of model that they did for the PS3 and Xbox 360 version. It’s not like the sports games that literally use entirely different character models for current and next-gen versions of the game. As a result, it’s hard to tell the differences. The game does seem “smoother,” but this is because it runs at a native 1080p. It’s not actually running at a higher frame rate or anything. In fact, that would wreak havoc on the game’s frame data if it did. It’s still 60 FPS.

The PS4 version does have touchpad controls, but I’d like to reiterate that these are actually just gimmicks. There is no way to reliably control a fighting game with a touch pad. The PS4 controller does a decent enough job as a fighting game controller. The sticks are far more responsive than the PS3 controllers are. The buttons feel less squishy as well. Unfortunately, don’t expect all your PS3 fight sticks to work on the PS4 version right out of the box, especially if they are customized.

There’s not much reason to get the PS4 version of Injustice: Gods Among Us over the PS3 version. But then again, the PS4 version is part of Sony’s digital upgrade program that lets you get an incredibly discounted version of the game if you already own it for the PS3. So there’s also not a whole lot of reason not to upgrade considering how cheap it is. As more arcade sticks come out for the PS4, it is going to become a powerhouse for fighting games, especially because of its built-in streaming capabilities. My personal suggestion is to buy the PS3 version and shell out a couple extra bucks for the PS4 version. That way you can safely play on whatever version is more popular at the time.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.2 Graphics
Nothing has really changed here. The graphics are still quite good, even on the Vita version. 2.1 Control
Ultimate Edition still suffers from the unfortunate control problems the original suffers from. 4.2 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Good voice acting. Good Music. They really do manage to capture the essence of DC Comics here. 2.8 Play Value
The game isn’t bad, there’s just no reason to pick it up if you already picked up the original version. 3.0 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 – 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 – 2.9 = Average 3.5 – 3.9 = Good 4.5 – 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 – 2.4 = Poor 3.0 – 3.4 = Fair 4.0 – 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

  • Six new characters including Lobo, Martian Manhunter, Zatanna, Zod, and Batgirl.
  • 40 character costumes.
  • 60 additional S.T.A.R. Labs Missions.

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