Let's get this out of the way. NeatherRealm's “Injustice: Gods Among Us” for iOS is a free-to-play game with heaps of in-app purchases. It is a marketing vehicle for the console version of the game which will be released in North America on April 16. However, it's not the IAP or the marketing nature of the game that makes it terrible. Instead, it's the repetitive nature of the combat and lack of direct control of your character that made me want to delete the game from my phone.
“Injustice” iOS has a total of 36 DC Universe characters in it but since it's a card game, the player starts out with just three. Winning fights nets you in-game currency which can be used to buy additional characters as well as support characters who don't actually fight, but provide buffs to your team. The fights are three versus three similar to Capcom's “Marvel Superheroes” with play continuing until all three fighters are knocked out. Every couple of levels there is a boss fight against just one DC hero who will have the stats of three fighters. In addition to buying new characters, the in-game currency is used to buy upgrades for weapons and bonuses for each character. In addition, there is a time mechanism where each character can only fight for so long before needing to rest. Of course, the rest period can be eliminated for a small fee.
Unlike other iOS fighting games like “:Marvel Superheroes” or “Street Fighter Volt” there is no virtual joystick in “Injustice.” Instead, the characters move within fighting range automatically although this can lead to activating super moves that fail to connect because the fighters are too far away from one another. The fighting moves are vastly simplified with input consisting of a series of taps and swipes to trigger moves. Each character has a series of light and heavy attacks that are all performed the same way: three taps on the screen and a swipe or three swipes in one direction. Super moves, which also need to be upgraded, are on the bottom left of the screen and need to be tapped once to activate.
While it is possible to play this game completely for free, why would you want to? After the initial fun of looking at different characters, the repetitive and uninteresting nature of the fighting quickly grows tiring. Neither grinding for coins to buy upgrades or buying random card packs and hoping for the best are fun. Hopefully, the console version of this game isn't as boring.
