Between Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War, 2016 is the year of “superhero vs. superhero.” 2017 will continue that trend with the release of Injustice 2 from NetherRealm and Warner Bros. We got a chance to talk to the cast and creators of the sequel to the 2013 smash hit at SDCC. As with any followup, the goal is to outdo the original and give gamers a new experience while not taking away from what they loved about the title in the first place. Let’s hear how Injustice 2 tries to achieve that.
Ed Boon, co-creator of Mortal Kombat and creative director of NetherRealm Studios talked about the new “gear” system that will be part of the game. After each match, and as a player’s experience increases, they will receive various game drops that they can add to their character’s costume. There could be a gauntlet that increases Batman’s defense, or an S-Shield that helps Superman do more environment damage.
“You are not only crafting a different gameplay with your character, but you are also creating a new look for that character,” Boon said. “So when you go online with YOUR Batman, it’s going to look different from your opponent’s because it’s your own customized design.” Just like in the previous game, most characters will have different costumes based on their different iterations. Between that and the new gear system, the versions of characters you can face seem endless.
The previous game had a total of 30 characters if you include DLC. While not giving a specific number, Boon did guarantee we will see more characters in Injustice 2, and that each one would have an integral part to its even bigger story. That led to another reveal. Tom Taylor, writer of the Injustice comic book for DC was there to announce that he’ll now be writing the Injustice 2 comic. Both Boon and Taylor see the Injustice saga as four parts: The two games and the two comics leading up to the respective games. Taylor is excited about this “multi-media” experience this gives fans. What happens in the Injustice 2 comic will be referenced during the game. This enhances the player’s experience by giving them more than one platform to gain that full immersion into this vision of the DC Universe.
Did we mention new characters? Yes, we did. Along with the returning Wonder Woman, it was announced today that Blue Beetle will a part of the game. You can check out both characters and some of their move sets in the video above.
Another new character previously announced to be joining the ranks will be Supergirl, voiced by Laura Bailey (Critical Role). While she couldn’t give specifics, Laura is very excited with the arc Kara Zor-El has within the game. Taylor also added that “Supergirl’s backstory in this universe is very important to where both the comic and game take players.”
Now, while having a plethora of new characters is definitely a plus, making sure the already established characters are represented well is equally as important. Thanks to returning stars Phil LaMarr and George Newburn as Aquaman and Superman respectively, that job looks accomplished. Phil is always happy to play Aquaman as he’s “finally a badass. He’s the King of the Seas. He’s in charge of 75% of the Earth. Plus, he can feed you to a shark.” He was very happy with what he’s seen from Aquaman so far with the new game: “They were able to top getting eaten by a shark.”
George enjoys the duality he gets to portray. In the first game, Superman is given a choice, and the character is portrayed as if he made both the right and wrong ones. He went on to say that if fans loved how rich the story was in the first game, then they are going to love how much deeper the sequel will take them.
From new characters to the new gear system to a bigger story, Injustice 2 definitely looks to be something to see in 2017 on both PS4 and XBOX One.
So what do you think? Are you as excited as we are for Injustice 2? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.
Images: NetherRealm
