INJUSTICE 2 (VERDICT)

Going from concerned to content I find myself greatly enjoying Netherrealm Studio's latest superhero fighting game spin-off. Everything from the story, to the online feels fair enough even though it isn't perfect, yet. There's plenty of rewarding offline content to enjoy each day, and plenty of fun to be had in the online competitive scene as well. Dare I say it, Injustice 2's online feels like a much smoother, and vastly more enjoyable experience than it's predecessor. As far as presentation goes the game itself is gorgeously rendered even on the standard PS4 console. Characters look much more appealing as do the stages, and the many special effects. Speaking of which the story was so cinematic in nature it could have easily been it's own animated film. It is that good. I liked the fact that in the story mode playthrough the player was never once subjected to mini-games. This made the story being told more cohesive, and worthy of the gamers' undivided attention. When it comes down to the details everything that Injustice 2 offered was leaps, and bounds ahead of the first game's content. It's nice to see a developer take fan feedback, and put it into production. I've even noticed that Ed Boon, and his team has tweaked boss fights so that they aren't too terribly oppressive which I'm personally thankful for. As of now Injustice 2 is my current favorite fighter, and I have already willingly sunk many hours into learning my favorite characters, completing the story, and grinding for loot. It's an experience I can easily recommend to any fighting game fan who's looking for that next worthy fighter.

INJUSTICE 2 ~ Day One Impressions

This following impressions article is going to take in account only part of the "INJUSTICE 2" experience as I've yet to spend enough time with all of the features to give any definitive rating, or assessment. I will however go over my thoughts on the new mechanics, the application of the base mechanics, the functionality of the controller in-game as well as my thoughts about the online. I'll even, on a spoiler free level, go over my thoughts of the story ...

MKX XL - Impressions (PS4)

I had seriously thought about not even wasting my time posting an article on my thoughts about this game as my thoughts about MKX XL, and fighting games of the modern age remain pretty much intact despite the addition of new features, and new characters. Even with the new netcode in place in MKX XL it is still a flawed experience due to the developers' oversight when it comes to the problems plaguing competitive online gaming. Why I have to repeat myself so often in regards to this matter is beyond me. I tweet directly to developers with sound advice, and I even send emails about my concerns. None of which is heard, or taken into account. This new generation of online gaming experiences is definitely flawed when it comes to the online portions of said experiences, and MKX XL only serves to echo that fact.

MKX Kontinues To Be Krap

It has been about two weeks since the launch of MKX, and for me the BS just keeps piling up. I'd say at this point we are about knee deep in the "Krap". I've invested hours, and days worth of gameplay time into the game hoping to hell that it would improve, but even with the behind-the-scenes patches being issued it remains the same broken mess that it was since day one. Of course I have discovered new problems, some of which are quite "Koncerning". Among them is the fact that mobile device gamers using the MKX game app can fight online against players on the consoles. I don't know what the hell Netherrealm was thinking making it cross play like that, because obviously playing on a tablet, or mobile device, and playing with a controller on a console are two very different experiences. I'm willing to bet (not really) that the mobile app users can pull things off more easily than someone using an actual controller ...

Let's Talk - "Mortal Kombat X"

I had a lot of hopes riding on the release of 'Mortal Kombat X'. I hoped that it's new character variation system would be a blessing to the fighting game genre, and I hoped that it would revive my faith in the gaming genre that I grew up loving. Unfortunately as I poured hours of time into back to back playthroughs experiencing all that the game had to offer it became evident that MKX was to be another casualty in the growing trend of development half-assery. Everything from the story, to the actual kombat in the offline, and online scenarios suffered a fate worse than death. It was obvious that despite the effort put forth to push the graphics, and to make the variation system work that the game was lacking in so many ways. The roster, for one was so unbalanced with characters doing different amounts of damage per attacks, and throws that it made for a less than fair fight. That coupled with the button input delays in both the offline, and online environments only acted to add salt to the growing wound.