With it still several months until Injustice 2 hits store shelves, we’ve decided to sit down and put together a comprehensive list of everything we know, and everything we think we know, about one of 2017’s most anticipated fighting games. So if you like the DC Universe, the Injustice series, or just fighting games in general, this list is for you.
What we know we know
What is Injustice 2’s story about? Taking place in the alternate dimension from the first game where Superman became High Councilor/ruler of Earth, the bulk of Injustice 2’s story will follow this different timeline’s Batman and his group of insurgents, now acting as the tip of the spear in humanity’s rebuilding efforts. Their main opposition will come from heroes and villains from the DCU who wish to re-instate Superman’s iron fisted rule.
Who can we play as in Injustice 2? So far, 11 characters have been confirmed by NetherRealm Studios:
Aquaman
Atrocitus
Batman
Blue Beetle
Deadshot
Flash
Gorilla Grodd
Harley Quinn
Supergirl
Superman
Wonder Woman
We can speculate as to who else will be in the game, but representatives from the game’s publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, have already gone on record saying this will feature “the biggest DC roster ever offered in a fighting game.” This means we should expect the roster to have more than 30 characters on it, if you count the previous game’s DLC characters.
What gameplay elements are staying the same in Injustice 2? The first Injustice was definitely a winning formula, so a lot of the gameplay is fortunately staying the same. Character traits that can act as mid-battle buffs, or extra projectiles, will return. A favorite new one we’ve seen so far is Atrocitus, who calls on his cat Dexstar (also a Red Lantern) to shoot red energy beams from its tail. Stage transitions and environment interaction also return, and once again depending on the hero, you’ll have different actions. A tank like Gorilla Grodd will pick and throw large objects like cars or debris from the battlefield, while a more nimble hero like Harley Quinn will use it to bounce off and change position within the arena for a more advantageous combat scenario (hopefully).
What changes are coming to gameplay? The biggest change to gameplay is called the “Gear System.” Taking a page out of many action-RPGs, winning battles will reward your character with special gear pro-rated to your player level. Arm, leg, body, and head armor can affect your character in fun and unique ways, making it a rarity for two of the same characters to ever face each other, and doing away almost entirely with the concept of the mirror match. Some gear might make you run faster, other gear might make your attacks stronger, while others still could boost your health. How you mix and match is up to you, but it also has the added bonus of changing your cosmetic appearance, absolutely revolutionizing the idea of fighter customization in a fighting game.
Will Injustice 2 have a tie-in comic book like the original game? Confirmed by comic book writer Tom Taylor at SDCC 2016, NetherRealm is again working closely with DC Comics to put out a comic book that will bridge the narrative gap between the end of Injustice and the start of Injustice 2. Taylor, who was instrumental to the comic book series that detailed the events leading up to the original Injustice, also said he would be involved with this project. The comics will first be released digitally on a weekly basis via retailers like ComiXology, Kindle, and DC’s own mobile app, with proper print versions coming later.
The Basics (skip)
Who is making Injustice 2? Injustice 2 is being developed by NetherRealm Studios, the developer of the first game and the minds behind the Mortal Kombat series. NetherRealm Studios used to be developer/publisher Midway games, but was reformed under publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment after Midway went bankrupt several years ago. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is what is allowing NetherRealm to use the DC Universe intellectual properties, since their parent company, Warner Bros., also owns DC Comics.
What platforms is the game launching on? Injustice 2 will launch simultaneously for Xbox One and PS4. A PC version has not been ruled out, but will likely come sometime after the initial launch of the console versions of the game considering the issues NetherRealm has had with getting their games onto PCs in the past. There will also be an alternate version of the game released for iOS and Android devices similar to the original Injustice mobile game at the same time as the Xbox One and PS4 versions.
Where can I see the Injustice 2 announcement trailer? Originally released in June of 2016, you can watch the trailer right here:
When will Injustice 2 release? Originally, the game was rumored to have a March/April 2017 release, a similar window to when the first game came out. Then the SAG-AFTRA strike happened and now we’re getting conflicting reports that Injustice 2’s voice work was or was not finished depending on who you believe. Considering WBIE was on SAG-AFTRA’s list of companies being boycott, if the case is the latter, Injustice 2 might be delayed past that early 2017 window. Another bad sign is the fact most places now have the game listed as TBD 2017, a change from what originally was said as early as October. Also, the game was noticeably absent from December’s PSX show, despite WBIE having a presence there. Should the voice acting be finished, however, there’s little reason to believe it won’t hit that initial early 2017 window, but with no definitive statement from WBIE or NetherRealm, only time will truly tell.
What we think we know
What Injustice 2 characters haven’t been offiically announced? It was a big deal when Blue Beetle was announced and shown off at SDCC 2016. Before that, however, creative director Ed Boon had done a poll wanting to know what characters players most wanted to see beforehand on Twitter. Those three characters were Swamp Thing, Captain Cold, and Blue Beetle. A few weeks later, we had Blue Beetle at SDCC, who barely edged out ol’ Swampy by three percentage points in the poll. It’s our suspicion that Boon wouldn’t have put these three characters out there if he wasn’t ready to show them all off at SDCC potentially. So, it’s pure speculation on our part, but the odds of Swamp Thing as a potential tank character, and Captain Cold replacing Killer Frost as the game’s main cryomancer, seem like strong bets.
What arenas will be in Injustice 2? With lots of new characters lining up to be added to Injustice 2’s roster, it’s only fitting that there would be a few new arenas as well to represent them. This means new environments to interact with and walls to smash opponents through. What those new maps are is yet to be seen, however. We’d love to see the Red Lantern planet of Ysmault for Atrocitus, or Gorilla City for Gorilla Grodd, though.
What’s Injustice 2‘s story mode like? Besides the basic plotline, we haven’t been told anything about Story Mode yet. It’d be shocking to see it deviate any from the chapter-based gameplay from NetherRealm’s past three games, though. One interesting wrinkle that could be added, and we wouldn’t mind seeing, is the MKX meta-faction based gameplay. Wouldn’t it be awesome to say you were part of the Bat-family, or one of Superman’s Pals?
Will the iOS/Android version of Injustice 2 be similar to the mobile version of Injustice? We don’t know a lot about the mobile version of Injustice 2, but the first game hit on a winning formula, so it’d be surprising if anything major with the gameplay changed with this new one. Expect characters that can’t fit in the main game to be available here (like Darkseid was only in the mobile version of the first game), the card system of unlocking characters, and the tap-happy gameplay that would get your heroes to fight on your mobile screen.
Will Injustice 2 be a part of EVO in 2017? This really ties into the release date. The first Injustice and the two previous MK games had strong presences at EVO, so we are confident that Injustice 2 will be a part of the EVO lineup for all you potential eSports players out there. Whether or not it will be in 2017 all depends on when the game comes out. If it slips past its rumored late March-early April release, it will likely miss the cutoff for eligibility and would have to wait for 2018 to join fighting games’ biggest show of the year.
What we still want to know
What is the full roster of Injustice 2 fighters? We can speculate until we’re blue in the face, and probably guess correctly in a few cases by looking at potential clues from previous announcements and the first game. Scarecrow made a cameo in the first game like Gorilla Grodd and Beast Boy and Red Hood have both been mentioned on Ed Boon’s Twitter account. These are just some examples of “maybes”, but the truth is we really won’t know who is in the game, and how they tie together, until NetherRealm makes another official announcement, which likely won’t happen at this point until right before the game’s launch.
Will Injustice 2 have crossover characters from Mortal Kombat or other series? While this could fall under the full roster question, it’s worthy of its own spotlight. Since Mortal Kombat 9, NetherRealm has been adding crossover characters into their games when Kratos and Freddy Krueger joined that game’s roster. Injustice then had Scorpion from MK, and MKX had a bunch of other classic movie characters like Jason from Friday the 13th, and Alien and Predator. The rumor mill has been projecting Sub-Zero might pop his head into the DC Universe, but with many signs pointing to Captain Cold joining the roster, too, two cryo-themed characters could be overkill. So, if NetherRealm continues the pattern, where will they draw from, and who from outside the DCU is worthy of a spot in Injustice?
If you follow Ed Boon on Twitter, one possibility for this is the famous Watchmen graphic novel. Nite Owl might be too much like Batman-lite, but Rorschach or even Dr. Manhattan could have some special moves that we would love to see. Another potential crossover according to Ed Boon’s Twitter is Todd McFarlane’s Spawn character, which helped launch Image Comics. Spawn’s hell-based powers would be a unique addition to the roster, yet still fit in with the crazy comic book world of Injustice. Maybe, we’ll get all of these characters.
Will S.T.A.R. Labs Mode return in Injustice 2? We know there will be a Story Mode and we know there will be both offline and online versus gameplay, but one of the unsung modes from the first Injustice that could really help players learn a character was the S.T.A.R. Labs mode. This side mode fills the gap Injustice has because you can’t do MK’s Krypt mode here (it wouldn’t make sense). We’ve yet to hear anything about this mode potentially returning, but I think it’d be a mistake to leave it behind. These 300 challenges would offer chances for unique gameplay you couldn’t fit in the main game and really helped put your skills to the test in another fun offline mode.
Will there be an Injustice 2 beta? Once again, the Ed Boon Twitter account remains the most consistent and accurate source of Injustice 2 information. Although many fans are clamoring for the chance to play the game a little early, Boon has only said there’s “a chance” that there would be a beta of any sort. Obviously, this isn’t a definitive statement at all and the hope would be that there is, so that come launch day, all the online components are ready and raring to go for those who might want to go pro in the game.
Will there be an Injustice 2 demo? One of the few things Ed Boon hasn’t really talked about yet is if there’s no beta, would there at least be a demo. After all, if the fans can’t test the online aspects, could they at least whet their appetite with a few characters, like maybe the six that were shown when the game was first announced at E3 2016? Again, WBIE was oddly quiet at the last convention of the year at PSX 2016, but the hope is they will tell us soon either way.
How will Injustice 2‘s multiplayer work with the new gear system? It seems that every game genre is trying to cram RPG elements into their designs now, and Injustice 2 and fighting games are no different with this new armor system. While the idea of customizing each of your fighters so no two fighters are the same seems like a natural evolution of the three fighting styles of each fighter we saw in MKX, it could provide some major issues when it comes to balancing of online play. Ed Boon has said that the online balance is important to him, and that NetherRealm is considering both a ranked mode with armor, and a ranked mode with every fighter’s base level stats, which seems like a must for potential tournament play down the line. Whatever solution they come up with, anyone with a competitive bone in their body hopes to find out sooner rather than later.