On wednesday, november 14th we had the opportunity to talk with Hector Sanchez, producer of Netherrealm Studios and one of the people behind Injustice: Gods Among US. in a news conference he told us about what will make the game stand out and specially what set it apart from franchises like Mortal Kombat.
One of the differences Injustice will have is violence, because we can't imagine how would it be to do a fatality on superman or wonder woman. we also won't see the x-ray effect and there won't be gore in general because it just doesn't have place. Instead there will be other details that complement it, like cinematic scenes for each character that activates with their special moves and relate to their stories.
Another detail it's the sage, even if we are used that they have interactive elements, in Injustice these elements will vary between each character. For example superman can pick up a car and smash it on the opponent, while nightwing can use it to jump higher. These elements also can be used to keep control of the stage, having the option of using weapons like proyectiles from the batmobile to keep the opponent at a safe distance.
In Injustice there will be between 20 and 30 characters, both superheroes and villains. It's promised that diversity will be balanced, something that failed in past titles of Mortal Kombat. Between the characters that we can see there's Green Arrow, who haves both ranged and close combat attacks, while others like Superman have much heavier attacks. The mix of abilities is loyal to the character from which they come and this has been taken into consideration for comic book fans and fighting game mechanics.
About game experience and downloadable content he told us 2 things that will make the fans very happy. We were told that the gaming experience will be equal for each console, although the controller changes for the Wii U for obvious reasons. About DLCs we can expect several things, but costumes won't be part of them and they will be able to get in a free way through achievements in the game. the downloadable content will be used to add what simply they didn't have the time to include before launch.
Later we had the opportunity to interview him personally. Getting deeper in what separates Injustice from Mortal Kombat he said that the mechanics are very similar, although insisting in that violence will not be like we have seen it before. This game is directed to a more casual public and takes into account that the fighting game community and people who read comics are a group considerably small comparing to others. That is why they mix qualities that can be attractive to both groups and are faithful to the DC brand without losing essence of a good fighting game.
Between his favorite characters there are Catwoman and Green Arrow due to how versatile they are, although he admits that he feels a special emotion for one of he can't talk about yet, but is seen like inferior by many and only with that we can have an idea of who he is. He also comments that character diversity will be attractive to everyone.
Finally we ask if we will see more games with this type of theme in the future. To this he responded us that it depends, that even if that is a fresh idea they have to see how will fans receive it. Nothing stops it from becoming a franchise, as long as it haves the necessary support. This could also take it to competitive gaming, because even if it haves a more casual approach, Hector affirms that it haves all the elements to become a tournament game.
Injustice: Gods Among Us it's progammed to be released on April of next year. It's premise make us think what would happen if superheroes were evil, even if tomorrow the joker would decide to become good. Although they don't want to tell us about the story, it's promised to bring an original proposal that it hopes it will be accepted by fans of DC and Netherrealm Studios.
