Superhot and Injustice 2 on PS4 round out the PS Plus Essential lineup for October 2022

If you didn't pick up Hot Wheels Unleashed at launch (and recent sales didn't tempt you), then October should be a good month for PlayStation Plus. Milestone's well-liked arcade racing game joins the lineup for PS Plus Essential subscribers alongside NetherRealm's superhero fighter Injustice 2 and the minimalist action-shooter classic Superhot.

You can follow those links and c?laim the games starting on Tuesday, October 4.

Hot Wheels Unleashed has some cool locations, complete with nostalgic plastic orange tracks, and the cars look authentic, too. The main hangup is the way they're unlocked (through loads of DLC and loot boxes), and while those complaints still stand, getting acc???ess to the base game with your PlayStation Plus subscription eases the tension a bit.

I'm not sure where you're at with general superhero fatigue in 2022, and Injustice 2 feels like a short lifetime ago, but it's the kind of broad-appeal fighter that makes sense for the PS Plus audience.?? (There's a story mode.) Been there, don??e that? I feel you.

[caption id="attachment_346186" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{Superhot is super replayable. You can always fight better.}
[/caption]

As for Superhot, it's a game about looking cool with a novel time-moves-when-you-do mechanic powering cinematic shootouts and other crazed action scenes. A classic FPS, though I'm sure plenty of you would've preferred?? getting the VR edition instead.

Obligatory reminder in case it slipped your mind: you have until October 3 to claim Need for Speed Heat, Granblue Fantasy: Versus, and Toem. If you're a completionist �or could be, under the right circumstances �then I'd also suggest snagging the free Keys to the Map for Need for Speed Heat while you're at it??. It'll fill in the collectible locations.

According to Sony, the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium game additions for October will be shared "later this month." More classics this time, please! Like, a lot more.

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What if Superman... was EVIL?

It has been revealed that Warner Bros. Animation is currently in the midst of producing an animated adaptation of the DC Comics/NetherRealm Studios fighting franchise, Injustice.

The project was unceremoniously revealed in a press release listing the special features for WB's next animated feature Batman: The Long Halloween - Part II. One of the aforementioned bonus items is titled "A sneak peek at the next DC animated movie: Injustice," which somewhat give??s the game away ahead of any official announcement.

Injustice: Gods Among Us, which launched for multiple formats back in 2013, saw DC's finest heroes and villains square off in a fighting fashion akin to that of NRS' own Mortal Kombat. Boasting over-the-top super moves, a unique control system, and some of the ugliest faces ever to grace gaming, Injustice told the story of two distinct DC universes that collide in a battle that could annihilate them both. Injustice was followed by superior sequel Injustice 2 in 2017 a?nd also spawned a comic book adaptation.

Warner Bros. and NetherRealm have never been shy in cross-promotion, and often work together to time content — particularly DLC guest characters — to synchronize with incoming movies. With that in mind, some have taken the reveal of an Injustice flick as a clear signpost that a new Injustice game is in the works. While that seems a relatively snug assumption, a lot is currently up in the air at Warner Bros. Interactive, following the recent AT&T/Discovery merger. For now, all bets are off regarding Warner Bros. Interactive and its subsidiary studios.

Batman: The Long Halloween - Part II will premiere on streaming platforms July 27.

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Roster tweaks and Bat-bugs stomped

The April patch is live for DC Comics crossover fighter Injustice 2. Taking the ??game to Version 1.19, the new update fixes a host of in-game problems and makes individual balances twe??aks to just under half the game's expansive roster of heroes and rogues.

T??he in-game changes include the ability to regenerate Story Mode gear to level 30, adjusting the conditions of certain tutorial missions, adjusting a bug that saw loot box unlocks lean toward Hellboy and Black Manta, as well as other minor UI and text fixes across the board.

As for the guys and gal?s themselves, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have had numerous tweaks to the attributes of their special attacks. Firestorm, Captain Cold and Doctor Fate have also received numerous frame adjustments. The full list of Version 1.19's changes can be seen below.

General Gameplay Adjustments

• Move list corrections and improvements to AI logic
• Fixed an issue with progress tracking on page 3 of Legendary Multiverses
• Made UI Improvements to Infinite Transforms
• Inventory advanced gear filter can now sort up to level 30
• Fixed an issue that was causing some players loot drops to favor Black Manta or Hellboy gear over other characters
• The missing level 30 Augments which increase Defense are now available (Tank, Steamroller, Juggernaut)
• Gear earned in Story Mode can now be regenerated past level 20 up to level 30
• Changed Level 30 Base Health of Cyborg, Supergirl, Starfire, and Enchantress to 1175 (from 1100)
• Fixed some Text & Grammar issues in Learn Mode
• Adjusted the conditions for the finals tasks in Advanced Blocking Tutorial and Corner Combo Tutorial to be more consistent
• Character Tutorials will no longer sometimes award rewards when they are skipped
• Fixed a soft lock that could occur after disconnecting a controller during a character tutorial demo and then skipping the lesson after reconnecting the controller

Stage Specific Adjustments

• Fixed some Background Interactions being throw immune during their recovery frames

Character Specific Adjustments

• Atom - Fixed a rare bug where Making Matter Gear Ability could leave a lingering visual
• Atom - When Atom's Legendary is equipped there is now a button prompt for interacts that he can use

• Batman - Fixed bug that could cause Mechanical Bats to appear during the victory screen

• Black Adam - Lightning Strike MeterBurn base damage is now 15.4 (from 19.3) and it is no longer throw immune
• Black Adam - The 2^nd and 3^rd hit of Lightning Strike MeterBurn will no longer hit airborne opponents outside of juggles
• Black Adam - Fixed a rare bug that could prevent the opponent from getting a first hit bonus while Orbs of Seth Character Power is active

• Black Manta - Slightly reduced backdash distance
• Black Manta - Speared And Seared (Supermove) now does 36.7 base damage (down from 40.1)

• Captain Cold - Cold Blast MeterBurn recovery 10 frames faster, has 5 less frames of block stun, and causes a bigger reaction on hit
• Captain Cold - Ice-Solated (Away + Medium, Hard) now hits mid and had its hit region adjusted
• Captain Cold - Prison Break (Away + Medium, Hard, Medium) has 2 more active frames, 9 less recovery, is +4 on block (up from +2) and had its hit region adjusted
• Captain Cold - Legendary Augment "Cyclotron Charge" recharge rate is now affected by Flash's character power

• Deadshot - Wrist Cannon, Trick Shot, Bullet Barrage, and Low Wrist Cannon Gear Ability have 5 less recovery frames while character power is active

• Dr Fate - Displacer Orb Meter Burn duration is now 180 frames (down from 240)
• Dr Fate - Amon Ra Blast now does 6 base damage (down from 7)
• Dr Fate - Apophis Blast now does 8 base damage (down from 9)
• Dr Fate - Fixed bug that caused the 4 piece set bonus for “Fate Reborn” and “The Finery of Order” healing amounts to be larger than intended

• Firestorm - Adjusted hit region of Short Burst (Down + Light)
• Firestorm - Atomic Burst MeterBurn has 5 less frames of block stun and slightly increased damage scaling
• Firestorm - Molten Trap has 5 less hit advantage, 5 less block stun, and 3 more recovery frames on miss
• Firestorm - Molten Trap Meter Burn has 13 less hit advantage, and 5 more recovery frames on miss
• Firestorm - Fusion Charge has 3 more recovery frames on block and no longer shakes the camera upon landing

• Gorilla Grodd - Reduced length of jump forward, backward, & up by 2 frames
• Gorilla Grodd - Slightly increased initial step forward and step backward speed
• Gorilla Grodd - Stampede Cancel now has a more distinct animation and recovers 2 frames faster

• Hellboy - Slightly reduced hit region of Up Devil’s Revolver

• Joker - While Character Power is active Joker takes reduced hit damage and greatly reduced block damage relative to the HA level

• Red Hood - Slightly adjusted Hit Region of Quick Strike (Down + Light)

• Scarecrow - Fixed bug that could cause Terror Charge Gear Ability to have lingering visual effects when interrupted

• Starfire - No longer throw immune during some of the recovery frames of Starbolt MeterBurn

• TMNT - Practice mode AI Reversal and Wakeup Attack order is now consistent with other characters
• TMNT - (Air) Shellicopter MB can now be performed while (Air) Shellicopter and Shell Slide Gear Abilities are equipped on the same loadout
• TMNT (Donatello) - Bo-llistic MeterBurn Gear Ability can no longer be clashed
• TMNT (Leonardo) - Michelangelo’s Turtle Power assist can no longer be parried by high projectile parries
• TMNT (Leonardo) - Fixed bug preventing Michelangelo’s and Raphael’s Turtle Power assist from being performed by holding forward or back when Donatello’s Turtle Power assist is on cooldown
• TMNT (Michelangelo) - COWABUNGA Character Power attack can now be parried by low parries

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That Harley Quinn x Orko moment you've been waiting for

DC Comics have announced a new comic book series that will see NetherRealm Studios' Injustice brand clash with the world of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The six-part series will have the heroes and villains of DC/Warner Bros. crossover title come face to fac??e with Mattel's nostalgic toy-line, that  spawned numerous cartoons and comics, as well as a terrible live-action movie.

In the new comic, penned by Ti?m Seeley and illustrated by Freddie E. Williams II, the allies of the Injustice universe reach into He-Man's land of Eternia to ask for help in overthrowing?? the villainous Superman. He-Man agrees, and may even be bringing a few of his pals along for the ride.

I loved He-Man as a kid. I had a ton of the toys, but I was always super pissed-off that my parents wouldn't buy me She-Ra figures because "they were for girls". Gah! Even at six years old I understood the concept of extended universes. Still salty. Regardless, if Evil-Lyn turns up in Injustice 2, I'm coming ou?t of retirement to get the greatest female villain of a?ll time to EVO.

Wishlisting aside, Injustice vs. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe goes on sale July 18.

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May the crossover chaos continue

Injustice 2: Legendary Edition, the upgraded re-release of NetherRealm Studios' DC Comics fighter, will receive?? its physical release in North America today.

The new GOTY-style edition of the 2017 fighter contains the original game plus all DLC characters to date, such as Darkseid, Red Hood, Enchantress and the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles. The Legendary release also features a?? variety of Premier-tier skins to transform some of the game's roster into characters such as Power Girl and Reverse-Flash.

Alongside these character additions, the game receives a revamped tutorial mode, an increased level cap, new Multiverse Towers and a selection of new gear for all roster members. Players who already own vanilla Injustice 2 should have already received these latter additions in an update, which we??nt ?live just before the weekend. Yep, even for PC players...

Injustice 2: Legendary Edition is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC in North America. Euro??pean stores will see the game hit the high street on?? Friday.

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Potentially coming as early as next month

[Update: NetherRealm Studios officially confirmed that Injustice 2: Legendary Edition will indeed launch on March 27. It will include all DLC characters, an expanded tutorial mode, new in-game gear, and will raise the level cap to 30. There is no word on whether the latter additions will be retroactively added to Injustice 2's standard edition.]

Definitive editions t?end to be a matter of when, not if, for fighting games.

Based on a now-removed Amazon listing, a so-called Injustice 2: Legendary Edition is coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 27, priced at $60. The package is said to include "10 additional characters including Darkseid, Hellboy, Teenage Mutant Ninja?? Turtles plus 5 Premiere Skins."

Legendary Edition w??as also spotted in an advert for Malaysian re?tailer Impulse Gaming.

Were any of you holding out for a re-release?

Injustice 2 Legendar?y Edition Spotted for Release in Late March for Xbox One and PS4 [The Nerd Mag]

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Cowabunga and then some

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ?were definitely the DLC addition everyone was waiting for in Injustice 2 and now they're avail??able to purchase for everyone. They were released for Ultimate Edition owners a week or so before, and luckily now we know how they work. 

Each turtle i??s locked into a specific key gear (equipping Leonardo's swords or Raphael's sais, for example). but each of the key gear is av??ailable from the start. Each one also has a core set of special moves, but have little nuances to make them feel like different characters. Leonardo's trait allows you to call in the other turtles for a combo starter, Mikey rides his skateboard, and so on. 

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles run for $9.99, and are available as part of Fighter Pack?? 3. 

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Knock knock you about to get shell shocked

NetherRealm is definitely saving their oddest and most intriguing Injustice 2 addition for last, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are ready to throw down later this February (which will most likely get a harder release date during this evening's ?Twitch stream). 

What's most interesting about this gameplay traile??r is how the Turtles will work. It seems that each one is allowed to call out their brothers (whether it limits them is another story) for certain special moves, and that each one even moves differently. Raphael is most likely the base turtle, and the others are premium costumes that change up everything. 

However way this works, I'm all in. 

The post The Teenage Mutant Nin??ja Turtles to party i??n Injustice 2 later this February appeared first on Destructoid.

Just show 'em you're a swampy lady...

NetherRealm Studios will be holding a live stream later today, featuring gameplay of Enchantress; the latest character to be added to DC Comics' fighter Injustice 2.

Enchantress recently rose in public perception after her appearance in the Oscar-winning movie (never forget) Suicide Squad, where she was quirkily portrayed by Cara Delevingne. The third DLC character to arrive in Injustice 2 from Fighter Pack #3, Enchan??tress follows the addition of The Atom and precedes the super-hyped Teenage Mutant Hero Tu??rtles, arriving sometime later.

The Watchtower live stream is scheduled for broadcast today at 15:00 CST/21:00 GMT on the NetherRealm twitch channel. Earlier today, NetherRealm dropped the trailer for the bewitc??hing villain, prepping fans for her showcase appearance in just a few hours.

Injustice 2 is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

She will devour your soul! Get a look at Enchantress this Friday!//t.co/OtUodDb3BU pic.twitter.com/HS3iJGTYbc

— Injustice2 (@InjusticeGame) January 3, 2018

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RIP Suicide Squad

Enchantress, part of the last Fighter Pack which includes the Teenage Mutant Ninja? Tu?rtles, is officially confirmed for Injustice 2 on January 9. Her full gameplay trailer reveals some interesting tricks like her focus on counters, teleports, her Shang Tsung and Shao Khan like shadow clone, and the fact that she's wearing a ton more clothes than the Suicide Squad version of her. 

Her super is pretty neat as well, but it's just not as cinematic as the others. Either way, this means yet another fighter for Injustice 2 and one step closer to seeing how ?the TMNT will play. 

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Slimy lady hits next month

There is a new patch out for Netherealm's comic-book fighter Injustice 2. The January update irons out some bugs and tweaks a few individual fighters, as well as preparing the data ?for the coming of the game's next DLC character, Enchantress.

Enchantress, who will arrive next month, is the second character from Fighter Pack #3, following The Atom and preceding the highly-anticipated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One of the more mid-tier DC Villains, Enchantress recently received the spotlight courtesy of her appearance in last-year's Suicide Squad flick, played by Cara Delevingne.

For anyone who wants to check out the latest fixes to the game, the full patch notes can be found right here at the Warner Bros. Interactive blog. The new upda?te is live now on all platforms.

Injustice 2 January update [Warner Bros. Interactive]

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Punch Aquaman in the face

There were some pretty decent fighting games in 2017. At last week's Game Awards 2017, Injustice 2 was crowned as the best of them all. Now you have a chan??ce to see what all the fuss is?? about.

For anyone who abstained from NetherRealm's superhero fighter, it's free to try for the next four days -- albeit in a somewhat limited capacity. Injustice 2 is free on PlayS??tation 4 and Xbox One until the end of the day on December 18. The whole main roster is available to play in an unlimited multiplayer mode; the story mode only has the first three chapters unlocked for free. It's probably worth noting that playing multiplayer requires a PlayStation Plu?s or Xbox Live Gold subscription. 

Anyone who likes what they see has the opportunity to buy Injustice 2 at a significant discount. It's marked down to $3??0 during the trial period. But, even if you don't want to drop cash, it's still a good shot at playing one of 2??017's better games. Free gameplay weekends are the real heroes.

Injustice 2 Free Trial Coming Soon [WB Games]

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Psychopathic wife not included

NetherRealm Studios have unleashed The Atom on their DC Comics fighter, Injustice 2. Atom is the first character from the Fighter Pack #3 DLC, to be followed by Enchantress and the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles at a later date.

The Atom, alias Dr. Ray Palmer, is an molecular physicist who has mastered the ability to grow and shrink at will, a power he himself developed using discarded star matter that landed on Earth. In Injustice 2, The Atom uses his multiple forms for both attack an?d defence, allowing for devastating damage and swift? maneuverability.

Of all the characters in the fighter so far, Atom looks like the one that was the most fun to develop, his pint-sized combos and attacks make for very amusing viewing. Being an egghead (not to be confused with Vincent Price's Batman villain), Ray also has access to various chemicals and gadgets to aid hi?s trans-formative abilities.

The Atom is available now a part of Fighter Pack #3 or as one of the multitude of Special Editions of Injustice 2. He will likel??y become available as a solo purchase next week

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"My eyes! The goggles do nothing!"

We got our first glimpse at Injustice 2's Atom weirdly before Fighter Pack 2 had finished releasing, but? this latest gameplay reveal is a full l?ook into his weird tricks. 

It's the Ryan Choi version of the radioactive man, which is pretty neat, and integrates? Choi's shrinking and growing abilities far better than anyone would have guessed. The shrinking is limited to certain special moves, and the longer duration of it is most likely his trait (or even locked do??wn into gear?).

Either way, Atom will be available to purchase December 12. He's part of Fighter Pack 3, which includes Enchantress and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If the last two DLC additions are as i??nteresting as Atom is, I'm all in even more than I am already. 

The post Atom goes up and at them in Injustice 2 ??December 12 appeared first on Destructoid.

It's a start

After the godawful PC ports of Mortal Kombat X and Batman: Arkham Knight, I wouldn't blame someone for being leery when approaching Injustice 2 on PC. In fact, I wouldn't blame anyone for simply not purchasing anything from WB Games on PC ever again. We've reached a moment in gaming wh??ere more and more consumers are becoming aware that we "vote with our mon??ey."

I don't think any company is irredeemable, however, and Injustice 2?'s PC port is a step towards redemption for WB Games and NetherRealm (and its ??co-developers).

Tested on: Intel i7-4770k 3.50 GHz, 8GB of RAM, Geforce GTX 970, Windows 10. Frame rate measured with GeForce Experience.

At first, playing Injustice 2 was clunky; the game would stutter at seemingly random moments during gameplay. Sometimes I would backdash or perform some random attack and the game would hang up for just a second, which essential??ly renders a fighting game unplayable. My fears got the worst of me, as I thought that this was ye??t another bungled port from WB/NetherRealm.

Then I ran the benchmark and aut?oconfig tool?, and everything was just peachy!

Seriously, the settings that it chose after running the autoconfig were perfect and completely removed any trace of graphical hiccups while still maintaining great fidelity. From here on out, everything was smooth sailin?g. The graphical options menu is rather robust, allowing players to fine-tune what they prefer after the game chooses what it thinks is best. I chose not to mess with it, sin??ce I was plenty happy with how everything looked and ran. The fights run at a smooth 60 frames per second, though the intro and super move cutscenes are in the 30s -- it does feel kind of jarring but this is by design and not a flaw of the port itself.

While I played entirely using an Xbox One controller, the game immediately recognizes if the player's input is switched. The on-screen prompts will switch between the appropriate keyboard keys or controller buttons as soon a?s it detects an input from the corresponding device. This is something that not enough games realize the import??ance of, and it is nice to see it represented here.

So it looks good,? it runs well, and I haven't had one crash or bug in my playtime with it. However, while Injustice 2 offers a bevy of singleplayer experiences, most people only want to hear about the netcode. Well, after getting my ass handed to me by strangers online, I'm here to say that the netcode is great. Also, why does everyone play Batman? How boring can you be?

Whether I was using a wired or wireless connection, there was no noticeable lag while playing online. I played against people who had yellow or green pings, most of which were green. I never felt as if my moves "weren't c??oming out" or that things were being delayed and unplayable. Since the game shows you the ping before accepting the match, it's easy enough to just avoid any red bars you see and? move on with your life.

The netcode doesn't even matter much if the playerbase isn't there, and based off of (very) early sales, there are plenty of people to play against. I never had to wa?it more than a minute to find someone, and I was occasionally playing at odd hours of the day. Time will only tell how the playerbase holds up, but I think it's safe to say that it won't drop off dramatically because of a poor port performance.

_{[This port report is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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Light up a stogie and get to punching

The latest guest character is available for purchase in NetherRealm Studio's comic-book fighter Injustice 2, and it's none other than the dry-humoured half-demon ??himse??lf, Hellboy.

Hellboy, creation of writer Mike Mignola, first arrived on the scene in the early 90's, building up a huge, dedicated fan-following through publishers Dark Hors?e Comics. The character hit the mainstream consciousness?? upon the release of Guillermo Del Toro's 2004 film adaptation.

Hellboy is now ready to rumble with DC's finest in the one-on-one fighter, where he utilises ugly brawling tactics, short combos and power moves to dominate the opposition. Hellboy, priced at six bucks,? follows Raiden and Black Manta as the final member of Fighter Pack #2.

In related news, Injustice 2 launches on PC today, although Hellboy will not be available on that format until a later date. Injustice 2 is available now on PS4, Xbox One and PC.

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Crossovers in a half-shell

With as much teasing Ed Boon tends to do, it's crazy how no one guessed the final guest character in Injustice 2's third wave of DLC would be the friggin' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

Being the trailer for the last (as of now) wave of DLC, this one's a little more involved than the other CG ones. It confirms Atom (who we've seen previously), Enchantress (semi-fresh off of Suicide Squad fame), and the turtle teens. I'm curious as to whether or not they'll play as a team (as mentioned here) or if each turtle is a variation of the ??gear for a base model turtle. Either way, this is crazy and I can't wait for it. 

Atom hits Injustice 2 first December 12. 

The post The Atom, E?nchantress, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are coming to Injustice 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

How did your hero fare?

The patch notes have been released for the November update for DC Comic's fighting game, Injustice 2. Not only have multiple chan?ges been made to many roster members, but the game's stages have also seen their own balance tweaks.

The patch, which is live on Xbox One now and coming to PS4 next week, also contains support for the recently released Xbox One X console, resulting in higher resolution, better depth of field, and a generally improved visual appearance overall.

Injustice 2 is currently undergoing its PC beta, which ends on Friday. On the same day, NetherRealm Studios will reveal the remaining characters coming to their upcoming Fighter Pack #3 DLC release.

Injustice 2 November patch notes [Warner Bros.]

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Who will join The Atom?

NetherRealm studio's boss-man, Ed Boon, has announced that the full contents of Fighter Pack #3 for Injustice 2 will be unveiled to the world this week.

The grim-dark fighter, which sees DC Comic's heroes and villains wage war on each other, is currently undergoing its delayed PC beta test, which ends on November 10. On that ??day, NetherRealm will release a video revealing the more combatants coming to the game as paid DLC.

We already know that one member of Fighter Pack #3 is Th?e Atom, which leaves (at least) two more stars to be revealed. I personally would love to see Kate Kane, aka Batwoman, join the fray, but I think that's a very unlikely choice. We might even get anothe?r crossover "guest," as the Warners are particularly fond of adding. Who are you hoping for?

Regardless, we'll all know for sure come Friday. Injustice 2 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One. The PC release is expected to launch N??ovember 14.

Injustice 2's FIGHTER PACK 3 reveal video this Friday, November 10.pic.twitter.com/aAbyrmJ7ew

— Ed Boon (@noobde) November 6, 2017

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Help test the 'network code and infrastructure'

After a last-minute delay, the PC open beta for Injustice 2 is now up and running. The beta gives access to "all stages and DLC characters up to R??aiden" in one-on-one multiplayer.

You'll have until November 10 to test this out. The PC version is in development at QLOC and NetherRealm and planned for a November 14 launch, which also happens to be Hellboy day.

Here are the beta's system requir??ements, per Steam??:

Minimum

• OS: 64-bit Windows 7 / Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i5-750, 2.66 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 965, 3.4 GHz or AMD Ryzen 3 1200, 3.1 GHz
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/ AMD Radeon HD 7850 or AMD Radeon RX 550
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection

Recommended

• OS: 64-bit Windows 7 / Windows 10
• Processor: Intel Core i3-2100, 3.10 GHz / AMD FX-6300, 3.5 GHz or AMD Ryzen 5 1400, 3.2 GHz
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 / AMD Radeon R9 290 or RX 570
• DirectX: Version 11
• Network: Broadband Internet connection

I don't trust myself to pay full price and get my money's worth for mo?st fighting games, but I do want to play through this eventually for the story. Might as well wait for a comprehensive bundle.

Injustice 2 Online Beta [Steam]

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Boy he bout to

Hellboy was my most anticipated character from Injustice 2's second wave of?? DLC, as I'm sure was the case for most as he's a big guest character, and now it's great to finally get a look at how he plays. 

Although he has some tricks up his sleeve with holy water and the like, he seems pretty forward and self-explanatory. I definitely dig characters who just walk up and punch dudes in the face, and if that's not true to Hellboy's personality I don't know what is. His trait acting as a sort of "?devil trigger" i??s a nice touch too. 

Hellboy joins the Injustice 2 roster November 14 for Early ?Access players. 

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Holy PC-based disappointment!

The beta for the PC port of NetherRealm Studios' DC Comics fighting game, Injustice 2, was pulled on the eve of Thur??sday, the day it was scheduled t??o go live.

The last minute cancellation was announced?? via the studio's Twitter. No explanation was given for the decision to pull the beta, nor was a replace??ment date given. A later tweet announced that the company were "working on securing a new date". Whether this will have any delay on the game's scheduled release remains to be seen.

Injustice 2 PC beta postponed [Twitter]

Update on the PC Beta – we’re working on securing a release date. Please stay tuned. We appreciate your patience!

— Injustice2 (@InjusticeGame) October 26, 2017

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Punch those screens

Warner Bros. may not have the best track record when it comes to PC versions of their big releases, but here's hoping it'll be different this time. Ported by QLOC, the team behind the PC version of Mortal Kombat XL, Injustice 2 will hit Steam and Microsoft Win??dows this Fall. 

Starting tomorrow, October 25, Steam users will be able to try its open beta, so hopefully any issues can be caught before the full release. Anything to make it less rocky will be appreciated, and that'll mean more folks will enjoy my favor??ite fighter this year. 

Injustice 2 is currently av??ailable for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.&n??bsp;

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'Everyone comes over with their own system [for tournaments]'

Porting anything and everything, even years-old games to the Switch is what's hot right now. Most Kickstarters that promised Wii U editions have packed up and left Wii U town, instead swapping all of their resources over to the almighty Switch. ?At this point "port begging" probably isn't even necessary.

That might even extend to Injustice 2?, NetherRealm's latest fighter that's currently available on PS4 and Xbox One. Speaking to GameSpot director Ed Boon, when asked about how the game would work on Switch, explained: "Yeah, actually, I do. It is a pretty different hardware ar?chitecture; it’s not like you can go from a PlayStation 4 to a Switch really easily. So I think we would need to set up something in terms of an external team. I know on the art team, we have enough people to do three console SKUs, and that would be something we’d need to work out."

While he concedes that it "might not be easy," he does explain the benefits of the Switch platform, stating "From the game player’s perspective, would it be fun to play Injustice? I do think it would. You could have tournaments, everyone comes over with their own ??system and you can have whole structured tournaments and parallel gameplay and all that."

It's not a promise or a confirmation, but it's a start. With more big developers supporting the Switch with AAA games like Doom, we could see Injustice 2?? hit the Switch one day with a "Komplete Edition."

Ed Boon Discusses Bringing Injustice 2 And NetherR?ealm Games To Nintendo Switch [GameSpot]

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Big or small he'll beat 'em all!

Well, this is a surprise. The Injustice 2 Twitter account had been teasing a reveal all day and I would assume most suspected it would be the character trailer for Hellboy, the final hero in the second fighter pack for the game's season pass. Instead, we were given a look at th??e first fighter from the third DLC pack with The Atom.

With several versions of The Atom? to choose from, NetherRealm opted for the Ryan Choi iteration of the character who first debuted in 2006. I can't wait to see what they come up with for his special.

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Test your might

When Raiden was confirmed as a DLC character for Injustice 2, I really wasn't on board with? the decision. I thought it was a slot that could be better used by one of the superb lightning-based heroes or villains of the DC Universe. Somebody like Livewire, Static or Black Lightning.

Well, looks like I got my wish becaus??e while Raiden is coming to the game, so is Black Lightning by way of a premier skin. Take a look at them in action with this freshly d?ropped trailer.

You have got to love that special. Raiden will join the Injustice 2 roster next month.

The post Screw Raiden, I’m playing as Black Lightning in Injustice 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

One, twice, thrice bitten, twice shy?

It has been reported that Injustice 2 may be coming to the PC platform, after shaky-looking store pages for the DC Comics fighting game appeared on retail sites Amazon.fr and Game Mania.

The NetherRealm-developed, Warner Bros-published title launched on PS4 and Xbox One in May of this year to a positive reception. It would seemingly make sense for the fighter to make its way onto the PC platform, which has also seen Tekken 7 and Guilty Gear REV 2 build upon its fledgling reputation as a solid fo?rmat for? fighting games.

The problem here lies with the developers and publishers themselves. NetherRealm and WB have treated their PC audience with ignorance and contempt in recent years. The original Injustice PC port was a horribly optimised affair. Matters got worse with the insulting way the Mortal Kombat X community was treated, handed a broken port on release, which was then completely abandoned of balance patches and content mere months later (only to be eventually brought up to speed with its console brethren, but long after the communit?y had g??iven up on the game.)

The way these two companies treated their PC customers with those titles was, frankly, shameful. Should these rumours prove true, and Injustice 2 eventually swoops down onto PC, it wil??l be interesting to see ??how many times the community are willing to forget any injustice cast upon themselves.

Injustice 2 PC port [PC Gamer]

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Hey Aquaman, how's the wife and kid?

Maybe it's his costume, maybe it's his awesome laser eyes or maybe it's because his origin story is incredibly sad, but I've always liked Black Manta even if I'm not the biggest fan of Aquaman. The first Injustice was severely lacking on heroes and villains from the big blue, so when it was confirmed fishboy's arch nemesis would be part of Injustice 2, I really started to pay attention.

Earlier tonight, we got o?ur first look at his move set and I can tell he'll be part of my regular rotation once I actually buy the game.

That is one tricky bastard and I am loving that exit. Black Manta will be available next month as the first character from the second Injustice 2 fighter pack.

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Just in time for the new movie coming up

Oh hey! It's a??nother massive property inserting itself into a NetherRealm fighting game.

None other than Hellboy will be joining past film origin DLC breakthroughs like the Alien (Xenomorph), Jason, Leatherface, Predator, and Freddie, by way of Injustice 2. Just this morning the developer put out a ?trailer featuring his character model, as well as the announcement that Black Manta and Raiden will be coming down the pipeline as "Fighter Pack 2." For reference Fighter Pack 1 included Red Hood, Starfire, and Sub-Zero -- according to director Ed Boon, there may be at least eight?? characters coming, if not more, with their more "aggressive" DLC strategy.

I can't look at Hellboy without seeing Ron Perlman (it'll be hard to acclimate to David Harbour, I'll tell you that much), Christopher Lambert is Raiden, and I c?an't think of Black Manta without seei??ng him in his goofy Super Friends incarnation.

The post Hellboy i??s comin??g to Injustice 2 along with Raiden and Black Manta appeared first on Destructoid.

Heating up the roster

Some characters need to work for their dinner. No matter what you ??think about tiers in fighting games or what makes a “good” or “bad” character, there is no denying that some are just plain harder to use than others. They can take a higher degree of execution to perform, they can have weird moves that require a lot of time and practice to master, or they can have complicated pla?ystyles that take a certain level of creativity to really work.

And then you have characters like Starfire.

??Starfire isn’t a character who is necessarily overpowered. Instead, I’d prefer to use the term “straightforward.” I don’t know if we’ll be seeing her tear up the tournament scene anytime soon, but she’ll definitely be terrorizing couch gam?es and online sets for months to come. 

Looking at her movelist, it’s easy to call Starfire a zoner through and through. Most of her special moves seem designed to push the opponent back, peck away at their health, and make it hard for them to ?get anywhere near her. She has a quick fire ball that can be used both on the ground and in the air, and can be meterburned to follow up with a machine gun style blast of shots. She has a kind of arcing fire ball that can create explosions in different areas of the screen, perfect for stifling an advancing opponent, and it can also be meterburned to create a slow moving orb as an obstacle. And her trait, the one-button unique special power every character gets, is a frickin’ laser beam. The beam travels instantly across the screen, catching anything in its path including ducking opponents (very handy for punishing players trying to wriggle in after dodging a regular f?ireball).

But, her special moves onl?y tell half the story. In truth, Starfire is a hybrid character who is almost as dange?rous up close as she is from full screen.

While projectile characters are generally balanced by having poor tools in a toe-to-toe fight, Starfire is actually pretty solid up close. Call it the privilege of royalty, but her normals feature a suite of safe(ish) combo strings with decent (if not exceptional) high/low mix-up potential. Adding to that, she has a variety of normal moves that are just super handy. She can shut down jump-in attacks with a quick upward blast that sets opponents up for a juggle, and her jumping heavy attack creates a panning laser beam perfect?? for easy cross-ups, ??which synergizes nicely with her (slightly floaty) air-dash.

Pick u?p the controller, play a few matches, and it’s pr??etty easy to p?ut together a competent gameplan with Starfire that will win you matches. It might not be flashy, but it works. She’s kind of like the Honda Civic of fighters.

The thing is, for as straightforward and easy to pick up as Starfire is, she still has an additional layer of advanced techniques you? can dig into. Dirty shenanigans, like using her orb after a knockdown to create an obstacle behind an opponent as they get up. More complicated cross-up gimmicks that can land full combos. You can kit out that Honda Civic with some ground effects and a big stupid spoiler if you want.

So Starfire is good. She’s a totally complete and viable character. That said, I can’t help but think she’s also a little dull. Sure, she has her own flavor, and Teen Titan fans will likely enjoy her intro quotes and costume options. But as far as her playstyle goes, I can’t really tell what sets her apart from characters like Green Lantern and Superman, who already mix heavy zoning with strong normals. At some point you have to ask, does Injustice 2 really needs another ch??aracter spamming laser beams?

I’m not coming at this from the perspective that projectiles are cheap, or boring, or whatever. Zoning is fine, it’s just a matter of diversity when it comes to how people play the game. When you step back and look at the cast of Injustice 2, about two thirds of the characters implement some kind of strong projectile element into their game. Whether they are pure zoners like Deadshot and Dr. Fate, or hybrids that mix screen control with an up-close game like Batman and Captain Cold, many matches in Injustice 2 feature characters standing at opposite ends of the screen flinging energy blasts or bits of metal at each?? other. Even as someone who loves the game, I can’t help but notice it gets a little samey after awhile. Starfire doesn’t help with that problem, she’s? just dumping more fire on the fire.

Hell, even when you look at the rest of her kit apart from her fireballs, Starfire feels a little redundant. Her air-game is very similar to Superman and Supergirls thanks to the incredibly similar air-dash, her orb gets used the same way Fate’s does, and she’s not even the first roster member to shoot lasers as her character power. She’s new, but she’s not fresh in any way. You would hope a princess would shine a little brighter all things considered. I realize Starfire was always going to be a projectile-heavy character with similarities to other roster members given her powers, so I don’t really fault the character herself. But, of all the possible candidates to choose from in the DC universe as possible DLC fodder, did we really need another energy shooting, flying, heavy-hitter? Even just looking at the Teen Titan lineup, someone like Beastboy would have been a more interesting choice. T?his isn’t even thinking of all the weirder, wilder possibilities like Plastic Man, Constantine, or any other non-laser powered characters you care to name.

Starfire represents the completion of Injustice 2’s first fighter pack. There are t??wo more packs and six more characters to go - here’s hoping we’ll see a bit?? more variety in the months ahead.

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