[April 28, 2013] The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Gamer's Corner column Tweet Apr 28, 2013 (The Hawk Eye - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- "Injustice: Gods Among Us" available for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii U. Rated "T" for Teen. $59.99 Considering my strong ties to geek culture, it seems rather odd I didn't grow up reading comic books. It certainly wasn't a matter of parental restriction. The truth is, my free time was so monopolized by video games and movies that reading a comic book never crossed my mind. Not until I got to college, anyway. That's when I discovered Alan Moore's "Watchmen." As a result, I'm fairly ignorant of many of the playable DC Comics characters present in "Injustice: Gods Among Us." I know the biggies, of course. Superman and Wonder Woman are permanent parts of the American landscape. I'm even familiar with lesser known superheroes like Green Lantern and Green Arrow, thanks to the influx of comic book movies and TV shows. But I've barely heard of Shazam. And Cyborg, Deathstroke and Lobo don't ring any bells. That didn't stop me from having a rollicking good time making them beat the crap out of each other, though. "Injustice: Gods Among Us" is an old-school, one-on-one fighting game that answers the ancient boyhood question -- "What would happen if Superman fought, well, any other superhero " Of course, since this is a DC Comics-only game, that question can't be completely answered. You're not going to see Marvel superheroes like The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man joining in the battle. They have their own fighting game (which I reviewed last year) called "Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds." Still, it's a pretty cool selection of long-standing, spandex-clad heroes and villains. You've got the ultra-popular Batman, the ever lovable Joker, the much ridiculed Aquaman. Heck, you can even play as super-genius Lex Luthor, who fights in a big mechanical suit to make up for his human frailty. All of the powers you would expect (such as Superman's heat vision) are mapped onto fairly easy-to-learn button combinations taken straight from the 2011 fighting game "Mortal Kombat," which was a highly successful reboot of the original "Mortal Kombat" from the early 1990s. Considering it's the same team of developers, that should come as no surprise. What is surprising is how accessible all those moves are to a fighting-game dunce like myself. While I certainly can't pull the moves off with superb timing, I had no trouble in learning the basics, and each character's incredibly flashy super attack is easy to use. Those over-the-top moves really embody the spirit of an incredibly silly and fun game that never deigns to take itself too seriously -- a tradition that stretches back all the way to the original "Mortal Kombat." Batman's super attack, for example, starts off with the Caped Crusader shocking his opponent with a pair of defibrillation paddles, then calling in the Batmobile for a high speed hit-and-run that would kill a normal person. The lunacy continues into the backgrounds of the levels, which are full of destructible weapons such as television monitors that can be ripped from the wall and flung at your opponent. Each destructible level also consists of multiple layers that can be accessed by knocking your opponent through the wall, which is a pretty cool nod to all those Saturday morning cartoons where superheroes are tossing each other through concrete. This makes for endlessly entertaining multiplayer sessions, which is the heart of any good fighting game. In fact, competing against your friends is about the only reason to play a one-on-one fighting game. "Injustice: Gods Among Us" makes the most compelling argument against that axiom I've ever seen, though. For as long as I've been a gamer, the single-player campaign in fighting games has been a thinly disguised training mode, usually lasting about 20 to 30 minutes. The single-player mode in "Injustice: Gods Among Us" lasts about four to five hours, and is laden with long cinematic scenes that force you to play as half the characters in the game. The story, which revolves around an alternate universe -- where Superman has taken over the world in retaliation for the murder of Louis Lane -- is just as cheesy and over the top as it sounds. But it's all very tongue in cheek, and considering the bar for storytelling in fighting games is so low, I can safely proclaim this is the best plot in the genre. A concept as cool as a superhero fighting game easily could have been bungled by overanxious developers, but the veterans behind "Mortal Kombat" know what they're doing. The graphics are crisp and shiny, the controls are tight and responsive, and the jubilant tone and atmosphere is spot on. I'm not a big fan of one-on-one fighting games. But I am a big fan of "Injustice: Gods Among Us." Three-and-a-half out of Four Stars Retro Review: "Metro 2033." Released for the PC and Xbox 360 in March of 2010. Rated "M" for Mature. Available for $11.40 for the PC on Amazon and $27.66 for the Xbox 360 on Amazon. Also available for the PC as a download on the Steam Store for $14.99. I don't usually review games that came out three years ago, but with the sequel to "Metro 2033" -- "Metro: Last Light"- due for release next month, it seemed rather appropriate. Though I didn't play "Metro 2033" when it was released in 2010 (it slipped under my radar, to be honest), I managed to pick it up for the bargain basement price of $8 last year. Unfortunately, my relentless gaming schedule never allowed me any time to play it -- until last week. What an undiscovered gem! "Metro 2033" is a first-person shooter that combines the best elements of the "Half-Life" and "Fallout" series into a gritty, unforgiving tale of a young man who must make this way through the train tunnels underneath Moscow years after the nuclear apocalypse. Though the setting and circumstances are pretty routine in this age of post-apocalyptic video games and movies, the subtle storytelling elements bleed through the game play to create a compelling, if somewhat depressing, atmosphere. The tunnels are filled with disturbing mutant vermin born from the radiation-plagued wrecks of Moscow, and they have a nasty habit of outrunning the rail cars that serve as transportation. Surviving those mutant attacks leads to more danger, though, when you find yourself in the midst of an underground war being waged by the remains of the Nazi party. Though the game-play admittedly can be a bit too brutal (crank the difficulty setting down to "Easy" if you want to survive), the frustration only adds to an overall feeling of helplessness invoked by the developers. This game doesn't put you in the role of an invincible killing machine. You're just a frail 20-year-old Russian lad with a rusted-out AK-47 trying to survive a horrible future. It may not be for everyone, but if you can handle a tale of unrelenting woe, there's nothing else quite like "Metro 2033." It's a daring vision in a genre that tends to play it safe. Three-and-a-half out of Four Stars ___ (c)2013 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) Visit The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) at www.thehawkeye.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]