INJUSTICE: Gods Among Repetition

  

INJUSTICE: Gods Among Repetition

            When first reading about game theory, I was not sure that a classic side scrolling fighting game would be a good example to apply theory to. Then I bought INJUSTICE: Gods Among Men (WB Games 2013). I have never been a fan of fighting games until recently, I am traditionally a FPS, MMO, and role-playing gamer. I was starting to become bored with those genres so I picked up Injustice based on a friend’s recommendation. With this game I am very pleased. It is interesting, challenging, and very different from what I am use to.

            Looking deeper into the game I realized it follows Juul’s descriptions on a progression game with emersion completely. The entirety of the play type is to play as a superhero and face other superheroes in one-on-one combat on a side scrolling screen. The game play on varies in the story mode because you are constantly changing the character that you play with which also helps the progression of the story. This type of gameplay becomes repetitive but, the constant changing of characters that you play and fight helps defeat the monotony. The story mode of the game also rewards the player with cut-scenes often enough to make the player want to continue. The progression of the story takes place in these cut-scenes, so each one is another kernel of story to entertain the player.

            Another essential aspect of this game which Juul talks about is algorithms. Injustice is a game of algorithms. Each character has a different set of two to five button sequences that produce a certain move that is predefined.  These sequences can then be input in succession to create a combination of two or more different predefined moves. Each character having different sequences also provides a challenge to player, learning them all. Though with no real world reward memorizing every character can reward a player when playing against real humans, either online or in person. The more rounded the player the more respect they can gain from their opponents. 

              Though repetitive, the game developers made Injustice fun enough to keep the player interested for a long time.