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Great moments in PC gaming are bite-sized celebrations of some of our favorite gaming memories.
Injustice 2
Developer: Netherrealm
Year: 2017
You might think Netherrealm, the custodians of Mortal Kombat, would be hamstrung by having to develop a game where they can’t depict anyone having their spine ripped out of their body. You’d be wrong. Though the cast of DC Comics (and the DLC walk-ins like Hellboy and the Ninja Turtles) don’t perform blood-soaked fatalities in Injustice 2, they do have super moves so over-the-top they frequently break orbit.
The first game had them too, but those didn’t go quite as far. The original game’s version of the Flash runs all the way round the globe in a matter of seconds just to wind up a punch. That’s pretty good, but in Injustice 2, the Flash grabs his opponent, runs so fast he travels back in time to ancient Egypt, throws them at the Sphinx—breaking off its nose—then yanks them even further back to throw them at a t-rex, then drags them forward to just before this violent trip through time began so he can throw them at themselves the moment before he left, creating a paradox and also knocking away a substantial chunk of their health bar.
It’s a work of art. And it’s not even for a cool character like Catwoman. Injustice 2 ensures even superdorks like Aquaman get rad moments. His super move involves summoning a tidal wave, followed by a giant fish monster that straight-up eats his opponent—who then regains their composure and carries on with the fight as if nothing’s happened, in the grand tradition of Mortal Kombat characters who’ve just had every single bone broken.
Superhero videogames struggle to get across the joy of comic-book action sequences, where characters use their powers in ridiculous, inventive ways. In the comics, Green Lantern once used his powers to make a “space-fold” so Green Arrow could shoot someone on the moon. In Injustice 2 he builds an entire mech suit for himself piece by piece, using each component to inflict blunt-force trauma as he does. Then he uses it to shoot rockets. It’s glorious.
Sure, you could use the super move meter for other stuff—burning it to power up specials or bargaining it to win clashes. But when a well-timed super move finishes a match it’s the kind of daft spectacle that makes fighting games and superhero comics great, a dumb extravaganza of violence that makes you want to cheer out loud.
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Kurt Indovina
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