“We’ve been in greenlight committee for a while at the studio and we’ve got a great script. And we’ve got a great director with Kevin Tancharoen, who is on board. It’s just figuring out the business side of it and when we would do it and when we would launch it and how do we sync up with the launch of the game that they’re working on now. It’s not 100% yet, but we’re getting closer every day.”

Mortal Kombat hit stores in 2011, while Injustice came to our homes in April. Will we see the next installment in the gore-heavy fighter in 2014?

For the uninitiated, and as a memory refresh for the initiated, let’s recap what exactly is Injustice. A fighting game on the 2D plane, with an all-original story (which is even accompanied by a mini-series of comics), and a cast fully comprised of DC characters, some of which famous, some of which more obscure. The game also offers multiple modes apart from its campaign, which, just like Mortal Kombat (nine, people call it, to avoid confusion), makes it burst with content, even if you don’t plan on going online.

Explaining the story without any spoilers (everything said is already outed by DC, and the story revolves around it); Joker, being the guy he is, wanted to go on “Easy Mode” for a while. What does that mean? Instead of engaging into another adventure with the Bat, finishing with the Clown Prince of Crime being in Arkham Prison, the villain came up with a grand plan to bring Superman to his knees. Through deception, Joker made the Kryptonian kill his own wife, Lois Lane, who was also pregnant to his child. The way he did it was also twisted. Plus, her death triggered a big nuclear bomb which blew up the Metropolis, taking its toll on millions of lives. Superman got super-pissed, burst into the interrogation room, threw Batman aside and punched Joker through the chest, like a super-caveman living in 2013. Can you blame him? That’s what Injustice revolves around — is Superman right? Does he need to protect us from ourselves by starting his regime, or is he being selfish and power-hungry? The game starts at that point, and spans 12 chapters, each chapter having you control a different character for 4-5 battles. The Story Mode took me around 4 hours to complete on Medium, and provided some challenge, especially until I got used to the controls. While I liked the variety, just like Mortal Kombat, something bothered me; the fact that, just as I came to grasp my character, learn his movements, combos, synergies and such, I’m presented with another playable character whose combos and movements are utterly different.

But what kept me playing for 4 hours straight, and made me wish the length was double that, was the amazing story. You’ve never seen Superman like this, and I mean, ever. Far as I know, he’s died, he’s been cheated, he’s been deceived, everything — but seeing him do the wicked things he does (damn spoilers!), sorry, can’t recall anything similar. Seeing injustice sprout inside the ranks of the Justice League, and having superheroes act like gods among mortals certainly sets a very different, darker tone on what we’re used to. It gives a great reason for a pseudo-civil war to occur between the superheroes, or supervillains, and surprises you with unpredictable alliances. And explains the game’s title, in case you’re still wondering. The inclusion of such a story in a fighting game, and its execution, succeeded in raising the bar for what we expect from story-driven fighting games.

Once  you’re done with the story though, what’s next? Well… you have the regular ladder mode, called “Classic Battle”, which has 10 random fighters pitted against you, but to spice things up, it also has different sub-modes which implement modifiers; like, finish the ladder with 1 bar, letting it refill by performing outstanding actions, or finish each battle with a constantly diminishing health due to poison. Each character has their own ending, too, so it’s more than worth giving it a shot. Then, you have the S.T.A.R. Labs, which is the Injustice version of Challenge Tower from Mortal Kombat. Here, you’ll play all sorts of mini-games you can imagine, breaking away from the 2D fighting gameplay of the game. You have the option to play just a single battle (something I craved for in fighting games for a while now), or the option to train. What’s neat for the competitive players is that each move in the move list has the number of frames for each action in a table on the right. That way, you can literally calculate your every move. Of course, local 2-P Versus is present, and Online play features the King of the Hill mode from Mortal Kombat, as well as standard battles. This mode, though, has received an overhaul; instead of being a passive spectator, bored until your turn comes, you can bet XP on each fight, which spices up the whole thing. A daily challenge is also present, rewarding you with tons of XP for completing it. Gone is the lag from Mortal Kombat though; don’t be afraid to play online now! Also, something I appreciated is that both of you can select an arena; the game then randomly chooses which one will be used. Cool!

Another new addition is a universal XP system, which awards you with new icons, backgrounds and portraits for your Hero Card, another new addition. This one will have the options you choose accompany your stats, showcasing your achievements, while making the tedious task of stat-scrolling a bit more pretty to look at. You can also get “Armory Keys” and “Access Cards”, which, in turn, let you unlock new costumes for the big cast of 24 characters (more coming via DLC), concept art, music, and battle modifiers (half health, countdown, etc). There’s also a trailer for “Superman Unbound”, which, I suppose (no research on it, I admit), is exclusive.

Green Lantern wins!

Now, off to dissect the game’s technical aspects. First comes the gameplay, which is the top most important thing in a fighting game. Surprise! — it plays a lot like NetherRealm Studios’ previous title, the Mortal Kombat reboot of 2011. How much though? Just enough to keep the good elements of it, evolve them, and make for a unique experience, but one not perfect. A prominent mechanic of the game are the environmental actions, which sees the player or enemy grab an object from the environment and use it to damage your opponent — a lot. This has spawned some worries within the community, and the studio, which gives the option to turn them off, as they are unblockable and take away a good chunk off the health bar. Apart from that, each character controls vastly different from each other, and they all can land insane combos, if you can pull them off of course. There’s also the Character Power, which varies from Batman summoning batarangs you can choose when to send off (even mid-combo, or to cancel an enemy attack) to Luthor getting a one-hit very temporary shield. The super meter charges up mostly by being hit, and by performing special moves. The c-c-c-combo breaker is called a Clash, which is essentially a quick time event where the two enemies face-off, and the one winning gets either health restored or damage dealt. The more meter charges you have, the more button options you will unlock in that mini-mini-game, which can only occur once each battle. Fill the meter to its full capacity, and you can pull off a crazy Super Move, which takes away a generous amount of health, too, and is great to watch (Doomsday punching you to the center of the Earth = awesome). Lastly, you can use a strong kick to send the enemy flying through the edges of the area to another part of the stage, a new part, which not only refreshes things and gives new strategies, but also deals much damage. That is a bit weird to watch if you see, say, Batman punch Bane through 5-6 walls, but hey, can’t have everything. Throw in the removal of the block button, which was substituted by the Street Fighter standard “back-to-block”, and you have a vastly revitalized fighting system.

What kind of disappointed me though was the game’s graphics. Whereas Mortal Kombat had highly detailed models and environments, Injustice only seems to keep the first half of it. While artistically good, they’re not great from a quality standpoint, especially if closely inspected, but hey, they’re so nicely made that you won’t bother too much looking for ugly details. Except when in cutscenes rendered using the game’s engine which makes some faces look weird (Batman’s mouth, sometimes), and the not-too-ugly environments show their not-too-high-quality textures. Regarding framerate drops, the game runs at a smooth 60FPS, from what I gather, having experienced no problems and seeing fast-paced action on the screen. That, though, comes at the expense of some animations. Sometimes, while the animations are very good, some are too sped up, which makes the whole immersion fade away, and make you think of a Saturday morning cartoon.

Audio-wise, the soundtrack fits the themes and grim tones of the game, but otherwise, it’s not something you will forget once you turn your console off. The voices though, are exceptional. The Arkham series’ Kevin Controy is back to voice the character, George Newbern is Superman, and the newest Joker, Richard Epcar, is also there. Phil LaMarr is behind Aquaman, and no game would be complete without Tara Strong, voicing Harleen (ehm, Harley Quinn — play the game and you’ll understand) and Raven. The sound effects are great, and each hit landed, be it from a ranged weapon, a blunt weapon or a simple punch, is visceral and satisfying, more so when you do enough damage to see your enemy’s costume start falling apart.

So, should we summarize the mountain of text above? We got an incredible story, not only for a fighting game, but for a game in general. A story I’d love to see as a movie, or a comic book. But, the gameplay can back it up pretty nicely, is mostly balanced, the characters control wonderfully and there’s enough bang for your buck in the disc, with DLC coming to add more. Overall, the game’s quality from a technical point of view has its highs and lows, but mostly stays in the first area.

Bonus Section: Collector’s Edition

Being the gamer that I am, I bought the game’s Collector’s Edition. It was one of my most anticipated games for the year so far, and I couldn’t resist another Batman statue next to my Arkham City’s Batman statue. In the video below, being around 4 minutes long, I’m unboxing everything and showing it off.

Since I’m not talking in the video; the statue is very detailed, and it’s made of soft plastic of some kind, so it needs to be handled with care. Its size is about one and a half PS3 game cases, with the steelbook being unusually shiny and sticky for some reason, featuring New 52 artwork on the back, and the game’s artwork on the front. Inside is a voucher to download New 52 costumes for Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman, while having linked your PS3 to your Warner Bros ID lands you a Flash New 52 skin. The comic book included is a prologue to the game, explaining the events leading up to it; it does not include the whole storyline of Injustice. If you’re interested in the other chapters, you can find them in digital form for 0.99$ each, and 3.99$ each in print form.

Thanks for reading, Gamesthirstians! Now go kick some super-ass!

We start with Mortal Kombat creator who’s also now working on Injustice: Gods Among Us, Ed Boon. Later we’ll include Omar Kendall from Superbot, the developer behind PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale, folks from Gearbox, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Team and much more.

But today, though, it’s all about Ed Boon.

Ask the questions and we’ll choose the best to be part of our questionnaire, as our very own Nick, from Australia, head to the expo on October 5th-7th.

Make this good, folks!

Warner Bros. is striving to make this komplete edition really complete with loads of content including all released DLC, the Mortal Kombat: Songs Inspired by the Warriors and of course, the 1995 Mortal Kombat film. A classic in every sense of the word….to me.

Mortal Kombat was released last April, but the komplete edition will see a release on February 28th.

The studio confirmed the news to Gamespot after Mortal Kombat won the best fighter award. Fans shouldn’t be disappointed though, because Boon said it’s almost certain they’ll revisit the franchise.

No more DLC will be released for Mortal Kombat.

Warner Bros. has made known told MCV that its latest Mortal Kombat release has sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide since going on sale earlier this year. Warner’s also pleased with its performance thus far.

“With the launch of Mortal Kombat, we have already paid for the acquisition of the Midway assets, and we are just beginning to leverage this acquisition with much more to come,” WB Interactive president Martin Tremblay told the site.

Decent numbers, but I expected it to do better for one of the world’s top fighters.

Mixed reactions followed the announcement of Freddy Krueger as the latest Mortal Kombat character in the form of DLC. Some gamers were angry because they claim there are lots of Mortal Kombat characters to choose from, while others didn’t know what to feel. Some, however, were happy, but most importantly, Mortal Kombat boss Ed Boon felt it made sense.

“Freddy Kreuger, we felt, was the most instantly recognizable and he fits in with Mortal Kombat with his claws,” said Boon to the US PS Blog. “It just seemed like the best fit.”

Boon also said that members of the MK team didn’t want the character to look like actor Robert Englund so much, but didn’t even know if they were allowed to alter the looks. The final decision was to make him look as close to the original character from the 80s as possible.

More through the link up top. The DLC comes out on August 9th via PSN and Xbox Live, and will set you back $5.

Warner Bros. and Netherrealms studios have sent live Mortal Kombat Skarlet DLC which can be downloaded now on PSN and Xbox Live.

Scarlet is the first of four new downloadable combatants, coming equipped with her own set of combos and fatalities.

Get her on PSN and XBL for $4.99/400 MSP or as a part of the Mortal Kombat Season Pass which is also available starting today on Xbox 360.

What’s the ‘Season Pass’?

It’s a 1200 MS Points package which will give players access to all of the fighters as they become available throughout the summer. It was announced a few days ago, however it’s only an Xbox Live event.

We’ll keep you posted if anything similar for PS3 is announced.

Warner Bros. has said gamers can play Mortal Kombat all through this weekend without an online pass on PSN, as the PlayStation Store is yet unavailable, and gamers have been unable to play games for the better portion of a month.

The free play, however, is a “temporary solution that will only be available while Playstation Store is unavailable,” said the firm on the game’s official Facebook page.

So play on while you can, will ya? Meanwhile, series creator said DLC for the bestselling game will be out within a month.

“We really want to make the patch coincide with the first DLC that’s going to come out,” he told G4. “So the Skarlett character is going to contain, not only her, but some free stuff and all the patch changes for balancing.” When asked for a timeline, Boon replied, “Certainly within the next month, but the next few weeks I’d say.”

Mortal Kombat’s out today, and along with all the other legendary characters the game comes ready with, God of War’s Kratos will be a playable character in the PS3 version. But what about the Xbox 360, couldn’t we’ve used Master Chief or somebody? Well, according to the dev, they had no control over the situation.

That’s what Ed Boon, Mortal Kombat creator, let slip while speaking to Eurogamer, adding the decision not to have one wasn’t one they took slightly, and that it was beyond their control.

“Unfortunately, the circumstances didn’t allow us to make a 360 exclusive,” he said.

“I’m not allowed to talk too much about it, but I can tell you we certainly wanted to do an exclusive for 360, but that’s all I can say. It was not a decision we made where we said, oh, let’s not do one for the 360.”

Xbox 360 gamers shouldn’t lose hope, though, as Ed Boon and his team pay close attention to their twitter accounts to get a feel of what fans are asking for. Master Chief of Halo or Marcus Fenix of Gears of War are two characters being discussed.

“Anybody who’s really knowledgeable about the Xbox video games, the big titles, names like Master Chief from Halo, Marcus Fenix from Gears of War, and any other Xbox exclusive title, is going to come up in a conversation in talking about it. So clearly we’ve discussed it.

But, like I said, it wasn’t something we decided, no, we don’t want to make a 360 version of a character.”

Mortal Kombat is upon us, but just before we take the inevitable plunge trash-talking each other while we compete together online, let’s view some of the game’s fatalities from the different characters.

Video Thirst: Finish Him!

It’s brutal stuff, folks.

Quench it:

Remember, our very own Joseph Garrett will be recording the games as you, the community, play against us, so sharpen you skills, and prepare for an onslaught.

And now it’s time to witness Kratos’ Mortal Kombat fatality. However if you’re prone to vomiting because of graphic scenes, stay away, as this one involves a big sword and the halving of opponents.

Video Thirst: Slice-N-Dice ‘Em, Kratos. Show No Mercy!

It’s you and a big sword, what would you do if you were asked to finish someone who’s intention was to do the same to you? True. I agree. Waste their lives like cow down.

Quench it:

But Mortal Kombat next week for PS3 or Xbox 360.

Tired of watching Mortal Kombat trailers and gameplay vids? Make this one your last, then. Because in there, you’ll understand why the venerable series is back.

Video Thirst: I Am King Of The Hill

So you think you are King Of The Hill? Think you can just walk around here smack-talking us all while you cruise you way to a win? Shut up! child. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I AM king of the hill.

Just wait till the game comes out and I’ll leave you blinded like a bat.

Quench it, courtesy IGN:

A new vid showing Mortal Kombat’s Smoke in action has landed, and although it’s not HD-clear, it’s still worth a watch.

Video Thirst: Smoke Wins

One of my favorite characters in Mortal Kombat has to be Smoke, the guy’s got some of the deadliest combos anywhere, and his fatalities are not less brutal.

Quench it:

The game’s out this month.

Shang Tsung. If you’ve played Mortal Kombat then you know the lost soul well. He’s given up everything. Even his soul he’s given up to Outworld’s leader Shao Khan just so he could obtain maximum power, and every time the tournament comes around, the dark fighter’s obligated to try and shift the battles on his boss’s side.

The guy also got some rather sick moves.

Video Thirst: Sell You Soul And That’s It

What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Nothing. Only the unwise, the unlearn – the foolish do such life-augmenting and everlastingly dangerous and condemning thing, you shouldn’t.

In fact, when you’re in that Mortal Kombat tournament taking on the dirty dogs of the underworld, just know there’s something within you that makes you stronger than them all.

Quench it:

Game’s out on April 19th there and on the 21st of the same month in most parts of Europe.