Is that all you got?
Before Invincible became this gigantic, animated franchise, it was just a humble comic book from creator Robert Kirkman whom fans might know from his other little comic book series The Walking Dead. I loved Invincible when I first read it, it was a dope little coming-of-age superhero story where the father turns out to be not the world’s greatest hero but its greatest threat. But more than its interesting story it was more about the fights for me. Crazy, massive, panel breaking fights that were just over-the-top super hero violence. Omni-Man and his son the titular Invincible are basically superman but if he didn’t hold back. The comic and cartoon are all about the blood and gore but there is a good story there, all of those components are present in Invincible VS, it’s just your mileage will vary on them.
Like most modern style fighting games Invincible comes with an all-original narrative. I can’t say too much about it due to its length a lot of what I could say could be considered a spoiler. As a fan of the franchise I was excited to see there is also a new and original character that has been added to the universe. But aside from that the narrative felt really one-note and kind of boring until the last few minutes. Unfortunately, it was an example of “too little, too late” because just as things were getting good, we are met with a cliffhanger ending. Hopefully it sees a proper conclusion in some DLC but the larger issue for some fans may be the fact the entire campaign can be finished in a little under an hour and a half, my final time was 1:23:34.
MSRP: $49.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $49.99
I was a little perturbed at the length of the campaign but the overall fun of the gameplay soon made me forget all about that. The developers at Quarter Up have done a phenomenal job of crafting a game that is easy enough for anyone to pick up and have fun with but with enough depth to appeal to the hardcore fighter fans. Whether you are a newcomer to fighting games or an old hand at them VS feels really good to play. As a child of the 90’s anytime I hear about a tag type fighting game I instantly think about Marvel vs Capcom 2. And while VS shares the 3 v 3 tag system of that classic game, Invincible is very much its own beast with a good mixture if some of fighting games biggest hits.
One of the first games that comes to mind when playing Invincible VS is of course Killer Instinct. Since several of the team members at Quarters Up previously worked on the reboot for the Xbox One. Combat in VS is fast and furious; there is even a combo breaker technique that is visually cool to pull off. One area where VS is better than the KI reboot is in the over-the-top violence. True to its source material comic book, VS has buckets of blood and violence that is spilled in each match. Players begin each match in their outfits nice and clean but as the match goes on blood will stain their white costumes, rips and tears will appear. Even the stage itself is not immune from the damage that these fights produce. Much like in KI the background of the levels will evolve and change and it was always neat to see.
The launch roster for Invincible VS is actually probably one of the strongest I have seen in a while even if there are a few too many Viltramites. But every character on the roster feels viable and good to use. My favorites are Omni-Man, Ella Mental and Cecil. Seriously man, ole suit and tie Cecil does work as a zoner type character and is probably my favorite in the game. But with such a diverse roster of characters to choose from players should be able to find one that they vibe with.
Invincible VS is a great addition to the growing media empire for its source material. The arcade type endings for each character are hit-and-miss, but the story mode ends up being solid; if a tad short. Developer Quarter Up are to be commended on dropping a fighting game that eases players in with its mechanics and for having a solid roster, but most of all the love that this team has for the license can be felt in each punch and heard in all the voice lines. This one has been a long time coming, I just hope we get more.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
