After the disastrous initial launch of Mortal Kombat X on PC, you’d be forgiven for casting a wary eye on Injustice 2’s foray into personal computer territory. But if you’ve been eagerly waiting for the fighting game’s PC release and even skipped the original console launch while doing so, I’m pleased to report that the wait was worth it.
Injustice 2’s performance on PC is a far cry from Mortal Kombat X’s dismal showing. While there are a few hiccups that presented themselves during my playtime (more on that in a bit), I did find that my experience with the game was rather smooth for the most part. As expected, fights themselves play out in 60 frames per second, and the frame rate reverts swiftly back to 30 during the cinematic cutscenes. The drop in frame rate is a little jarring at first, but it’s something you get used to pretty quickly. The single-player fights themselves ran well, though I did encounter some frame drops and hitches here and there. This was a little worrying at first, especially as the game seemed to chug and stutter during more complex combos. However, after fiddling around with the graphical settings, and running the in-game autoconfig tool, those little issues ironed themselves out immediately.
If you’re planning on picking up Injustice 2 on PC, I strongly recommend running through the graphical settings quickly and make sure to run the benchmark tests before jumping online. This made a world of difference in terms of gameplay smoothness, and it improved my experience drastically. That said, even though the more severe problems like frame rate drops and freezes had been cleared up, I still saw a bit of slowdown whenever a character executed a super move. The character animations would unfold a little sluggishly during the move, though the frame rate does revert back to its normal 60 once the move is over and you’re back in the fight proper. There are also occasional lip-synch issues during fights and in cutscenes, but nothing too game-breaking that render the game totally unplayable.
Controller support is available, of course, and I got to test out the game with an Xbox One elite controller and a joystick set up, and Injustice 2 worked well with no problems. There is also keyboard support for those who want it, and it’s nice to see the in-game prompts change appropriately upon detecting your input devices. You can play the game with any sort of setup you’d like without worrying about compatibility and accessibility.
I dabbled in a little bit of online play over the past few days as well, and the netcode was mostly stable. I only encountered a couple of incidents where the game seemed to drop my inputs or lagged out a little. This wasn’t frequent, though, and most of my online matches were a joy to play, with both wired and wireless connections. The matchmaking times were thankfully swift – something the Mortal Kombat X PC port struggled with a lot.
As is the case with the console versions of the game, Injustice 2 on PC also features all of the previously released DLC content and characters. In terms of content, you can expect to sink your teeth into a fairly fun story campaign, along with other optional challenges and modes you can take part in, and the online multiplayer. As we detailed in our review of the console launch earlier this year, Injustice 2 introduces a bevy of RPG elements and a new loot system that allows you to level up individual characters, earn experience, and unlock new gear and weapons for them. There is a lot of solo and multiplayer content to get into here and, as I mentioned previously, if you’ve been holding out for the PC port, this is a good version of the game to pick up and play.
NetherRealm and WB Games have done a stellar job with this PC port. My time with the game on PC has been pleasant and enjoyable, and it’s an easy one to recommend to fighting game fans or players who want to experience this epic DC story on their beefy computer rigs.
