Many people who aren’t into comics forget that there are more superheroes than the members of the Avengers or the Justice League. I’m not even talking about the Teen Titans or the Guardians of the Galaxy. We’re going to take a look at one of the most recognisable heroes from another publisher: Image Comics. This next game will shine the spotlight on Mark Grayson, otherwise known as… Invincible!
You might as well give up, I’m…
Invincible first appeared in an American comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and illustrated by Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley. The comics tell the story of Mark Grayson and his transformation into the superhero Invincible, as well as the adventures he embarks on in this guise. The story was well received, but largely remained under the radar of the mainstream public. However, it is the Amazon Prime adaptation of the story that has brought it to a wider audience, with its fourth season recently concluding. Like every successful superhero, Invincible is now receiving a triple-A game: Invincible VS. A 3 vs. 3 fighting game developed by Quarter Up and published by Skybound Games.
In Invincible VS, players choose three fighters from a roster of eighteen Invincible characters. These cover both heroes and villains from the Invincible universe. These range from well-known characters such as Allen the Alien, Atom Eve and Omni-Man to lesser-known characters such as Bulletproof and Thula. Your goal is to knock out all three of your opponents’ characters before they knock out yours. At your disposal is the classic arcade fighter combat style. You have light, medium, and heavy attacks that you need to chain together to defeat your opponents. There is also a special button for character-specific moves. Dealing and taking damage fills a bar at the bottom of the screen that can fill up to five times. Unleashing a super move towards your opponent requires one charge, while launching your ultimate requires three. However, be careful not to go overboard, or your enemy might be destroyed, leaving only a pulp of flesh and blood.
Invincible
As an arcade fighter, Invincible VS has all the modes you would expect from a game of this type. There are four main modes on offer: Story, Arcade, Versus, and Training. The biggest difference between this release and many other games in the genre is the story mode, which is based on such a rich comic universe. So let’s take a look at the other three modes first. Arcade and Training modes are the other two single-player modes. Training mode speaks for itself. This is where you will master the skills needed to perform amazing combos with your favourite characters. There are guided tutorials, but you can also just fight a combat dummy bot. Choose whichever you prefer. In Arcade Mode, you select a team leader and two other characters to fight a series of matches against the computer. Complete the gauntlet to unlock character-specific lore and endings for your favourite hero or villain. Do you think you have what it takes after beating the computer time and time again? Take the battle to a physical opponent in Versus mode. You can play against friends locally or online in casual matches. There’s no better way to decide who the better superhero is. If you’re feeling really bold, you can put your skills to the test in ranked lobbies and become the world’s number one hero. As you can see, these staples are pretty much unchanged from those of other arcade fighters.
However, if you’re a true Invincible fan, you can delve into Story Mode. Here, you can experience an original Invincible story featuring around 25 minutes of cutscenes. As big Invincible fans themselves, the people at Quarter Up asked me not to reveal any story-specific details, so I’ll skip the specifics and jump straight to my thoughts on this mode. I thought the overall runtime of the story mode was a bit too short. It took me about an hour to complete, but that’s my only real complaint. Yes, the story payoff at the end might be a bit lacking if you aren’t familiar with the characters, but I don’t think someone unfamiliar with the story would expect to become fully up to speed with an established IP. However, if you are an Invincible fan, you will love this mode. Some characters who can’t fight each other in the show can now duke it out, which was fun to see. This is especially true when they get more time to interact during the cutscenes. On the subject of cutscenes, many of the voice actors from the Amazon Prime show reprise their roles in the game. Gillian Jacobs and J. K. Simmons, for example, both reprise their roles as Atom Eve and Omni-Man. One notable absence is Steven Yeun as Invincible, which was reportedly due to season four of the show and Invincible VS. being in development simultaneously. However, it must be said that Aleks Le gives an exceptional performance as the main character. I didn’t notice the difference until the credits rolled and I saw his name among some new additions to the cast. Finally, I wanted to mention the animation of the cutscenes. The frame rate of the characters’ movement differs here. This was done to make the animation’s flow look more like a comic. It took a little while to get used to it, but I really liked the way it looked, especially when combined with the techno-style backing music.
Think Mark! Think!
Having played Invincible VS for several hours, I would say that it is one of the better fighting games released in the last year. Its success in the long run will depend on how the fighting game community reacts to it, but I hope it will succeed. As with all fighting games, it takes time to hone your skills and see how in-depth the systems are. Much better players than me will be needed to determine whether all the systems are as flawless as they appear. However, I like that the game gives you tips if you know your fighter lingo. For example, the character select screen already shows a character type underneath the name. I like rushdown gameplay, so with this little piece of help, it didn’t take long for me to identify characters that suited my playstyle. I have only scratched the surface of what is possible in this game, and I have enjoyed every moment. Even so, jumping straight into story mode on normal without playing a couple of training sessions first wasn’t possible for me. A great fighting game is characterised by an active community, so we’ll see in the coming months whether the steep learning curve is too much for the general public. However, if the post-launch support maintains a high standard, I doubt that will be the case.
As an Invincible fan, I can see the passion Quarter Up have for the source material. This is evident in everything from the subtle references to iconic dialogue in the characters’ voice lines to the meticulously designed locations, such as Titan’s penthouse or Kahor’s tomb, and the charming chibi characters that appear on the loading screen. The only thing I find a bit sad is that some major characters from later in the series aren’t already part of the roster; Kid Omni-Man and Thrag being two of them. But I understand that this would leave no room for future DLC. The Immortal and Universal are already on their way, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the Grand Regent sooner rather than later. My biggest dream for this game however, is for other story chapters to drop with future updates. Because after playing through this story, I need more Invincible!
Conclusion
Invincible VS is more than just an arcade fighting game. It’s a tribute to the original material. The characters have been given great animation, and even feature (most of) the original voice actors. While some are missing from the roster, the replacement voice actors do a remarkable job. The combat and most modes are what you would expect from an arcade fighter, but the story mode is a great addition that puts all the characters in the spotlight. It is somewhat short, though. It’s more like an episode of a show instead of an entire campaign. A good fighting game needs a strong community to succeed, so the coming months will show if Invincible VS will be a hit. But if what I played is anything to go by, I think most players who come to this release because they love the show, will stick around because they will also fall in love with this game.
