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Injustice 2: Gods Among Us My Thoughts

On May 11, 2017 the highly anticipated video game “Injustice 2” came out. The opening scene starts with a story line that draws the player into the game. Making the story line clear who is evil and who is the hero. If a player did not play the first video game Injustice, the video game player may be confused about the storyline. The opening story conveys the emotion of sadness, as it explains an origin story for one of the main heroes in Injustice 2.

In Writing Space Chapter 3 Bolter states, “One Web page can take the reader to a dozen pages around the word” (Bolter, Pg. 40) discusses how writing in modern times can also have rhetorical concepts in them. He often refers the world wide web, which I believe also includes the virtual gaming world of video games such as Injustice 2. “For this reason, print is becoming hypermediated, as it incorporates verbal genres and gestures in self-conscious imitation of and rivalry with electronic media, especially the World Wide Web.” (Bolter, Pg. 46)

How does the video intro convey such a strong emotion? The video begins showing a robot invading Krypton (this is the planet that superman is from). Viewers witness the robots kidnapping, killing, and the destruction of the planet. The camera angle then moves to a girl who looks to be about 16 years old running for her life as the robots shoot and are chasing after her.

The audience is watching a teenager girl running for her life while citizens around her are being killed and the city being destroyed. It was quite emotional as the audience is gasping to see her survive and reach help. I believe that the beginning of the video game with this introductory video helps readers understand that our hero survives but has a sad back story. The video then shows the girl running to her house. While on the balcony of her home she looks over the city. The video game players witness the main villain an alien ship hovering over the city. An army of robots that are coming and going from the main ship are attacking the city. The camera pans to the teenager girl’s face, which mirrors shock, horror, sadness, and numbness. The girl is frozen witnessing the terror around her, as the camera slowly pans out the audience sees a robot sneaking up behind her and about to harm the girl. The audience are relieved to see a woman behind the robot with a gun and shoot the robot which causes the robot to be deactivated. The woman calls for the young girl by the name of “Kara”. The video game player is alerted that the woman is the young girl’s mother. The mother and daughter run inside the house. The mother locks the door, the audio gives the viewer the impression that the robots are trying to break down the door as the mother leads her daughter to a ship. Daughter, Kara starts to cry as her mother explains that she knew this day would come and that her daughter must leave the planet with her cousin, Kal – El. Her cousin is a baby in another ship next to her ship. Kara, understands that she is now going to be the protector and guardian to her cousin.

The idea implanted into the audience’s mind that Kara could feel a sadness that her mother didn’t tell her sooner and that now she is part of an extinct species. She is going to another planet that she doesn’t know and unaware of how these people will be. Kara witnesses her mother die before her eyes. The terror is seen in her eyes. Kara’s ship launches into space as her cousins’ space ship is seen flying right next to her ship. All of a sudden space debris hits her ship which causes her ship to move away from her cousin’s ship. Kara screams to her cousin Kal – El for him.

Throughout the game the player sees that Kara battles in her mind what she had witnessed and went through in the opening sequence of her life on the planet Kyrton was good. Also, her family the house of El was a symbol of hope.

A statement said to Kara in the game by one of her opponents is: “Face the awful truth” and “”Always too late.”

Being reminded by what happened to her causes the viewers to remember the events during the opening of the game. In the end Kara makes it to earth and must ultimately fight her own cousin Kal – El, now known professionally as Superman. When she arrives to earth years later after Kal – El (who is now an adult and superhero turned villain). Kara unaware that her cousin is evil still sees him as her little cousin and feels the need to protect him from the resistance that is trying to harm him. With seeing clear eyes that that Superman is evil, she turns sides and with great sadness and must defeat her own cousin. This causes Kara to feel like she is reliving her childhood trauma. She reminds Kal – El of his home planet and the house of El. She speaks to him multiple times throughout the game trying to reason with him. Kal -El does allow her to speak to him and he seems to resist harming her and leaving her most of the time. It truly wasn’t until he tries to commit a genocide himself that she accuses him of betraying the house of El and being just as similar as the villain alien Brainiac.

Players of the video game are in an emotional journey from start to finish with our main character Kara. From seeing her younger self, to having no choice but to leave her home planet. She witnesses the death of her people, family, and the destruction of her home planet. This leaves her traumatized, fragile, and just scared. She then sees that her space ship goes off course and it takes years later for her to finally arrive to earth only to see that her one and only living family member has become what she hates and what caused her pain in her life. Viewers are getting a full video introduction to a storyline that conveys the emotion of sadness and pain that causes a great origin story for a great hero that the player is about to play and witness their story arc in Injustice 2 video game.  

Works Cited

Bolter, J. David. Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print. 2nd ed. New York, NY.: Routledge, 2001

Read my other blog post: PLACES AROUND THE WORLD: A BLOGGING COMMUNITY COLLABORATION

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Comments

  1. I have to just say that this is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE video games and I absolutely loved it. I’ve done both the good and bad endings and I found your review and summary to be on point.

    You must try the online multiverse!

  2. I love the deep dive you take into the storytelling of INJUSTICE 2 as a literary work. I haven’t played this game yet, but it sounds like a wonderful emotional journey from the way you described it. Right up my alley!

  3. I don’t think I’ve played the first Injustice game. Have you played either of the Injustice games? If you have any screenshots I can visualise the game and the storyline you talking about, that’d be awesome

  4. I am not a big fan of games. But this sounds interesting. And your perspective on the game is quite unique. Thanks for sharing.😊

  5. I am finding that more and more video games are becoming blockbuster movie-like with playable stories. I watch my husband play and if I look up quickly I actually think he is watching a movie! This game sounds interesting and I loved reading your perspective!

  6. Such a poetic storyline and game! Really entertaining and challenging for the gamer as it takes a deep dive into the mind of Kara and her family challenges. I feel really bad for her as she is put in such a difficult situation but I really enjoyed how this game handled her arc and I look forward to playing through this game again in the future. Thanks for writing about this cool game

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