DC Entertainment has teamed up with NetherRealm Studios to bring gamers and comic book fans one of the most entertaining DC games released to date. Injustice: Gods Among Us is a knock out of the park for these two partners, as players are treated to an entertaining Mortal Kombat style fighting game that also features a rather intricate and engaging story mode. Alternate Earths, major fights between our favorite heroes, and Aquaman kicking ass are just some of the fun pieces to the puzzle that is Injustice: Gods Among Us (now available on XBOX 360).

On an alternate Earth (let’s just call it Earth 2 for the sake of this review), The Joker has gotten bored with Batman and decides to go after Superman. We learn that Superman was tricked by Joker into not only killing Lois (and their unborn son), but also unknowingly causing the complete destruction of Metropolis. This act pushes The Man of Steel over the edge and he decides that global war and violence will now be outlawed. The Justice League takes over the world with Superman in charge, leading the new “One Earth Government”. After years of fighting back, the Batman of Earth 2 finds a way to bring heroes from our world to his own in a plot to stop Superman once and for all. Heroes are villains and villains become heroes in this twist on the DC Universe, and fans will definitely enjoy the ride.

To say that I am not a gamer would be a gross understatement. It is extremely rare for me to sit down and play video games for more than an hour or so at a time. Last night I decided to take a crack at the XBOX 360 release of Injustice: Gods Among Us, and to my surprise I ended up playing straight through the game to completion…and then realized it was 3am. The story mode for this game was quite attictive, and it was easy for me to lose track of time.

If you grew up playing Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, you will do just fine with Injustice: Gods Among Us. The game starts out with a very user friendly tutorial, demonstrating the basic moves for some of the characters. You will feel quite comfortable starting into the game after having gone through these lessons, and if you find that you are having trouble you can always pause the game and a list of some of the individual character moves will be listed for you.

Story mode takes you through 12 stages, requiring you to play (and master) a different character for each level. Batman takes precedence as you play, but you get some time as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman, Flash, Aquaman, The Joker, and more. Each character has their own special set of moves and abilities. I do have to give a shout out to the creators of the game for making Aquaman the most entertaining character to play. I am sure that Geoff Johns (DC Entertainment Chief Creative Officer) is just loving the fact that Aquaman is really badass in this story. Also if you are wondering how non-metahuman characters like Green Arrow or Batman could face off against Superman or Wonder Woman and win, don’t worry. The story mode makes sure to answer that question in a fairly decent manner. These fights take play through many recognizable DC Universe locations including The Batcave/Wayne Manor, The Fortress of Solitude, The Justice League Watchtower, and Paradise Island to name a few.

As with the most recent Mortal Kombat game, NetherRealm really comes through with providing players with some very interactive backgrounds and settings for these characters to inhabit. All of the fight sequences are clean and smooth, allowing players to take characters to different levels of the arena. There are tons of easter eggs as well in the backgrounds of these levels, and you will see many familiar people and objects from the DC Universe strategically placed for your viewing entertainment. It is very obvious that the creators of the game put a lot of attention to detail into the development of both the individual characters, and the overall world, and the payoff is definitely worthwhile.