Invincible Vs Preview: Test Your Viltrumight

Admittedly I was disappointed when Invincible Vs was first announced. When I found out the comic and TV series was being adapted into a video game I thought we might finally get that Superman simulator we’d always dreamed about.

That said after playing a few rounds at this year’s Gamescom I didn’t think it was half bad, especially since it gave a rookie like me a fighting chance at victory.

I’m not a fan of fighting games. I play them but I’m not good at them. As much as I love Dragon Ball I’ll offer no challenge on Dragon Ball Fighterz, and I’m certainly not pulling off any Fatalities in Mortal Kombat.

With that in mind I went into my Invincible Vs demo with low expectations, yet while there was a lot of information to take in and process when it came time to throw down the gauntlet I actually had a good time.

Fighting game veterans will likely master the game quickly as it functions almost identically to others in the genre. I selected three characters, Omni-Man, Battle Beast and Rexplode, and tried my best at combining light, medium and heavy attacks to string together some combos, both in the air and on the ground.

Fortunately the demo featured several mechanics that benefited casual players like myself, like auto-combos, though I tried to avoid them as much as possible. What really stood out were mechanics that’d disrupt an opponent’s attack. There’s nothing worse than being hopelessly outmatched by someone better at the game than you, and getting air-juggled into oblivion. But with enough meter and the right timing you can break out of certain combos and go back on the offensive.

Skybound Games

My favourite mechanic however was sudden death. If there’s no winner when the timer reaches zero whatever character you and your opponent are using will be locked in, with your teammates disappearing. Your healthbars go up to full and your meter gets maxed out, but your health will slowly drop while you’re not attacking. This encourages offensive play from both players, and means even if you’ve been getting annihilated for most of the match, there’s still a chance of victory if you play your cards right.

Now as an Invincible game it does shine. I’d have much preferred more stylised visuals similar to the original artwork but the 3D models look fine, and the supermoves at your disposal do the source material justice.

Something I really loved was how your character would take battle-damage, holding their limbs when their health dropped low enough. On the other hand the player that was doing the most damage would be covered in blood and viscera, much like the comics/TV series.

I also can't not mention the gruesome finishers. KO'ing a character using a certain time of move can behead them, explode them, slice them in half and more. I was told the gore can be dialled back in the settings but who's playing an Invincible game for a family-friendly sparring match?

It might not be the open-world title many were expecting/hoping for but it’s clear that a lot of love and respect for the source material has made it into the game, and while the roster is small for the time being I was promised there are plenty more characters yet to be announced. For fans of fighting games and Invincible, Invincible Vs is one to keep an eye on.