'Injustice 2' Addresses Batman's Biggest Moral Quandry
Broken bones and traumatic brain injury aren't death, right?
On the surface, Injustice 2 is about obtaining new gear for your superheroes. On a deeper level, it’s an exploration of the question Batman has struggled with since the character was created: whether it’s okay to murder someone in the name of saving other lives.
In Injustice 2, the player experience truly epic encounters between DC superheroes and villains – the game pits characters like Batman, Black Canary, and Green Arrow against a familiar cast of baddies such as Gorilla Grodd and Brainiac, and the action takes place on gorgeous battlefields. Just like the original, Injustice 2 is packed with dozens of brutal arena transitions to enjoy, a set of excellent (but somewhat repetitive) new Super Moves, and a completely new gear progression system to work through. More importantly, however, is the dialogue scattered through Injustice 2’s narrative, which starts to shed some light on Bruce Wayne’s questionable moral code.
Bruce Wayne operates under a strict set of rules while roaming Gotham as Batman. He doesn’t kill enemies, ever, instead opting to fight them continuously, even after they break out of jail over and over. Naturally, some of his compatriots like Superman don’t agree with this policy, which led to the core conflict in Injustice: Gods Among Us back in 2013.
Despite his code against killing both innocents and criminals alike, Batman’s been a relatively brutal warrior throughout his last few years in video games – cracking through bones with heavy punches and using bullets against his opponents to disable them without (somehow) killing them. Injustice 2’s Super Move even has the infamous Batwing pick up his opponent, drag them into the air, and then rain down a hail of machine gun fire before firing a missile into them as they slam back into the ground of the arena. It’s a crazy move for sure, but one which doesn’t seem to fit his rules of engagement all too well.
What’s great about Injustice 2 is how quickly the game’s dialogue addresses the age-old question about Batman’s combat tactics during the opening of the campaign. While pursuing Superman inside Arkham Asylum, Batman and Robin sweep in and clear out the armed guards – knocking them out with ease on their way to the cell blocks. Batman’s last knockout is a little over the top though, punching in the face of the final guard with a series of five punches to which Robin responds with, “So you won’t kill, but you’re fine with traumatic brain injuries.”
We’ve been wondering the same thing for years Damien. Unfortunately, it appears that your father isn’t going to stop dishing out free traumatic headaches anytime soon. Maybe one day Batman will give us the answer we deserve, but until then Injustice 2 can give us some much-needed humor for a puzzle we don’t quite understand.
