From a technical standpoint, Injustice 2 has to be one of most graphically intensive games developed by NetherRealm Studios. Running on a highly modified Unreal Engine 3 (quite the irony given that the mobile version utilizes Unreal Engine 4), Injustice 2 plays and feel absolutely incredible.
We recently got our hands on the PS4 and Xbox One version of Injustice 2 and decided to compare them against each other. To begin with, Injustice 2 runs at a full 1920 X 1080p resolution on the PS4 whereas on the Xbox One, the game runs at 1600 X 900p resolution. Due to the lower resolution on the Xbox One, the game looks a bit softer on Microsoft which in turn results into some distant objects looking a bit blurrier. Other than this, the two versions are pretty similar and we found no other differences between them. On the PS4 Pro build, the game manages to render at 2560 X 1440p resolution when running on a 4K TV. However, that is not all, the game also benefits from highly resolution textures, a better-quality motion blur effect and ambient occlusion, and sharper shadows.
On the performance front, both versions employ a locked 60 frames per second buffer. However, story cutscenes and transition to super moves are all locked to 30 frames per second. Unfortunately, whenever these kick in, the effect could be quite jarring. Why this happens is unknown at this point but this issue isn’t exactly new to fighting games, which to be honest is kind of unfortunate. But other than this minor quirk, performance is almost locked at silky smooth 60 frames per second.
One area where NetherRealm Studios have totally outdone themselves is the animation department. The cutscenes are beautifully crafted with intricately detailed character models and animations that are almost life like. Although, animations are superb across the board, one character that stood out for us was Harley Quinn. Her facial animations are so good that they almost approach the uncanny valley. Injustice 2’s facial animations raise the industry bar and it’s by far the best we have seen in a video game since L.A. Noire.
So, overall, Injustice 2 uses each platform’s strengths pretty well. There is no PC version this time around, so the game is best played on the PS4 Pro provided you have a 4K TV. This is followed by the PS4 version which benefits from higher resolution and finally we have the Xbox One version which isn’t exactly bad provided you are okay with a lower operating image buffer.