Wingin' it this showcase.
Day 1: Some minor things[]
So before I went on with the main event, I figured I'd discuss a couple of things regarding Injustice 3's development, due to the long hiatus I've had on it; nothing major, like I've indicated, just some minor details I thought I'd iron out while I'm thinking of how to write the next few days:
- During the second act of the story, Grid experiments on Starfire to find out about emotions, and this painful process causes her to go into a state of emotional flux (got the idea from her I2 shaders); one minute she's running scared throughout the Watchtower, the next she's filled with a savage rage that forces Amazo to battle her - only for her to turn extremely passionate and kiss him so hard, she almost digests him. Then she quickly turns to disgust and slaps him hard on the face.
- I'm still having trouble keeping up with all the unveiled fighters and such, but right now, the only returning guest character I'm planning on keeping is Raiden (who's also Black Lightning technically), and I'll probably be adopting other guests' movesets into pre-existing roster members (like Killer Frost getting some of Sub-Zero's moves).
- I thoroughly intend to kill off characters during the story, but only in ways that make sense and help progress the story; there are gonna be plenty of deaths, though, all leading up to the usual "happy" ending.
And with that said, that's day 1 taken care of.
Day 2: The Dread Pirate[]
Something I've been meaning to cover for a while in Virus is what exactly the Pirates have been up to in Virus; putting it simply, they've been busy developing new weapons and working on their genetic experimentation skills. They've been doing a good job of it, as their Project DREAD was completed: a genetic bioweapon that is considered by the entire Pirate civilization to be the ULTIMATE Pirate.
The Dread Pirate (named after the ever-rumored Metroid DREAD) is bascially the pinnacle of Pirate evolution: he's a genetic amalgam of a Commando Pirate, Omega Metroid, Ridley, Kraid, Phantoon and Draygon, outfitted with cyborganic enhancements, reverse-engineered Beam weaponry, and several other Pirate weapons including chameleon manta, a Gravity Boost, and a couple of Power Bomb Launchers - all under the control of the brain of a Pirate Elite Commander, which makes it tactically intelligent in the process.
It has a ton of ways to attack, 4 different phases, and is the Virus equivalent of the Diggernaut in difficulty level; hence why it's the final boss. I'm not gonna delve into story details, but the Dread Pirate requires Samus to think the fight through and use every trick she has (including the Boost Jump, her Aeion Abilities, and her Shinespark technique): in fact, her tricks are sometimes the only way she can even damage the Dread Pirate. Might be overselling it a bit, but simply put, it's no cakewalk.
Day 3: Spotlight on a Slayer[]
Though he's not of the Mortal Kombat universe, Dylan Singer's guest appearance adds a little more depth where Zombies Ate My Neighbors left off; his playstyle adds some differentiation to the traditional Mortal Kombat formula.
Dylan cannot use stage fatalities and has no brutalities to use on opponents (he has a very strict "no killing humans" rule, so him using the same murderous moves on humans wouldn't make much sense, like Cassie Cage being able to blow her own mother's brains out in MKX); plus, Dylan has only one fatality input and it's the same for every character: however, the fatality itself isn't. Dylan's probably gonna be the only character who has them, but even though his fatality has the same input, it's different and has a different name, depending on who he's fighting:
- For example, on Nitara, he performs the Fatality It BURNS!!!: he stabs 3 wooden stakes into her - one in the crotch, one in the stomach, one in the heart, then exposes her to his Crucifix Shield's light, which then burns her skin off, exposing her skeleton, frozen in an agonized pose.
Some of the fatalities like It BURNS!!! do actually kill the opponent he faces, but others don't, because of the no-humans rule:
- An example of this is Second Base, his "fatality" on Cassie Cage: he punches her in the face once, then steals a kiss before she falls over unconscious (for those who are wondering, it's a callback to the subtle love interest he shares with his own world's Cassie). Cheesy, I know, but he couldn't get away with that on Jacqui; Takeda would kill him.
"Fatalities" like Second Base act more like Friendships from past games, which is where I got the idea from.
Though Dylan is the only character with a lack of Brutalities and Stage Fatalities, his specials are still something that normally Kombatants could die from.
- Hack'n'Slash has him spin his Bushwhacker, slashing foes at Melee range 3 times; the enhanced version adds a 4th overhead slash that floors the opponent.
- Blade Runner is where he slams the Bushwhacker into the ground behind him, which rockets him forward in a kicking pose.
- Mid-Air Trampoline is just an extra jump that can be aimed. Nothing much to be said there.
- In Bazooka Blast, he grabs the opponent, whips out his Bazooka, slams the barrel against the opponents, then pulls the trigger, flooring the opponent and rocketing him across the arena.
- Speed Shoes is a quick flurry of kicks; the enhanced version knocks the opponent up into the air, allowing for follow-ups.
- 5D Vision adds 4 more combo options for a brief time; once one of these 4 is used, the effect wears off.
- Shield Crash is a simple forward shield dash that blocks projectiles.
- With Smart Plate, Dylan throws a plate into the air that loops around then speeds forward and hits the opponent either low, high, overhead or mid, completely random; the enhanced version has the plate split into three whole plates mid-throw, which hit high, low, and mid all at once.
- Bubble Gun shoots a bubble projectile that encases the foe in a strange coating, stunning them but doing no damage; the enhanced version encases them in a full bubble which slowly damages them but holds them in mid-air for combo potentials.
- Boppo inflates an inflatable clown decoy that takes a decent amount of hits and has slight recoil damage from when it pops, if opponents are close.
- Silverware has Dylan throw a handful of silverware which hurts the opponent; the enhanced version has the silverware stick in the opponent, hurting the opponent over time.
- Exploding Pie has him plant a pie on the ground behind them, which floors the opponent with an explosion if triggered; the enhanced version explodes with electricity, stunning the opponent for follow-ups.
- Rotten Tomatoes has him throw a bouncing tomato that explodes into rotten juices, either creating a caustic pool that damages foes from the smell and slight acid or splashing the opponent, doing damage over time. These tomatoes can be thrown at 4 different distances.
- Nitrogen Popsicles has Dylan jump back, throwing a popsicle at the ground, which freezes opponents hit.
- Soda Six-Pack has Dylan grab the opponent, open a six pack of explosive soda, then rocket the opponent across the arena with it, doing damage from the impact force.
The last 12, as with all characters, are available in different variations depending on what you choose. And as with all characters, Dylan's appearance changes slightly depending on the different variation you choose:
- In American Gladiator, he wears his 5D glasses and sports his shield.
- In Weird Weapons, he has a utility belt of gear for his specials.
- In Everything But, he wears a pair of rubber gloves.
Small visual details, but that's to be expected with all character variations.
That said, that's it for Day 3.
Day 4: Metroid: Warriors[]
And finally, it's time for the main event. The sequel to Virus that I only recently came up with, and my "next big thing" as Funky Kong would put it: Metroid: Warriors, the game that brings several factions together on a battlefield of unprecedented proportions.
Avoiding spoilers for Virus this is the most I can say on the story for Warriors: the Kriken Empire (Trace's faction) has long been reknowned throughout the Galaxy as a ruthless and oppressive empire, but long ago, agreed with the Galactic Federation to put aside their mutual friction to stop the Space Pirates and their trademark brand of mad science; but since Samus Aran had utterly eradicated the last major Pirate Homeworld in their network and pretty much left them in shambles, the Kriken saw it as their chance for Galactic Conquest, meaning their non-aggresion pact with the Federation wasn't worth the paper it was printed on.
So now it's pretty much galactic warfare across the galaxy, and the Federation is forced to call on some of its only defenders left: namely, a group of warriors that lead completely different factions.
These warriors lead different factions in the battlefield:
- Samus, the legendary bounty hunter and de facto leader of the group, has reached the true peak of her ability with her new Aeion-based Light Suit, which instilled Aeion into not only her suit, but her DNA, adding new defensive and offensive capabilities in both her suit and herself.
- Antony Higgs, promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Federation Marines, commands battalions of special forces Marines in battle; with a suit based on the one Sylux hijacked all those years ago, and a decent arsenal of weapons, he's gone far from the military grunt he once was.
- Noxus, the bounty hunter of the Vhozon monks, has returned from a long bout of solitude to prevent the Kriken's evil from spreading to other corners of the galaxy.
- Mainframe, formerly known as Firewall, is a human cyborg who's past encounters with Samus has changed his xenophobic viewpoint, and now is fighting for the Federation (albeit in the shadows); he's gotten some upgrades since he last saw Samus, as he now can split into 5 separate beings but with a single mind/network, long story.
Each of these 4 (plus a few others) are gonna be playable in the main story, in individual chapters akin to Pandemic's Star Wars Battlefront 2, with updating missions and everything. That's all I'm gonna divulge for now, so expect more in either a DirectCast or another showcase, whichever comes first.
With that said, that wraps up P.E.D.'s showcase early; sorry about that, but couldn't have this conflict with my irl stuff. See you guys next time.