Invincible VS Review, Gameplay Impressions, Videos, Modes and Top Features

Invincible VS from developer Quarter Up takes a beloved IP and throws it in the most fitting genre possible: 

A bloody fighter. 

An iconic Image Comics classic from Robert Kirkman, turned Amazon Prime Video animated series, Invincible is the perfect backdrop for a tag fighter. 

Granted, Invincible VS needs to hit the right marks during a golden age for fighters. But it sounds well on its way: There's a story mode, training modes and must-haves for a competitive environment, like rollback netcode. 

Graphics and Gameplay

The word bloody might not even do Invincible VS justice. It's a gory mess of brutal exchanges that perfectly matches up with the comic book and show, while looking almost exactly like it, too. 

It's a feast for the eyes in all facets, really. The roster of 18 characters looks spot-on and faithful, even in motion when things get wild.

Similarly, the 10-plus stages (with some variations of the same locales) are littered with interesting background details and depth. Not in a distracting way, but in that excellent immersion way that games like Street Fighter have nailed for years. 

A fittingly Invincible-feeling soundtrack similar in vibes to the show laces the experience, offering some nice background noise and emphasis when needed. Some of the voice actors resuming their show roles, and just the little pre-match quips and cutscenes, really bring everything together. 

It's important to stress the sheer detail of the presentation, too. The combat damage in fights is so visceral that onlookers don't need to glance at a health bar to know exactly which fighter is winning. And the Superman-like scale of the battles levels things like skyscrapers in the background of stages to really up the ante in a great way. 

Combat is straight-up fun with a nice balance of pick-up-and-play for casuals with some seriously deep skill curves for competitive play.

As a tag fighter, Invincible VS hits all the right notes. Players can tag in mid-combo to keep a string going. But it's not all offensive without counters: The opponent can properly time a tag to break the string. 

Characters slot into different roles, too. There's balanced, but also Grapplers and Range, which lean into exactly what they sound like. Some of the fun of any tag fighter, let alone this one, is experimentation while finding the team that works best for the individual player. 

There are meters to monitor along the way, of course. 

Beyond a basic combo meter that determines combo length and interrupts, there's a boost meter for each character to manage. It refills the quickest when a character is tagged out of the action, which is important: Boosted attacks break armor. There's a strategic element beyond health bars to tag a character out, thinking a few steps ahead in a given battle. 

It gets deep in the nitty-gritty of competitive systems, too. We're talking pushblocks to create some space, snapbacks to deny it and air juggles, mixups, ground bounces and plenty of other good stuff. 

Again, it's just fun. But the modern requirement for fighting games to survive in this era is finding the balance between casual and competitive play. Invincible VS nails it, without much of an issue at all. 

Story and More

The Invincible universe is vast, so Invincible VS takes some liberties to tell a standalone tale set there. 

It's a fun romp with a handful of cinematics that fans of the series will appreciate. And in a pretty impressive feat, each of the roster members actually has a role to play in the story. 

Beyond the story mode, the Arcade mode offers up character-specific endings, too. They're good for fans of the source material or those just looking to learn about it. Plus, this attention to detail really highlights the proper voice acting and care for lore. 

Speaking of lore, the 18-character roster hits all the necessary marks: 

• Allen the Alien
• Anissa
• Atom Eve
• Battle Beast
• Bulletproof
• Cecil Stedmam
• Conquest
• Dupli-Kate
• Ella Mental
• Invincible
• Lucan
• Monster Girl
• Omni-Man
• Powerplex
• Rex Splode
• Robot
• Titan
• Thula

That's a robust list, contextually, before a DLC character pack at a later date adds four more members to the roster. 

Taking things online, there's a competitive ladder in addition to the casual versus mode. 

A necessary training mode helps players fine-tune their character combos and timings, complete with specific tutorials woven into the experience. 

On the technical front, Invincible VS runs well and hits the list of expected options in the menus, in addition to accessibility things like simplified control schemes and auto combo systems. 

Conclusion

Invincible VS does the source material justice. There were a lot of ways a game in the beloved universe could have gone, but a fighting game with this good of a team behind it makes more sense than anything else. 

And it shows. 

The presentation is immersive and distinct, justifiably bloody and world-ruining. The gameplay systems built into the experience and the mindfulness to be as modern as possible with things like rollback netcode deserve praise, too. 

Tops of anything else, though, is the sheer impressive, careful balance between being casual friendly on the couch and globally tournament ready. Invincible VS is here to stay at both levels.