Invincible VS Is An Addictive Tag Fighter With A Bright Future (Review)

Robert Kirkman’s Invincible quickly became one of my favorite franchises after the adult animated series debuted on Amazon Prime back in 2021. As I’ve said before, I grew up watching cartoons, so anything more mature with a side of violence and chaos instantly intrigues me.

With Invincible VS, Quarter Up has succeeded in shifting this brutal world towards the fighting video game genre, and the final result is absolutely glorious. Invincible VS isn’t just this year’s must-play fighting game, but it’s also a solid foundation that I feel many fans will support for years to come. Here are my thoughts on the game after spending this past week playing through it.

The Full Roster And Single Player Modes

The full Invincible VS roster includes Invincible, Atom Eve, Rex Splode, Bulletproof, Omni-Man, Monster Girl, Robot, Cecil, Dupli-kate, Titan, Ella Mental, Allen the Alien, Battle Beast, Anissa, Lucan, Thula, Powerplex, and Conquest.

Quarter Up has already announced that Universa and The Immortal will join the roster in the future, with two other unannounced fighters. Considering how vital Thragg was to Season 4 of the show, I’ll be surprised if he isn’t one of these characters, but we will have to wait to find out.

The single-player story mode features an original narrative about an overarching threat that affects everyone on the roster. We get a brief introduction of the newest character, Ella Mental, and are given the chance to play as every character across pivotal 1-on-1 and 3v3 matchups. While the story is fun and the overall presentation aligns with the popular animated show, the conclusion disappointed me and left me wanting more. If Quarter Up fully intends to continue this story in future DLC or games, then I’ll definitely be eager to see where they go. For now, I can say the story is still worth the few hours it takes to complete it, especially if you want to get more out of the overall package.

Sticking with the single-player option, Arcade mode is the equivalent of the Towers mode in the Mortal Kombat games. You pick three fighters for your team and choose which Arcade tower you want to tackle based on difficulty and a set number of matchups. When you complete the Tower, your team Captain, who you chose first, gets an ending video that concludes part of their story while teasing their future. I also enjoyed this Arcade mode as it’s another way to gain mastery skills for every fighter, unlock bonus collectibles, and offer even more character-driven story content for fans to sink their teeth into.

Multiplayer and Training Modes

Moving on to the versus local and online modes, the options are pretty straightforward in terms of what to expect from a competitive fighting game. You can play locally with a friend or test your skills online in casual or ranked matches with leaderboards.

I played in a few crossplay matches during the early review period, and everything ran just as smoothly as it did during the recent beta. It will be interesting to see if this remains consistent once the servers are more populated, but I have full confidence that it will. I’m also curious to see if the devs find other ways to evolve these online modes in future updates, making win conditions even more challenging for those who typically like to make their opponents rage quit.

Rounding out the list of menu options are Training and Extras. Training is where you can practice or join an extensive tutorial mode to familiarize yourself with the controls. Exras is where you’ll find your collection of unlocked content via artwork and customization options, replays, and rolling credits for everyone who worked on the game. There are a ton of things to unlock, and it’s great to see a central hub where you can easily keep track of everything.

Great Visuals And Incredible Combat Mechanics

As I mentioned in my preview, the game looks spectacular thanks to the beautifully designed character models, action-packed animation sequences, and authentic character interactions from an awesome voice cast. I reviewed this game on my Xbox Series X/S console and didn’t encounter any performance issues. As I always say, definitely check out Digital Foundry for a deeper breakdown on how the game performs across PlayStation and PC.

The addictive combat mechanics serve as the meat and potatoes of the entire Invincible VS experience. I applaud Quarter Up for tightening the controls and making the overall gameplay feel more seamless and fast-paced. It was incredibly easy to pick up a controller and start playing without feeling overwhelmed.

I felt this way when I played the game for the first time last year, but I can tell they reworked some things and listened to the community feedback. Making the game more accessible opens the possibilities for other players, even those who don’t usually play fighting games, to check it out. If you enjoyed the recent beta, you already have a good indicator of what to expect, and I can promise you won’t be disappointed.

A Solid Foundation With Growth Potential

As for the future of Invincible VS, I feel Quarter Up has definitely established a strong foundation they can build on. They have a plan in place to add more characters down the road, and it will be interesting to see who else makes the cut.

I’m also personally curious to see how this game performs in future fighting game tournaments. Stay tuned for more of our updated thoughts on the game as they continue to support it with post-launch content.

Final Verdict

If you can’t tell by now, I thoroughly enjoyed Invincible VS, and I’m convinced you will too. The 3v3 combat is so damn awesome that you’re guaranteed to stay hooked in just as long as you put the time into getting good. Let us know if you plan on playing the game and your overall thoughts on the experience so far.

This review was based on a review copy of Invincible VS for Xbox Series X/S provided by Quarter Up and Skybound Games.