Review: Invincible VS (PS5) – Comic Book Carnage That Comes Alive Online

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How has it taken this long to get an Invincible game?

There have been a couple of Invincible video games so far. One is a well-received visual novel for PC called Invincible Presents: Atom Eve. The other is an ongoing idle game from Ubisoft, Invincible: Guarding the Globe.

But without being snobby, we mean a proper game, like fighter Invincible VS.

This new 3v3 fighting game comes from Quarter Up, a studio created by developers who previously worked at Double Helix (the team behind the revived Killer Instinct). It’s based on Robert Kirkman’s popular comic book and the hit Amazon Prime series, offering a raw and intense fighting experience.

Though the animation style is different from other superhero shows, it still clearly takes inspiration from the Invincible comic book. The bright blue and yellow costume and distinctive bug-eyes look great in motion, and Omni-Man’s imposing size and powerful presence are effectively conveyed through his character design.

This franchise is a natural fit for a fighting game. The comic books are full of battles between superheroes, and this game focuses on that action, setting aside the more everyday moments from the original stories.

This fighting game uses a modern control style, similar to games like 2XKO. Although a classic Street Fighter-style control scheme is available, the game seems designed to encourage players to use its simpler controls.

The game avoids complex, circular button motions – a bit funny given the developer’s name! Instead, attacks are simple: Square is for Light attacks, Triangle for Medium, and Circle for Heavy. Pressing a direction along with the Cross button activates a special move.

You can hold the R2 button to power up your attacks, but the game’s strategy really comes from switching between characters and using that to trick your opponents into falling for your plans.

You can switch between characters mid-battle using ‘active tags’ to create powerful combo chains and surprise your opponent. However, skilled players can interrupt these transitions, leaving you vulnerable to attack.

True mastery in combat isn’t just about attacking; it’s about timing. Knowing when to draw an attack and when to pretend to, to trick your opponent into reacting, is what really leaves them vulnerable.

You have a few options to change things up. The Assist Breaker can reduce an opponent’s progress, letting you escape a tough situation, but it prevents you from tagging them for ten seconds afterward.

The Heroic Strike lets you skillfully block an attack and immediately counter with an offensive move.

Even after thoroughly testing these systems, we didn’t feel completely confident using them in important online games. However, we recognize their complexity could be beneficial for professional players.

We especially enjoyed how quickly the matches moved. Even though 3v3 battles can sometimes drag on, health drops rapidly, making for fast-paced action. Each character truly feels powerful, whether it’s through Rex Splode’s agility, Battle Beast’s strength, or Atom Eve’s long-range attacks.

The game features many of the original voice actors, with J.K. Simmons reprising his iconic role as Omni-Man. It also introduces a new character, Ella Mental, who was specifically created by the show’s creator, Kirkman.

While knowing the Invincible series can enhance your experience, it’s not essential to enjoy this game. Some of the Viltrumite characters, such as Thula, Anissa, and Lucan, don’t look very different from one another – perhaps more visual distinction would be expected for a fighting game. However, each character does have unique abilities and a specific role in battles.

While some levels are really exciting, like the detailed and breakable New York and Titan’s Penthouse, others, such as the Stasis Room, don’t quite stand out and feel a little bland.

The game launches with a solid 18 playable characters, which feels like a good amount. However, it’s disappointing that popular characters like The Immortal aren’t available right away and will come as downloadable content later.

The single player slate is also slim.

The game brings back the classic arcade-style challenge ladders, where the difficulty and length of matches increase as you climb. Alongside this, there’s a full story mode, now standard for games like this, which tells a new, original story featuring all of the game’s characters.

The game’s cutscenes feature amazing animation, using a unique stop-motion style similar to Spider-Verse. However, the story feels thin and mainly serves as a way to connect a series of fights. Plus, players who choose the normal difficulty can finish the game in just over an hour.

The game relies heavily on its multiplayer to keep players engaged, which is typical for fighting games like this. There are lots of unlockable items, and our early testing shows the online connection is very stable thanks to rollback netcode. However, your actual online experience might vary depending on the time and location of your matches.

We generally had a good experience with this game. The fighting feels impactful and can be quite visually disturbing – in a good way – and the energetic soundtrack by The Glitch Mob really enhances the gameplay.

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2026-04-30 17:07