Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League /REVIEW
Almost nine years have passed since Rocksteady Studios released the final entry in their brilliant Arkham trilogy, and almost four since they announced its follow-up. And many things have been said about that follow-up before its release — most of it negative.
Which is kind of understandable, since expectation management has never been gaming community’s strong suit. Especially when a studio whose previous games have been singleplayer experiences through and through, announces… let me check this once again… a co-op multiplayer looter shooter with live service elements.
But, before you dismiss it, hear me out — while certainly not on the level of Arkham trilogy, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is actually a good game.
Five years have passed since the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, and it turns out — surprise, surprise — that Batman is not actually dead. What’s more, he has joined the Justice League and is regularly hanging out in Metropolis with his new buddies — Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. But, things will not go well for long, and they will soon find themselves brainwashed by a mysterious alien known only as Brainiac, which is where our new (anti)heroes jump in.
Just like in the comics and that one movie by James Gunn (let’s ignore the original cinematic abomination under the same name), Suicide Squad sees a group of DC supervillains joining forces under the super secret government organisation, who will assign them missions that can usually end in only one way.
With that and Rocksteady’s pedigree in mind, you won’t be surprised to hear that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts quite a big focus on its story, presenting it in great cut-scenes and enriching it with amazing voice performances — including the final one by the late Kevin Conroy as the Dark Knight himself. What’s even better is that your squad is very chatty, with Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark constantly bickering among themselves — when they’re not listening to regular news updates by Lois Lane (broadcast on many screens and billboards across Metropolis), overheard enemy chatter, or cocky taunts by the Justice League members.
All that results in a rich auditory experience that will sometimes get a bit buggy, with overlapping conversations and comments — and I don’t even want to imagine what it would sound like if I played the game in multiplayer with talkative teammates. Luckily, Suicide Squad can be played solo all the way through, with AI bots taking control of the characters you’re not playing as at the moment.
Anyways, let’s get to the game itself and its divisive nature — it is basically an open world looter shooter set in Metropolis, and you will be shooting and looting all over Superman’s city, all the time. With that said, selection of available guns is pretty basic, ranging from regular shotguns and assault rifles, to snipers and similar firearms, only sometimes adorned with modifiers that will make them more interesting (for example, you can find grenades that don’t actually deal damage, but lift enemies in the air for a short time instead).
Luckily, the gunplay is quite solid — guns feel good to shoot and offer satisfying feedback when it comes to recoil, sound and enemy reactions, and the whole shooting mechanic is elevated by a combo and counter systems, which keep the spirit of Arkham combat alive in a totally new environment (well timed counter shots and bigger combos will give you different bonuses and openings during combat).
On top of that, each member of the Squad has a unique traversal attack based on their movement style, and all of them get a special and wonderfully animated melee finisher that is pure joy to witness in action.
Even more of a joy is sparked by the movement system, which is definitely a highlight here — all four characters are very nimble and move in different and unique ways. King Shark will, for example, use his godly abilities to jump very high and very far, while Harley will zip around using Batman’s grappling hook stolen from the Justice League museum.
With those skills and gadgets, the squad will be able to run, jump and fly around Metropolis with crazy speed, while you will be trying to keep them in the air as long as possible while fighting enemies. Sometimes just to look stylish, and other times to reap the benefits of an aerial damage boost that certain weapons offer.
On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that, for a studio which gave us some very memorable boss fights in the past (like the famous Mr. Freeze stealth encounter), it is disappointing to see Rocksteady relying on uninspired looter shooter mechanics and MMO-like boss fights. Which is to say that, during boss battles, you will simply shoot at some iconic characters, occasionally jumping over their telegraphed attacks or moving away from circles marking dangerous areas on the ground.
Sadly, mission and encounter design don’t fare much better, and somehow end up worse than those in the campaign of the Crystal Dynamics’ Avengers game. That is to say, Suicide Squad will almost exclusively task you with shooting different enemies on the streets and rooftops of Metropolis (and never in some bespoke interiors or unique areas of the map), whether it’s with a goal of clearing an area of them, or defending a specific point or a moving vehicle. Sure, combat is fun, with different enemy types requiring somewhat different approaches, and your shields requiring melee attacks before they replenish — but, on the whole, it’s a far cry from the richness of intertwined stealth and combat mechanics that Arkham games are known for.
While the missions, bosses and enemy variety are not as good as I hoped, the game at least looks and sounds great. Metropolis feels totally different to Gotham, and impresses with its art deco style, colourful buildings and a dense skyline — even though the streets and rooftops do look a tiny bit more sterile than we’re used to in Rocksteady’s Arkham games. Whether it’s because of a simple lack of additional clutter or due to a design decision to help with readability in chaotic multiplayer sessions, I am not entirely sure.
But, I am sure that after finishing the story, I am finally ready to dip my toes in the multiplayer — although I don’t intend to take endgame loot chasing and min-maxing too seriously. Also, let’s not forget Rocksteady’s promise of free additional playable characters (first of which is a Joker from an alternate universe), which for me is more than enough of a motivation to stick with the game longer than I usually would with other live service stuff.
So, if you’re a fan of Arkham games who knows how to manage your expectations — and if you are open to the idea of playing a live service game — Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is better than you might have been led to believe. Yeah, its mission design, boss battles and variety of gameplay systems are lacking and nowhere near the brilliance of the Arkham trilogy, but if you ask me, the story, fun combat and amazing movement system make up for that, and result in a superhero — or rather a supervillain adventure well worth playing.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League | developer: Rocksteady Studios | publisher: Warner Bros. Games | platforms: PlayStation 5 (played), Xbox Series, PC
