REVIEW – As the ghosts of the Batman Arkham series return, does this game live up to the hype? In this crowded video game market, even the greatest heroes and anti-heroes can stumble. Like a Hollywood blockbuster that quickly fades into oblivion after its release, this title fails to deliver the expected revolution or the quality that Rocksteady is known for. Metropolis, once a bustling and vibrant city, now looks like a deserted film studio where the AI teammates are mostly just part of the scenery. The gameplay is also as repetitive as a badly written sitcom, where you know after the first episode how the entire series will end.

While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had the potential to be a stylish cooperative action game with compelling characters, the missed opportunities in the gameplay made it just another class-based multiplayer shooter. Unfortunately, since the release of Batman: Arkham Knight in 2015, a better DC game has not been developed. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League attempts to turn thrilling comic book action into a cooperative shooter. While it has its enjoyable moments, the combat system falls short.

Five years after the conclusion of Batman: Arkham Knight, the world falls victim to an alien invasion led by Brainiac. The majority of the population has been corrupted, while Batman, Superman, and the rest of the Justice League have also been corrupted. Amidst the turmoil, Amanda Waller and her newly recruited Suicide Squad enter Metropolis to restore order. Players can assume the roles of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang in a story that does not shy away from executing beloved characters in disappointing ways.

Rocksteady artists are the real heroes

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a visually stunning game that showcases the DC Universe heroes in a way never seen before. The game features artistic masterpieces and clean character designs that are a feast for the eyes. The characters and their voices bring a unique charm to the game, with humor that is generally spot on.

Debra Wilson delivers a masterful performance as Amanda Waller, effectively portraying the character’s complex psyche, fears, and suspicions. Kevin Conroy’s portrayal of the brainwashed Batman is also noteworthy. The audience can hear Batman’s stern treatment of the squad and the clichéd enemies who are unable to stop the player’s characters. Fans of the Arkham series will appreciate the subtle hints of some Batman-centric missions, such as finding bat-shaped explosives. However, the portrayal of DC’s iconic heroes in the dark shadows of mind control sadly fails to deliver the quality we had hoped for.

On a positive note, the final chord of the game, after the credits roll, is a moving tribute to Kevin Conroy and his memorable portrayal of Batman, voiced by Lois Lane. This moment is not only a highlight of the play but also a fitting farewell to the legacy of a legendary actor and character.

The story of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has many interesting moments, including character dialogue and Lois Lane’s backstory, which effectively reveals the essence of the characters and the fears of humanity’s common destiny. However, as the story progresses, the narrative’s flaws become more apparent. The game aims to feature the Justice League of the Arkham universe, but fails to adequately introduce these new versions before or after they join Brainiac’s service. This lack of characterization is especially noticeable during the game’s boss fights, which can become repetitive.

Players have the option to play the adventure solo or in co-op mode with up to four players online. An offline mode for Suicide Squad is currently in development. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice promises to provide players with additional opportunities to delve deeper into the story and world.

How do you kill the Justice League??? You shoot everyone…

When Rocksteady announced that their next project after the Arkham series would be a game about killing the Justice League, one of the biggest mysteries for players was how to defeat god-like characters like the Flash and Superman. Without giving too much away, the answer is terribly disappointing: you have to shoot them a lot. Instead of using creative and unique tactics to fight each beloved character turned evil, the missions you complete in the main storyline give you weapons powerful enough to damage even the previously unstoppable members of the Justice League. Boss battles against some of history’s most legendary characters become a dry and unimaginative skirmish, like countless other B- or B-grade games.

It’s clear, then, that Rocksteady’s attempt to professionally adapt the comic book world of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League into an exciting cooperative shooter action game has failed. While the game has its fun moments, the combat system is underwhelming, to say the least.

The fact that the Justice League can be shot down in such a simple manner is so disappointing that it is hard to find words. On top of that, Superman is barely in the game, which is a real shame, as he seems to be the arch-enemy that the Suicide Squad should be defeating. It would have been much more fun if each defeated member of the Justice League had given the player a unique item or ability that, when used together, would be essential in the final battles of the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Instead, each boss enemy is a veritable “bullet sponge” that only triggers a few unique attacks from the famous character’s vast library of abilities.

Metropolis – a city that can put some to sleep

And yet Rocksteady’s previous Batman games were gems of the genre, for example in the way they offered progressively richer rewards as the game progressed, with more features and more difficult, complex gameplay. Unfortunately, the great, balanced gameplay experience that made those games so memorable was missing from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League like a hint. Instead, what you get is a shootout against the ever-reappearing hordes of Brainiac’s transformed creatures that quickly loses its luster. Fortunately, players can switch between team members (outside of missions), and each character has unique abilities that make getting around the city one of the game’s most exciting features.

The city of Metropolis is a bright and optimistic place, in contrast to Rocksteady’s iconic “dark” Gotham City. Superman’s home also features impressive weather effects and the occasional mysterious challenge, and while it’s less interactive than Gotham, it’s not quite as barren. There are also Easter eggs hidden throughout the city that will put a smile on the faces of DC fans, but like the Joker, no one will be grinning forever, as there are no memorable locations added by Rocksteady that could have connected the game’s characters, arch-enemies, and the wide range of characters in the DC Universe.

The fight is stylish but simple

Scalable skill trees unlock unique perks and attacks for each character, and even the unique attacks are similar. For example, “suicide strikes” that damage a specific enemy, or area-of-effect attacks that damage many enemies in a small area, are very similar. If you don’t have a buddy to push the game with, the other AI-controlled team members will only sometimes use the unlocked weapons and abilities, and other times they’ll just stand and watch like morons. There’s no way for players to give instructions to their CPU-controlled teammates. This feature could have helped set traps or coordinate special attacks.

The nearly half dozen side missions in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League generally focus on defending waves of enemies from a single point. The three main enemy types – infantry, snipers, and brutal enemies – appear during missions and patrol the open world of Metropolis. Brainiac attempts to add some variety to the enemies’ abilities, which are given to them by members of the defeated Justice League, but it does little to add meaningful variety to the gameplay and prevent it from becoming tedious over time.

By completing missions and side quests, players can earn weapons, shields, and augmentations. Most of the weapons in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League are effective enough against all enemies anyway, and there is little difference between them, so there is little incentive to acquire new gear beyond the weapons provided by missions. Like other popular cooperative shooters, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League provides players with a base where they can, for example, use the Penguin to craft and modify weapons. However, after the monotonous clashes they experienced in Metropolis, I don’t think players will return for more give and take once they’ve completed the main 12-hour story.

An boring and repetitive live service-like game

Although Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t even a real live service game, it has so many features that it could easily be mistaken for one of the other games in the genre. Basically, we can expect more difficult missions, more powerful weapons, and more playable characters, including the Joker, who will be coming in a free update sometime in March. That sounds cool, but anyone who has played through the game knows how disappointing its “ending” is, and a proper conclusion will probably come after a series of seasonal updates. The big question is whether, by the time they arrive, players will have grown tired of this repetitive, unimaginative game at lightning speed. I’m not a Doctor Fate to predict the future, but I’ll bet it will…

-Gergely Herpai (BadSector)-

Publisher: Warner Games Studios

Developer: Rocksteady Games

Style: Live-action action-adventure

Release: January 30, 2024.
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