The first Insider episode of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League reveals that the action shooter has at least one connection to Arkham combat.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been a controversial title ever since its gameplay was initially revealed. Mainly because of how drastically it departs from the gameplay and genre direction of Rocksteady’s previous Arkhamverse games. WB Games jumped headfirst into live-service games, which, on paper, makes perfect sense for Suicide Squad. But the leak of the Battle Pass items has angered many single-player fans, as it seemed to be the game’s focus.

Suicide Squad has been slipping a lot that fans shouldn’t have had any meaningful expectations for, but it’s finally ready to share more in hopes of getting fans excited in the months leading up to release.

Today, Rocksteady released the series’ first episode, “Suicide Squad Insider.” In it, they shared tidbits about the story and gameplay of the action shooter. Giving quite a long look at the early cutscenes. The game’s pre-order and special edition details don’t seem to alleviate live-service concerns. But Suicide Squad’s gameplay at least appears to be taking essential cues from the Arkham games where possible.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gunfights feature Arkham-like counters?!

The game tossed Rocksteady’s traditional, tried-and-true combat formula and almost completely reimagined it in action-shooter gameplay with four-player multiplayer. In essence, they show nearly no similarities if you look at both in a direct comparison. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark always shoot and move with unique traversal abilities.

However, today’s gameplay peek dissected a mechanic that’s actually pretty close to what fans may remember from the Arkham games, and that’s the iconic counter system.

This is already ubiquitous in modern games. It usually boils down to complicated parry mechanics. But the Arkham games kept it simple by adding a flashing symbol above the opponent’s head if an incoming attack could be dodged.

Countering left them open to attack if they weren’t covered in armour or ninja gear. But their primary function was apparently to help avoid injury. Also, strengthen the players’ combo meters. This seems to have carried over to Suicide Squad, albeit with a change that is in line with the gunplay.

A similar flashing symbol appears above an enemy about to attack, even from a distance, and such enemies are countered by shooting at them first.

However, this “shoot-back” mechanic won’t be helpful to fans hoping their Arkham muscle memory will be transferable. Because it requires an entirely different input for its execution. Still, it’s good to hear that the gameplay elements that fans loved from the Arkham universe will still remain in some form.

Source: GamingBolt