Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher:
Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer:
Rocksteady Studios
Release:
Rating:
Mature
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League exists at a strange intersection of gaming hype. On the one hand, obviously, we are and should be excited for Rocksteady's return to the Arkham Universe that it popularized through some of the greatest superhero games of all time. Obviously. But on the other hand, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League deviates from so many of the conventions that made Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, and Arkham Knight so beloved. And so many of those conventions that Kill the Justice League embraces – such as a team-based, co-op infrastructure, and a live-service-inspired post-launch content plan – have crashed and burned in other superhero games, most notably Crystal Dynamic's ill-fated 2020 Avengers title.
These factors come together to make it so I, quite frankly, don't know how I should feel about this game. So when Warner Bros. and Rocksteady invited me to Burbank, California, to spend a day playing the game and talking to the developers, I jumped at the chance to finally piece together how much hype I should or shouldn't feel for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League now that it's less than a month from launch.
Dawn of Justice
Much like its predecessors, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gives you a cinematic adventure within Rocksteady's DC Universe. Five years after Arkham Knight's events, the Justice League – including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, and presumably others – has been keeping order on the planet. Those five years were clearly eventful, as we now have a whole suite of heroes instead of just Batman, but we don't have a game to explain all of those moments.
Instead, players can find clues about the state of the world since Arkham Knight. "There are a few different avenues that the kind of space between the two games is filled in," production manager Jack Hackett says. "Some are in major setpiece moments during the story where details are revealed or otherwise explained. There are also a whole bunch of collectibles and details in the city which give you further information. I think, for the really dedicated story fans of the Arkham Universe, they'll spend some time when the game's out unpacking exactly what went on for each character. I think you're also going to find out what happened to some characters you might not expect to pop up in this game again, but there are some pretty deep cuts from the Arkhamverse that will pop up and say hello."
When I ask Hackett about the 100-percent ending of Arkham Knight, he tells me it is considered canon and will play a role in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. "It did set up something, didn't it?" he says with a chuckle. "I won't say anything more than the word 'yes.' But you'll know the canon ending of Arkham Knight once you've played Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League."
Regardless of the events of Arkham Knight's ending and everything involving Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Justice League in the time since, the order the world had experienced thanks to the superhero team comes to a screeching halt when Brainiac invades Metropolis and enslaves much of humanity, including several members of the Justice League.
Naturally, it's up to the Suicide Squad, comprised of detained criminals, to save the day. Amanda Waller masterfully manipulates them (by planting a remote-denotation explosive device in each of their heads) to get them to take on this daunting task. After an appropriately funny introductory cutscene, the adventure opens up. Metropolis plays on the strengths of Rocksteady by delivering a vertical open world. However, this time, the city is bigger than ever before; this is the largest city the studio has ever created, and you have four unique traversal styles to help you get through it.
Play the Hits
Going into each gameplay session, you choose which member of Task Force X you want to control. At launch, players can control Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang. Each character plays completely unique, and even if it doesn't make sense for them to engage in the extreme vertical traversal required for this game, they give them an in-universe reason for it. For example, King Shark's strength and leaping ability give him natural ways to quickly move through Metropolis with little loss of momentum, but what about humans like Deadshot, Harley, and Boomerang?
Early on, a visit to the vacant Hall of Justice allows Task Force X to ransack some gadgets from the now mind-controlled heroes. Boomerang grabs Doctor Sivana's Speed Force Gauntlet that lets him fly through the air in super-speed bursts, while Harley grabs a grappling hook and Bat-Drone to serve as a grappling point, and Deadshot snags Gizmo's jetpack.
"When we first start, we want to see what's fun in traversing the space of something like Metropolis; it's not just horizontal travel, it's very vertical as well," advanced combat designer Noel Chamberlain says. "We wanted to think of four different ways of achieving this – four very unique traversal styles – and then how would these characters then do it. It's kind of a mix of both the kind of gameplay side and what the player is doing mechanically and then also being able to give a very rich narrative reason that fits the character. Like, Boomerang stealing his version of the traversal feels very on-brand for him."
In this opening section, which I experienced in single-player, I choose Deadshot. His arsenal of weapons allows him to fight at mid or long-range, with an automatic and sniper rifle at his disposal. I use his jetpack to reach the roof of the building and get a good view of what Brainiac has done to the city. The devastation is evident, and clearly not what the members of the Force thought they signed up for. After Captain Boomerang yells at Waller for sending them into a warzone, an unphased Waller congratulates them for being the first to make it into Metropolis alive.
Task Force X's first mission is to activate a transponder in the middle of the city. I fly off the roof and over to the transponder. Of course, it can't be that easy; Brainiac's forces beam in, surrounding the Squad. Using Deadshot's automatic rifle, I pick off a few, then fly up to a rooftop with his jetpack for some close-range combat. This is where Rocksteady has shined in the past – after all, it's not like Batman was spending too much time blowing enemies away with a rifle in the Arkham games – but don't expect the Arkham-style Freeflow Combat.