SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL THE JUSTICE LEAGUE
Studio: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: Playstation 5, XBox Series X, PC
Release Date: Deluxe Edition, January 30, 2024; Standard Edition, February 2, 2024
Reviewed On: Playstation 5
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Description: Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series. Can ultimate band of misfits do the impossible to save the world?
Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect. All the while, the Suicide Squad must be mindful of the lethal explosives implanted in their heads that could go off at the first sign of defiance.
Each Squad member brings their own traversal mechanics to help them navigate a sprawling and battle-torn Metropolis, combining free-roaming exploration and combat verticality for an unforgettable experience. Players are free to experiment with a variety of different play styles to unleash maximum damage on their enemies. Whether in single player or online with up to three of your friends, players can take on this suicide mission their own way.
Post-launch, players can expect a continuously evolving Metropolis with free new playable villains, environments, weapons, in-game events, and more, all included with purchase of the base game.
By James Harvey
Get ready to take down the good guys in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a gorgeous-looking looter-shooter set in the Batman: Arkham universe that can be enjoyable at times despite some considerably frustrating creative missteps. Even with its fun combat and strong character work, the game eventually succumbs to bland, repetitive missions, a wobbly story and ill-timed live-service offerings that temper what should be nail-biting adventure from start to finish. Instead, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League ends up falling short of its own lofty goals and ends up somewhere messy in the middle.
Featuring an original narrative set within the expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts the infamous Task Force X on a collision course with Brainiac and his mind-controlled Justice League, who are now doing the dastardly bidding of the iconic DC Comics villain. Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series, present an action-adventure third-person shooter set in an expansive, open-world of Metropolis riddled with foes to overcome and goodies to grab. Can a band of colorful, murderous misfits do the impossible to save the world?
Honestly, whether or not Task Force X comes out on top in the end is debatable, both in terms of the plot and even just the game itself overall. This review will be as spoiler-free as possible, just to note, but there will be some specific Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League scenes, story beats and events mentioned that could possibly dampen a potential surprise or two.
Right out of the gate, the premise behind Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a pretty solid one, though a shade old hat. The idea of Task Force X needing to permanently take down the Justice League, nearly all of whom have been corrupted by Brianiac, is a pretty fun twist for a superhero game (even when considering the excellent Injustice series). However, the story is executed in such a way that most of the major events and twists in the tale pass with barely a blip and a finale just eventually sputters out, robbing the premise of any excitement.
Thankfully, the game does a really, really excellent job of bringing Task Force X – Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang – to life. Plenty of time is thankfully given to each foe to both thoroughly dive deep into each of their respective backstories and personalities, as well as building the actual relationship between the squad members themselves. They’re mouthy, vulgar, and bicker and (mostly) hilariously quip throughout the game’s run, nicely playing off each other with some pretty great chemistry amongst them.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s voice cast do tip-top work bringing the game’s characters to life, with Debra Wilson as Amanda Waller and Samoa Joe as King Shark the game’s notable standouts. The late Kevin Conroy returns as Batman and, unsurprisingly, absolutely nails it as always (and his turn here will definitely stir up some emotions for long-time fans of the beloved actor, but more on that later). Whether it’s Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Bumper Robinson as Deadshot, Daniel Lapaine as Captain Boomerang, Jason Isaacs as Brainiac, Nolan North as Superman, or Scott Porter as The Flash, and so on, there’s nary a weak link here to be found.
With the characters coming off as extremely likable – though each with the occasional (and deliberate) off-putting moment to remind us they’re the bad guys – and given the amount of time we spend with them, that definitely helps with making some of the game’s more disappointing aspects a shade easier to endure. Despite a solid start, at least in the game’s opening hours, the eventual gameplay loop and combat end up being two such aspects of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League that fizzle out and fail to hit the marks they should. The tedious and occasionally confusing nature of the fights and the frequently clunky traversal alone can make it maddening to just make it to the end of each chapter.
Traversal is fine for the most part, but the limitation of needing to touch ground (or rooftop, etc.) every few beats (and requiring some wall-climbing and jumping as a result) is restrictive and can lead to some frustrating stumbles when jetting across the cityscapes. Jumping into the fight from there is super smooth and looks stylish, and the combat can be legitimately challenging, but it’s not usually for the right reasons. Enemies can have such needlessly confusing and specific weaknesses that it feels like Task Force X is not fighting their foes but the actual game itself.
Most enemies need to be countered in a very particular way, such as using a certain ability or weapon, and it’s implemented in a way that feels less strategic and more random and chaotic. These fights will also frequently drag on and on as the way to winning these battles isn’t immediately apparent at times (and sometimes not at all). Playing co-op makes it easier to chip away at the massive hordes Task Force X is facing, but it becomes increasingly clear the combat doesn’t offer much depth and variety the longer players duke it out through Metropolis. Perhaps future DLC will mix things up a little.
It also doesn’t help that the game is, well, just kinda buggy. No matter how accurate the hit looks, and no matter how little the distance or weapon used, countering and hurting enemies isn’t always a guarantee. Switching up characters to deal with certain enemies and powering through encounters prove fruitful at times, as some Squad members do play better than others against certain enemy types, but those buggy encounters will persist and annoy regardless. Still, it’s fun to discover a favorite character-type to play – they’re all easy to pick up and master – and the core gameplay is pretty enjoyable, which helps ease the game’s incessant irritations.
Probably the most consistently pleasing aspect of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is its genuinely stunning graphics. Cut scenes look extremely polished and slick – and clearly cost a pretty penny – with campaign and mission visuals looking just as stellar. The incredible amount of work put into making this massive sandbox look as good as it does is without question, and the end result is mostly a success.
Unfortunately, despite how fantastic it all truly looks, Metropolis itself is pretty bland and nondescript with no real memorable or notable landmarks, as most of the city is destroyed and buried under purple alien gunk. The game’s clunky HUD also takes up way too much real estate onscreen, burying the game’s visuals further under a messy, somewhat outdated-looking system. The screen can get so cluttered at times that it’s possible to occasionally miss key action prompts.
There always seems to be concessions when it comes to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The combat and gameplay is fun but it’s shallow, or traversal is fine but it’s not as smooth as it should be. The graphics look great, but the locations are mostly interchangeable and the game’s HUD takes up too much real estate, and so on and so on. This even carries over to the game’s story and it’s whole open-world setting – they just don’t hit all their respective marks.
The premise for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a solid one, and feels genuinely ripped straight from the DC Comics titles which inspired it, but the game tends to scoot over massive story beats so the squad can just get to the next mission, and then repeats that ad nauseam. There are some major events that unravel here – heroes die, characters are betrayed, others make the ultimate sacrifice to try to win the game, etc. – but most of these are treated with nothing more than a passing glance or momentary pause. Facing off against the Justice League in the ruins of Metropolis should feel like a monumental event, but the game’s in such a rush to keep moving that the story ends up more set dressing than an epic tale for the ages.
It doesn’t help that the big climactic battle the game feels like it’s building up to never really happens. No spoilers, but the game-as-a-service aspect really rears its head as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League shifts into the endgame of the main story campaign and is implemented in such a way that it effectively robs the story of its climax or any real sense of closure. It’s disappointing how the blueprint for a fantastic co-op shooter gets essentially crippled here by extremely out-of-place and unnecessary live service content.
Adding to the story’s underwhelming execution is the Justice League itself, here turned from the world’s great super-heroes into simple, snarling, one-dimensional obstacles to overcome. Wonder Woman is the only exception, as she remains the lone hero not turned by Brainiac and pops in here and there throughout the story. Batman’s portrayal here is arguably the most egregious of them all as, similar to using the setting of the “Arkhamverse” itself, the game basically wipes away all the work put into this take of The Dark Knight and his world over the years prior.
It just seems kinda pointless to have this game take place in the “Arkhamverse” since nothing from the previous games really matters here. They are referenced and eluded to in multiple ways, yes, but none of has any meaningful lasting impact on the game itself. Even Batman, here the same Batman from the Arkham titles, isn’t really the same character since he’s now completely under Brainiac’s thrall, so why bother making him the same character when something new could’ve been done? Regardless, Conroy is magnificent as always in the role and is clearly having plenty of fun playing an evil version of the Caped Crusader. Still, it just can’t help but feel all a little squandered.
As a looter shooter with game-as-a-service elements, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t the “Arkhamverse” game anybody really wanted, but there was still promise in the concept and it had the potential to be a strong new direction for the franchise. It’s not fair to critique the game as something players wished it would be, but that also can’t be used as an excuse for mediocrity. And, at the end of it, this game is just not very good.
Rocksteady Studios has clearly put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into it, but Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s shallow combat, clumsy traversal, repetitive mission structure, bland settings and just overall awkward execution puts this far below the high standard the studio is capable of. Even the game’s score is arguably the most generic-sounding Arkham soundtrack to date. The game’s not a train-wreck or a disaster, but it’s also not amazing. It’s ultimately just a disappointingly fine game and not much else.
There are plenty of folks who will find plenty to enjoy in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, as there’s admittedly quite a bit to like in here, but it’s misguided execution and puzzling creative choices will be understandably too much for most to overcome. For those still curious to see how it all plays out, stay optimistic but don’t expect to be blown away. Enter At Your Own Risk.
The author purchased a PlayStation 5 copy of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League for the purposes of this review.
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