- Repetitive shooting and generic loot systems fail to capitalize on the unique abilities of the Suicide Squad, leading to monotonous gameplay.
- The shift towards a live-service model undermines Rocksteady‘s strength.
- The game fails to utilize the rich source material from DC Comics.
- Generic weapon designs and predictable boss battles squander the potential for a truly chaotic and creative experience.
Bland Mechanics
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is as bland a game as any I have played. With such an impressive cast of characters, none of them play any majorly different. This has to be a huge blunder on Rocksteady’s part. I mean each character does have a few unique melee attacks and their movement is different.
However, the basic core principle of this game, which is third-person shooting, remains the same across every character. You shoot your enemies till they disintegrate and you can throw the occasional grenade.
The only major difference between the characters is how they move. Captain Boomerang can use his Speed Force gauntlet and boomerang to sort of teleport across the map.
King Shark being a brawler, jumps around the map like the Hulk. As a result, the combat just becomes a bland repetitive loop of shooting enemies spread across the roof and occasional escort missions. After being disappointed by the characters and the repetitive gameplay loop, I did hope the battles against the Justice League would be the saving grace of this game.
I was far from wrong, as these battles offer nothing special. Imagine you are going up against the Justice League, the strongest and bravest superheroes, and you just shoot them to death. I won’t even go into how this game treats Batman, but, the boss fight with Flash was so incredibly uninspired.
Flash is the fastest being on the planet, and all he does during his boss fights are the occasional tornadoes. Even the final boss fight, something players have been working for 10 hours towards, is nothing but disappointing. Some of my favorite boss fights are from the Arkham franchise and this game completely forgets about them.
The Live-Service Curse
Rocksteady has built a reputation for crafting intricate single-player stories in the Arkham series. So I couldn’t understand when with Suicide Squad, the studio shifted focus to a live-service model.
The live-service model has become the bane of video gamer’s existence. This model claims the soul of some of the best video game titles and exchanges it for corporate greed.
Once the main campaign finishes the true live-service nature of this game kicks in. The post-campaign game just dumps you into the same missions you have played during your campaign, with sometimes a new coat of paint. However, in most cases, even the paint isn’t new. All you do is grind for a cosmetic item, that doesn’t even do anything fun. It’s all just basic buffs and abilities.
The main theme of the post-game grind is the multiverse, which is a great concept for a live service model. This would allow developers to pull from characters from across the DC universe and introduce them in the seasonal content. Although, as of right now, it’s just boring repetitive missions that you already experienced in the first hour of your campaign.
Lack of Imagination
One of my biggest issues with this game is the serious lack of imagination and creativity. The developers had tons of source material, and all they had to do was bring it into the video game.
I am not saying that this game isn’t comic-accurate, except for the part where Suicide Squad takes on Batman. The game just doesn’t have anything interesting going on.
The developers created a basic live service looter and shooter. You can replace all of the characters with generic characters and it wouldn’t make any difference.
This is no more evident than in the weapon arsenal players are provided. In a game focused on guns, even the guns lack any real inspiration.
I mean players will be able to identify the creative names, but that’s how far the creativity goes. These are just basic guns that fire basic bullets. It is frustrating that none of these guns have any special power based on any villain. That would have been a cool way to cameo some of DC’s other iconic villains.
Imagine having a Scarecrow gun that brings out fear in your enemies, or a Darkseid gun that shoots projectile lasers. There is just so much wasted potential.
Dream On
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League serves as a cautionary tale. While a successful live-service model exists, it shouldn’t come at the expense of innovative gameplay and a compelling narrative.
As comic book and video game fans, we hold out hope for the future-a future where Rocksteady regains its footing and delivers a truly chaotic and memorable Suicide Squad experience.
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I’m a Computer Science undergrad by day, and a gamer by… well, most of the rest of the time. Been around games forever, from the classics like CS 1.6 and Halo to the latest stuff like Valorant and Palworld. Competitive FPS is my jam, but you won’t catch me skipping a good campaign – Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Last of Us hold a special place in my heart. Outside of gaming, I’m a huge movie buff. Basically, I’m here to dissect the latest games, share some laughs about pop culture, and maybe even recommend a good film.
