When it comes to games based on comics, most people hold the Batman Arkham series of titles as the pinnacle. Lovingly crafted by UK developers Rocksteady Studios, the series of games not only redefined games based on the Dark Knight, but also action-adventure titles too. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – which let’s not beat around the bush, has had a bit of a time of it.

From its announcement, to being held back a few times, to becoming the subject of a modern witch hunt for some websites (you know the ones).

But, like it or not, this is the newest offering from Rocksteady Studios, and it’s OK. It must be noted that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League very much a game of two halves.

Two Count

The first 10 or so hours are story driven and feels mostly like an Arkham title. Then there is what follows; a more modern “live service” offering, where you run missions and score bigger and better loot. Think the end game in Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Destiny 2 or, maybe most fitting, Crystal Dynamics Marvel’s Avengers.

The game starts out very strongly seeing Amanda Waller “recruiting” DC oddballs; Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, and King Shark to join Task Force X (aka the “Suicide Squad”) to undertake a mission to earn time back on their lengthy prison sentences. A mission that is a piece of cake really – to kill the Justice League.

The Justice League have been brainwashed by Brainiac. He is trying to terraform Metropolis and the world into his long-fallen home world of Colu. So, cue lots of the fireworks, anarchy and the odd one-liner.

Diving into Hell

The story side of the game is handled with the high level of polish and presentation you would expect from Rocksteady Studios. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has that summer blockbuster feel to it. Plus, the writing on show is of a very high standard across the board. There are some outstanding scenes and moments across its tale, though pacing can be a little patchy.

Gameplay is where things are really changed up from what we would expect from a Rocksteady Studios title, as this is a third person open-world looter shooter in all but name. So, those hoping for an epic fight like in the Batman games are going to be disappointed.

Roving Roster

Each member of the squad handles differently with how you traverse Metropolis being the biggest difference. For example, Deadshot uses a jet pack, whereas Harley has a ‘repurposed’ Bat Drone and grappling hook.

Which will take you time to find out which member of the Suicide Squad is the one you like using the most, they all handle differently and with Metropolis being a very vertical place, you’ll use these skills a lot to get around from rooftop to rooftop.

As for the gunplay, its easiest to see that Harley and King Shark can use heavy arms; like mini-guns. Whereas Deadshot and Captain Boomerang are ranged focused and tend to wield sniper rifles.

You’ll play ‘highest colour wins’ in terms of guns, till you hit the higher tiers. And then you can start number crunching if that’s your thing. Weapons are adequate, but a bit basic and lack any real imagination beyond the infamous sets. These sets feature characteristics from other DC characters like Bane, Bizarro and Black Mask.

Brainless

You’ll use your arsenal to take down the hordes of Brainiac’s troops across the countless side missions, or just getting into a scrap in the empty streets of Metropolis. Who come in a few flavours with the later ones being infused with a little bit of the powers of the Justice League; like Flash’s speed force.

Things go up a gear on the boss fronts, which come in the form of hero throwdowns. These could have been interesting, tense face-offs, but, Batman aside, are just a case of using a MacGuffin and shooting a lot.

Boss Ruins

The poor boss fights are especially cutting as Rocksteady Studios are known for their brilliance in this area. Think back to the Bane or Mr Freeze fights in the Arkham games. These types of multi-layered encounters are replaced with simple tactics, repetition and lazy design.

Suicide Squad boss battle system secrets

Side missions are a mixed bag of ‘kill this’, ‘save them’, or ‘hold this area’. All are, basically, off-cuts of core missions. Repetition and that dreaded feeling of a grind are simply unavoidable in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Earned Bonuses

While you battle across the city, you’ll earn XP that you can firstly use to unlock new skills and buffs, till you hit the level cap and then you can level up your squad as a whole. With a whole new unlock tree, but these unlocks see you earning 0.5 of a damage boost, so it’s not a huge improvement on the grand scheme.

Marvel DC hero villain video games Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Once you have completed the story side Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, you are off to the races on the live service side of things. Thanks to a questionable ‘get out of jail style’ use of the DC Multiverse, you get an endless supply of incursion missions to tackle.

These are very much quick burner missions. And the kicker is you’ll be doing the exact same mission types that you have spent the previous ten hours doing. It doesn’t evolve beyond just upping the difficulty, adding in modifiers. All you get are stronger, or evolving enemies, as you climb the mastery level ladder.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League list of moves characters

Add to all this, a solid if simplistic crafting and reforging system, a handful of Riddler challenges and trophies, and a few other collectables and you have a real mix bag of a title, that does have legs. But your mileage will very much depend on how much you click with its brand of live service content.

Look and Sound

Graphically, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is stunning at times. There is some outstanding character animation on show. Arguably, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the best its roster of characters has ever looked in a video game.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s audio does job with a bombastic soundtrack. The soundtrack features that blockbuster cinematic sound, full of gusto for the more epic moments.

The voice acting is outstanding in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. From Joe Seanoa (aka Samoa Joe as King Shark) to Tara Strong reprising her iconic roll as Harley Quinn, the cast is slick and entertaining. And, as a voice casting bonus, we get Nolan North as Superman.

Though, Batman legend Kevin Conroy steals the show in one of his last portrayals as the Dark Knight before his passing last year. And it’s a version of the character we have never seen – a darker, even evil spin on him. Conroy never misses a beat though, adding his inimitable weight and gravitas to the role.

Ups, Downs and Player Counts

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a flawed game in a lot of ways. For shareholders, however, it’ll be seen as a home run. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is less a game than a platform that will support live service content and, ultimately monetisation, for months and years to come.

Multiverse Universe DC comic world guns weapons

Examples of this is the already announced post-launch content; seeing four free seasons of added content planned. The first of these launches next month. There’ll also be two new episodes added with the first season. These new episodes will be themed around Two-Face and Scarecrow.

There will also be new playable characters added to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The first to join will be Rocksteady Studios crutch, The Joker. God forbid, they do a game based on a DC licence that doesn’t have him in it. Even when he is dead (and you burn his body at the very start of a Rocksteady game) he’s still a huge part of it.

Intro tutorial Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

This is not the same Joker from the Arkham games, but rather will be an alternate ‘Elseworlds’ variant. Lord, give me strength. There will also be three more characters to follow later on. Each will have their own season from the looks of it. Both Deathstroke and Mrs Freeze are being heavily hinted.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a fun title for the first ten hours or so. The time spent tackling the tale and traipsing around a falling Metropolis is time well spent. But, one the end game takes the centre stage, it loses a lot of enjoyment. Unless you’re into uninspired loot grinding.