On February 23, 2023, Sony State of Play started with an introduction to a new Warners Brothers game, Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League. From the creators of the Batman Arkham series comes a third-person action shooter emphasizing quick movement, villainous weapons, and explosions. Rocksteady devs gave an in-depth explanation for their upcoming Suicide Squad game.
New Heroic Villain Squad
This game’s original story occurs five years after Batman Arkham Knight, having relevance in the Arkham timeline. Brainiac has taken over Metropolis and brainwashed the Justice League to cause great mayhem. Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash have fallen under his corruption, though Wonderman avoided his control. With the Amazonian warrior’s help, Amanda Waller recruits four villains and forces them to stop Brainiac’s reign over the Justice League and Metropolis.
A familiar system has returned to this new Warners Brothers game – the gear system. This is similar to previous D.C. installments, like Injustice and Gotham Knights. Getting higher-ranked loot will level up the characters’ gear scores, raising their stats. Each gear will reference other villains and their powers, such as Bane and his venom powers. Using different gears will make the players feel the power of the referenced villains, which may include The Joker or Captain Cold.
The devs introduced other great additions to Suicide Squad. There is cross-platform play, combining the console and PC communities. The game is playable with up to three other friends or solo. An A.I. bot will control any unused villain, allowing players to switch control between the villains. Each character will have different costumes to reference other D.C. Universe heroes and villains. The gameplay will target 60 fps to ensure vivid explosions and expressive interactions with the squad and corrupted heroes.
Different Playstyles
The playable squad will include four heroic villains: Harley, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark. Each character will have different stats, weapons, and abilities for different missions. Each character can hold two firearms, one melee weapon, one explosive weapon, and two mods. Mods will give the characters extra abilities and perks. Two extra mod slots may be acquired through level progression, giving four equipable mods in total.
Harley is the most acrobatic member of the group. She uses Batman’s mini hovercraft to swing through the city with ease. She can also zip onto specific points, making her aerial movement similar to Batman in previous Arkham installments.
Deadshot is the most accurate shooter with a huge dependence on long-range weapons. He uses his jetpack to hover in the air, letting him glide freely.
Captain Boomerang is the trickiest of the bunch. He uses the speed force gauntlet and boomerang to zip past enemies and dodge efficiently.
King Shark is the strongest tank, featuring quick physical strikes and abilities to close the distance. He can jump high and dash in the air as if he’s swimming through the winds.
What Holds Suicide Squad Back
Despite the game’s detailed graphics and humorous interactions, there are major concerns for its future. One of the primary problems is its online dependence. An internet connection is required to play the full game, including solo and coop experiences. This game is not recommended for players with troublesome internet stability. PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live are required to play the game with friends, though they’re not needed when playing solo.
The gameplay in the State of Play didn’t reveal much about the characters’ unique traits. The four villains looked similar during the gameplay reveal, gliding in the air and shooting enemies. They didn’t appear to have unique depth in their fighting style, though that feeling could change on its launch. The Suicide Squad trailer didn’t try to spoil too much.
This is a new-gen-only game, which will exclude PS4 and Xbox One. Being new-gen exclusive can make its launch price as high as $70. If the devs decide to use the new retail price, it will only raise players’ expectations for the game’s content. Failing to reach player expectations will diminish player support.
Despite the game’s massive emphasis on teamwork, there’s no local coop. Each player must get the game to play together, further limiting community growth.
D.C. Avengers
Another concern is the gear system. Players must grind to get the right top-ranked gear for challenging missions. There will be gear metas to acquire the most powerful gear with devastating perks to cheese different missions. This will require players to redo certain missions until obtaining the right loot. How players earn loot will depend on the game’s generosity with its rewards.
The most concerning news is the game’s battle pass and store systems. Its live service structure will most likely have slower level progression, influencing players to grind for more rewards. This kind of formula may have its usual, capitalist remedy, experience/reward boosts. A similar game, Marvel’s Avengers, added these boosts after its official release. If these items exist in Suicide Squad, the game will reward those who pay rather than play.
The most relieving news about the game’s paid content is that they will all be cosmetics. Both the battle pass and store will only show items that won’t affect gameplay. From the dev’s words, no stat-changing item/gear will be under a locked paywall. Hopefully, that decision stays consistent for the game’s launch and lifespan.
Future of Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad is a different, new product from Rocksteady. The game’s structure does depend on player base participation to keep itself alive. A recent event caused many live service games to go down, including a similar game, Marvel’s Avengers. Hopefully, the devs will support the game properly and avoid an early service shutdown.
The game will be available on May 26, 2023. After the game’s launch, there will be new content added to the game over time. Such content will include new weapons, costumes, and playable characters.
Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and Steam.
