In typical comic book fashion, Rocksteady’s live-service shooter Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is going back on its titular conceit, at least according to the game’s latest seasonal update. Unfortunately, changing the status quo of the troubled game may not be enough to save it from its grim fate.
The second season of Suicide Squad is released on July 11, adding new weapons, an ice-themed Elseworlds map for a handful of playable missions, and most importantly, Mrs. Freeze as the game’s newest playable villain. While the update for the unpopular game mostly flew under the radar, those who played it praised the addition of this alternate universe version of Freeze, as her method of traversing the environment on an ice slide like Iceman is pretty fun to play. It also helped that unlocking the star of the game’s season content drop was less difficult than season’s Joker.
A few weeks removed from Season 2’s launch, however, the game is getting attention for a completely different reason. Players who beat the season’s final mission were treated to a cutscene featuring the return of one of the five heroes they eliminated in the game’s original campaign.
After defeating Brainiac, a hero, none other than The Flash, shows up. This Elseworld’s version of the hero delivers a quip about the Squad not being in jail before passing out. A slideshow with a voice-over from Suicide Squad boss Amanda Waller follows, with her telling the team to get The Flash into stasis.
The cutscene seems to be the first step in undoing the brutal slayings placed front and center as a major selling point of the game. Leaks suggest The Flash won’t be the last hero to make his return. Back in April, journalist Miller Ross reported on Twitter that late Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy recorded work for Suicide Squad’s post-launch content. He also tweeted that both Green Lantern and The Flash would be returning. If this cutscene is any indication, the rollback of a dead Justice League, and roll out of the iconic DC superhero team’s return is officially in full swing.
For some, it may be disappointing to see Suicide Squad’s bold premise get tossed aside, this multiverse retcon is in line with a common trope in the source material. In comics, no fan favorite remains dead. And as this week’s controversial MCU Doctor Doom announcement proved, superhero adaptations are no different.
From Warner Bros.’ standpoint, bringing back the Justice League also makes sense. The only game that could do better than one about picking off DC icons is one where you fight alongside, or better yet, play as these heroes.
The biggest tragedy in this major story development is that it might come too late to save the struggling live service game. After the start of the game’s second season earlier this month, it reached a peak concurrent of 572 players on Steam. The number of console players could supersede those dismal PC figures. But this clear disinterest from the public doesn’t bode well for the future of a game that needs a strong community of players to sustain itself and its developer.
Poor reviews at launch and underwhelming word-of-mouth about its first season have destined Suicide Squad to a slow, public funeral. Developer Rocksteady promised a year’s worth of content when the game was released. And that promise is probably the only reason we’ll see what’s left in the Suicide Squad pipeline.
It's a shame that a game from such a storied developer has become an exemplary case of how chasing the live service model can backfire. And not even the novelty of bringing back the Dark Knight himself can turn things around for them.
