Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 (reviewed)
Price: $70
Release Date: February 2, 2024
Genre: Action Adventure
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League feels like it just missed the live service game hype train. Had Rocksteady Studios’ title launched six or eight years ago when Destiny and The Division reigned supreme, it would have felt like a cool take on the then-popular genre. But in 2024, the game’s repetitive mission structure feels dull and frustrating. The fact that Marvel’s Avengers failed as a superhero-centric live-service title underlines this point.
I’m still making my way through Suicide Squad and plan to have a full review for you soon. To coincide with the game’s February 2 launch, I wanted to share my initial thoughts on the WB-published title that’s already drummed up a fair bit of controversy (which I won’t discuss here). Though my tolerance for live service games is low these days, Suicide Squad isn’t as bad as I expected. It’s not great, but there are fleeting bright spots if you’re willing to look past the boring missions and forced humor.
Here are my first impressions of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Dying to save the world
Set in the same universe as Rocksteady Studios’ Batman Arkham games, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has the titular bad guys forced to eliminate the Justice League after the alien Brainiac brainwashes the superheroes into conquering Metropolis. The Suicide Squad (officially Task Force X) wants nothing to do with the mission — but bombs implanted in their heads by Task Force X director Amanda Waller don’t give them much choice.
The story is standard fare if you’ve read the Suicide Squad comic books. Amanda Waller forces the team to complete a seemingly impossible task and threatens to blow their heads up if they don’t comply. This creates tension among the group of former supervillains since they’re each trying to find a way out of their situation — with no qualms about betraying each other in that pursuit. Their quirky personalities and tumultuous backstories add additional depth to the plot.
The main premise of murdering the Justice League is intriguing considering how the famous superhero team are akin to gods while the Suicide Squad are B-list villains at best. You’re constantly left wondering how the villains can take on the likes of Green Lantern, Flash, Batman and Superman. If you’re a comic book fan, it’s amusing seeing this setup play out.
Tools of the trade
The Suicide Squad consists of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark. You can switch to any of them between missions if you’re playing alone but can only play as one if you’re in a co-op session with three other players.
Each character has similar but different abilities and weapons. All of them can carry up to two firearms and a single melee weapon. They can also scale up vertical walls and have unique ways to traverse the city faster. For instance, Harley Quinn can use a grappling hook while Deadshot can utilize a jetpack. This adds some variety and might make you prefer one character over another. That said, their move sets are similar enough to let you be proficient with the entire team.
Controls are solid across the board, which is no surprise given the developer. Shooting aliens with assault rifles or introducing them to the business end of a sledgehammer feels good and visceral. Moving across the world is also seamless thanks to the aforementioned means of transportation. Scaling skyscrapers or running through the devastated streets presented little issue.
You gain experience points by killing enemies and completing missions. When you’ve earned enough experience, you’re awarded skill points you can then use to purchase new skills on the skill tree. I haven’t unlocked the full breadth of skills yet, but some enhance your critical shot rate while others make melee attacks stronger. You’re free to swap out different skills between missions, which allows you to experiment to see which skill loadout serves you best.
Speaking of progression, you’ll unlock more powerful weapons throughout the game. As is usual for live service games, the weapons you unlock are just a little bit better than what you currently have. This drip feed of slightly improved gear can give you an incentive to push forward, but it can also be annoying to receive the same weapon only with marginally better attributes.
Life in the city
Metropolis offers a vast open-world setting to explore. Traveling from one end of the giant city to another can take several minutes. There’s plenty to do, as numerous quests, sidequests and random activities litter the sprawling map.
It’s sometimes hard to distinguish between main missions and side quests. For the most part, missions involve you fending off successive waves of enemies while you defend a location or try to collect specific items. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s basically how missions in other looter shooters like Destiny tend to play out. This made me want to avoid side missions as much as possible.
Since this is the DC Universe, you’ll run into familiar characters like Penguin, Poison Ivy and the Riddler — the latter of which offers a slew of quiz-based side quests. So far, the game has more Batman-centric characters than anything, but that could change as I continue. Except for Poison Ivy who is now a pre-teen girl, the characters look like their comic book counterparts, which I appreciated.
Metropolis provides a vast playground but it often feels empty — and not just because most of its population have been turned into aliens. The city’s streets feel cramped, and it’s hard to imagine actual people living and moving around such enclosed spaces. There are some open areas, but the city feels much too dense. This isn’t Cyberpunk 2077, where Night City is deliberately designed to be claustrophobic and imposing.
Looks that kill
The Batman Arkham games featured incredible graphics, and Suicide Squad follows in that tradition. It runs on a modified Unreal Engine 4, but it looks so good that I would have believed it’s running on Unreal Engine 5. This is one of the few games out now that appears “next-gen” to my discerning eyes.
Graphics look best during scripted cutscenes. This is where you’re better able to see the detail in the character’s clothing and the subtle (or not-so-subtle) facial expressions. Everything looks great during regular gameplay as well, with the city’s different sections feeling unique. I especially enjoyed climbing tall buildings so I could get a better view of the land. Yes, there’s a giant Brainiac skull ship looming above the city, but Metropolis is still a sight to behold.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League outlook
I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into both Destiny and The Division, so I’m not fundamentally against looter shooters/live service games. But as I said above, this genre’s heyday has long since passed. Because of that, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League feels like a relic from a bygone time. Yes, there’s some fun to be had, but if you’re familiar with the genre, you won’t find much that’s terribly exciting.
I’ll have a full review once I’ve finished the main campaign and dabbled in co-op missions and endgame content. I’m not sure if I’ll change my mind about this title (and the genre as a whole). But considering how I don’t completely dislike this game, there’s hope that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may ultimately surprise me. Be sure to return for my final verdict soon.
