Announced back in 2020, “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” caught my attention immediately, and while I don’t need a reason to be excited about a superhero game, this game got me hooked for three very specific reasons: (1) It’s being made by Rocksteady, (2) The game continues the story of the Arkhamverse, and (3) The good guys are the bad guys. These three reasons quickly became the dominant forces for me wanting to play this game as soon as possible, and while the initial reveal was only a CGI trailer, it showed us that Metropolis would be our playground this time, with Brainiac running the show front and center. We also got a look at our loveable cast of anti-heroes, which included Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Deadshot. Will more be added in the future? I don’t know! We have all seen the trailer at this point, and we can all agree it was glorious, so let’s move on a bit further.
Later, we got some gameplay and had a look at some of the cinematics from the game and let me tell you; it looks action-packed and equally hilarious. I have mentioned this before, and it sounded stupid then, so allow me to repeat myself and sound even stupider now, but I didn’t connect the dots initially, and I thought only Superman would be featured here as he was part of the original reveal despite the game being called “Kill the Justice League.” So, seeing the likes of Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman, and, more recently, Batman has to be one of the biggest “my jaw hit the floor” moments I have experienced in recent memory. Will Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Cyborg, and more show up? Will they be added later as DLC? We once again don’t know. That’s two I don’t know already, so let’s shift gears and focus on what we do know. The game will be played in the third person and will feature the city of Metropolis as the open world. Will we be fighting a ton of goons? Zombies? Aliens! Brainiac aliens, and eventually him, too, unless he gets destroyed by Superman in a cutscene. They won’t rob us of that fight, I am sure. It will feature up to 4-player co-op, which means our anti-hero shenanigans will be even better, and finally, it’ll tell us a memorable story featuring our beloved characters while giving us the Rocksteady version of these guys. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons why we are excited about “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.”
Metropolis
Open-world games are my favorite genre in all of gaming. They transport us to worlds that we know about or have read about, and sometimes they even take us to new lands that we couldn’t even dream of. The fact that we get to explore these worlds, walk their streets, and interact with their inhabitants, albeit inside a simulation, is exciting, thrilling, and very appealing to me. In Rocksteady’s last game, we visited Gotham City. It’s always nighttime in Gotham, as we know, and the city’s rain-soaked streets perfectly reflect all of its neon signs. The streets were full of thugs for Batman to beat up, and the atmosphere and ambiance were murky, filthy, and gritty. It was just how we imagined Gotham to be when we read about it in the comics, and Rocksteady delivered on that front perfectly. Why did I go on a history lesson for Gotham here, you may be wondering? Well, that’s because our next destination is the sunny city of Metropolis.
Rocksteady’s Gotham was near perfect, so it’ll be interesting to see their take on the city that Kal-El calls home. The biggest departure here will be that they are not forced to lock the game at nighttime, as, unlike Gotham, the sun does shine its light on Metropolis. But does that mean that we’ll be locked in the daytime this time around? I’d beg to differ because we have seen glimpses of the night in the trailers they have released so far, but it is still unknown if the time of day will be dynamic or fixed. With the added benefit of daylight this time around all the extra details will pop in vibrant colors. Metropolis is much more vertical than Gotham, and while the latter takes inspiration from cities like Chicago, Metropolis is more New York City, so it’ll be interesting to see how said verticality is handled, especially considering none of our playable characters can fly. What makes me personally most excited about Metropolis is how densely packed and rich with Easter eggs it’ll be. Knowing Rocksteady, I know they’ll pack every corner with detail, and every sign, banner, and a poster will feature a nod to a ton of DC characters. That’s how fan service is done, folks. I am sure there will be a lot to Metropolis as a whole, and I am also sure that most, if not all, of it, will be glorious. We’ll learn more about it soon.
Kill The Justice League
Okay, so this is the part that’s incredibly exciting, isn’t it? We love to play as superheroes in video games, but now we get to fight them while playing as villains. This is equal parts interesting and terrifying. Superheroes are cool, badass, and awesome, but they are also very terrifying. Take The Flash, for instance; his speed can vaporize you, or how about Superman’s laser eyes? They can atomize you in mere seconds. This is the dark side of them, and we usually keep it under wraps so as not to spoil our fun, but here, this side will be featured front and center. Our heroes will kill innocent people, not by their choice, but they will. They won’t act rationally but rather ferally. They won’t listen to reason and will throw down with us. All of that is scary as this ain’t just any band of heroes; this is The Justice League. Now, I know there are different versions and iterations of heroes and villains across the comics, and the games usually take inspiration from one or a lot of them and make their own versions by jamming different parts from different comics together. Besides that, the idea that someone like Deadshot can kill Superman is absurd, right? Yeah, he can shoot him with a Kryptonite bullet, or there could be another McGuffin, but in reality, it’s just bizarre and, dare I say, stupid even, but that’s where this game gets interesting. The Suicide Squad is no joke, however, and most, if not all, of its members are very crafty, to say the least, so it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with the Justice League and then the big man Brainiac himself and what if they actually do kill some of the members?
I say that because Rocksteady loves killing characters in their Arkhamverse, and without getting into too much detail, they have killed major characters across the Arkham games and comics. So that begs the question: Will any Justice League members die in this game, as the game is literally called “Kill the Justice League”? I don’t want to make any crazy assumptions here, but there is a possibility that someone may die in this game. As much as I don’t want any of my heroes to die, you know what they say, the show must go on, and I know the script is written and the game is almost done, so nothing I say will change anything, but Rocksteady, please, for the love of God, don’t kill Superman. It’s clear that the Arkhamverse is going to keep going, and we have never had a good open-world Superman game ever. I think we have the technology to make something like that to happen now, and I really would love to see a Superman game before I die. It’s dramatic, I know. So, yeah, the concept here on its own is very interesting, and I can’t wait to see how they handle the dynamics of the characters here and learn about how these “underdogs” will be squaring off against the Justice League itself will be very interesting.
Co-op
This isn’t anything new these days, as most video games that come out nowadays feature online play or co-op, as is the case here with “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.” The fact that not one but four players will be able to run on the streets and across the rooftops of Metropolis, fighting aliens and getting through the story, is very cool. I don’t think they’ll allow repeat characters here, so pick your poison everybody; I’ll most likely be maining King Shark. I am also equally interested in the other three, but King Shark is just endearing and so adorable, to me atleast. It’ll also be interesting to see how co-op will affect the difficulty and how free, tethered, or even restricted it’ll be. The co-op could be this game’s biggest feature or the opposite and act as its biggest crutch by breaking the game or restricting players in one way or another but knowing this studio; it’s safe to bet it’ll be the former and not the latter. We’ll know more about co-op along with a lot of other stuff when we know about it, but until then, just know this game will feature co-op, and that’s fantastic news and something to be excited about.
Rocksteady
Just a point to appreciate Rocksteady as a studio. Their games have been immaculate so far, and they love and understand DC characters very well, especially Batman, obviously. It’s safe to assume, I am sure, that the game will be rich in detail, with lots of love and thought poured into the design of the world, the content players will engage with, and the story the game will tell. Rocksteady is a master at their craft in all these departments and more. I cannot stress enough how good the Arkham games were and how good “Arkham Knight” still looks and plays, even after almost nine years. They went overboard there and didn’t cut a single corner, and that game is running on Unreal Engine 3. Imagine what they can do with this game and how well it’ll look and play even years from now, considering this is a current-gen exclusive.
Final Thoughts
I have covered more or less everything we know about this game. I am still curious to know how this game will function. Sure, it’s a third-person, open-world action game that is single-player but can also be played in co-op, but there is something I fear when it comes to this game. I hope to God it’s not a live service. I have full faith in Rocksteady, but they have been very tight-lipped on the game and have shown barely any gameplay so far despite it being announced more than two years ago at this point. That’s where I worry but let’s now go down that road for now, as this article is about reasons to be excited about the game. It’d be cool to see more about this game, and I cannot wait to see and play it. Other than “Redfall,” this is another game that I am super excited about that comes out in 2023. What are your thoughts on this game? Will you be picking up “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League” when it drops on May 26th, 2023, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC?
See more: Reasons To Be Excited For Upcoming Video Game ‘Redfall’
