Operating systems: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
The valiant Justice League has been brainwashed by the interplanetary invader Brainiac, who has taken over Metropolis, Superman’s home planet. Now, a loudmouth Australian with trick boomerangs, a fish, a clown, and a gun fetishist hold the power to decide humanity’s fate. Most likely, we’re doomed.
A brilliant game may come from the Suicide Squad, DC’s group of tenacious supervillains, standing up when the actual heroes are taken off the board. Sadly, it’s not Kill The Justice League. It arguably should be, coming from the esteemed Rocksteady Studios, the creators of the beloved Batman: Arkham games, and continuing the continuity of that series, but instead it drowns in mediocrity by switching from story-driven single-player adventures to a loot-chasing, multiplayer-focused model.
Suicide Squad has challenges in two primary areas of gameplay: shooting and traversing. Regretfully, it also aspires to be a traversal and shooting game. Using technology taken from the Justice League trophy room, each of the four reluctant protagonists—Harley Quinn, King Shark, Deadshot, and Captain Boomerang—has a unique method for traversing the open universe. The game walks you through the control system of each character early on before asking which one you want to play as initially. If your response is “well, none of them, really,” that’s not a good indication.
Suicide Squad still has some obvious potential, which is particularly annoying.
Harley, for example, has no sensation of momentum when using her stolen Bat-grapple to swing from a Bat-drone overhead or lift herself up to ledges. She feels more like a cheap Spider-Woman who hasn’t yet mastered the art of web-swinging than the Clown Princess of Crime. Deadshot’s jetpack is having range issues, while Boomerang’s quick teleportation, which was made possible by a gauntlet breaking into Flash’s Speed Force, is not precise. Nothing makes sense, and to make matters worse, even simple, universal moves seem strange—for example, the humble hop feels strangely airy, and the mysterious double-jump that is accessible to all characters seems strange.
Despite having a big arsenal, the four’s gunplay feels unduly alike. There isn’t much of a noticeable difference between a pistol, rifle, or heavy weapon. In general, everything feels a little spray-and-pray, but shotguns and sniper rifles feel somewhat different because of their powerful recoil and zoom features. A ridiculous “shield harvesting” system that makes Amanda Waller, the Squad’s handler, believe that shooting foes in the legs until you can use an attack to steal their shield energy is the greatest way to keep the team on their toes, doesn’t help with this.
It seems like Rocksteady wants players to be shooting targets at Brainiac’s constantly moving forces and using Metropolis’ tall buildings to their advantage before bullet-juggling them out of existence. However, since neither shooting nor traversing ever quite click, everything devolves into cliched shootouts that might just as easily occur in the DC Universe as in Destiny.
However, while Bungie made the live service model a key component of Destiny, Rocksteady’s pursuit of it here seems to be Suicide Squad’s cardinal sin—a course of action that, nearly every step of the way, undermines any potential benefits the game may have. It entails missions designed for fast-paced, repetitive play that struggle to convey meaningful story points while simultaneously permitting drop-in, drop-out sessions where players can take control of other Squad members (solo play is available, but the rest of your team is AI-controlled at launch) and engage in loot-grinding.
Worst of all, it’s not even enjoyable to pursue that wealth. No matter what you equip, the game never feels entirely unique. Countless permutations of weapons and armor, all with mind-blowing numbers, are supposed to encourage repeated play for the chance of better drops. It’s difficult not to wonder what the game could give players if it weren’t forced to fit within what feels like a corporate, rather than artistically, required live service paradigm after several hours of repetitive missions and encounters.
Should King Shark, who resembles the Hulk, even be carrying a minigun if the game didn’t need him to conform to a multiplayer shooter genre? Given that Deadshot is essentially a walking armory, would it take a complete campaign to obtain a grenade slot in a game involving him? If the edges didn’t need to be filed off to make mostly interchangeable avatars that all need to run and gun, would you even have this roster instead of team members with more different talents from the comics? Most likely not.
Suicide Squad still has some obvious potential, which is particularly annoying. Unquestionably polished visuals characterize Rocksteady, and the voice cast, which include Jason Isaacs as Brainiac and Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, all delivers powerful performances. Overall, the script is better than the game merits, striking a balance between dark humor, high stakes, and lots of sorrow. However, some fans may find it upsetting as the whole idea of the game is to kill DC’s renowned heroes, and many of them are killed brutally. It would even be interesting to create a DC Elseworlds movie out of a collection of the game’s cutscenes, but it is terrible to have to remove the majority of the game in order to discover the highlights.
Suicide Squad has a fantastic idea with a focus on gritty anti-heroes, which should make it enjoyable. However, dull gameplay and endless loot-grinding strip the game of any potential for greatness, which is a serious disservice.