Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is Rocksteady Studios’ first new recreation since Arkham Knight again in 2015. As an avid fan of the studio’s earlier work and of the truth that this new recreation is meant to happen within the Arkham universe, I’m equal elements excited and anxious. Will the brand new recreation be capable to dwell as much as the sky-high status of its predecessors, or has the developer strayed too removed from the trail with its newest endeavor? Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has loads driving on it, and these are the issues that Rocksteady must get proper.
First off, Suicide Squad wants plausible boss fights. The squad of misfits is up in opposition to a few of the heaviest hitters from the DC Universe, and although the group has unimaginable talent units, it’s nonetheless exhausting to consider that they might pose any actual menace to the Justice League – particularly after we already confronted two of them earlier than as Batman, and neither Deadshot nor Harley Quinn stood an opportunity in opposition to the Caped Crusader.
So far as we all know, the League consists of, a minimum of, Superman, Batman, Inexperienced Lantern, and the Flash. How will the Suicide Squad deal with throwing down with individuals who can transfer quicker than the pace of sunshine and are able to transferring literal mountains with their naked palms? You at all times root for the underdog, however Rocksteady must put ahead an affordable state of affairs the place the squad can win in a plausible means.
Rockstar has already established that the group will get their palms on weapons able to taking down metahumans, courtesy of none apart from our favourite umbrella-wielding crime boss, Oswald ‘The Penguin’ Cobblepot. So possibly the proper sort of arsenal will do the trick. The sooner Arkham video games boasted some memorable boss fights, from Killer Croc to Mr. Freeze, however Suicide Squad’s massive bads want to come back packing spectacular and convincing battles.
One other concern: Can a sunny Metropolis be as fascinating as a grim Gotham? Will or not it’s convincing as an actual metropolis, not a Fortnite map playground? Arkham Asylum, Arkham Metropolis, and Gotham are all depicted pitch completely within the earlier video games, harkening again to the animated collection and comics whereas creating their very own identification and sense of place.
The grim aesthetics turned one of many collection’ defining options, and from what we’ve seen, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League goes in a extra colourful, energetic course. The motion takes place in Superman’s house courtroom, Metropolis, and the setting, in addition to the tone, appear wildly totally different from the sooner Arkhamverse video games. It’s at all times daytime, for starters, with town boasting a clear, futuristic look.
And that sums up my principal concern relating to the setting: Metropolis has by no means been that fascinating a setting, whereas Gotham inherently is. Rocksteady must make its Metropolis really feel like a pure enlargement of the Arkhamverse, however there’s a danger that it’s going to come throughout as an excessively videogame-y playground and subsequently a disconnected setting from its predecessors.
However even when Rocksteady manages to create a charming setting, it doesn’t imply a lot if the sport lacks assorted and entertaining motion. Rocksteady invented and cultivated a brand new sort of fight system with the unique video games, combined with stealth and investigative sections. If Suicide Squad focuses solely on gunplay and traversal, it is likely to be too one-sided for my style. There’s an equilibrium that must be maintained. With a bit of luck, we are going to get slower-paced parts of the sport as effectively, the place you’ll be able to wind down and take within the environment.
Lastly – and that is probably my most essential level – any ‘video games as a service’ aspect must be as unobtrusive as attainable. When the sport was first launched, the presence of GAAS components, together with a battle cross, the ‘at all times on-line’ web requirement, and co-op-multiplayer, sparked some backlash from these hoping for a deep and fascinating single-player recreation, extra in step with what the studio has launched earlier than.
Only recently, nonetheless, Rocksteady revealed that an offline mode shall be out there finally, however the battle cross and co-op multiplayer are nonetheless there. The GAAS mannequin isn’t very best – not least following Gotham Knights – however I’ve to carry out hope that it’s not overbearing, grindy, and dangerous to the narrative. I take little situation with beauty add-ons, however we all know the GAAS mannequin infects each aspect of a recreation’s design at this level, no matter how irritating the microtransactions might or might not be.
Fingers crossed Rocksteady will knock it out of the park, however with such a robust heritage, there’s loads at stake. The studio’s humorousness and a spotlight to element look like intact, and it will be fascinating to see the outcomes of such a protracted improvement cycle. I, for one, can’t wait to sink my enamel into what’s going to hopefully be among the finest new PC video games of 2024.
