DOA
'Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League' Reviews: A Disappointing Game From A Beloved Developer
"Batman: Arkham Asylum" completely reinvigorated superhero video games back in 2009 by creating a clever combo system that games like "Spider-Man 2" still use to this day. Rocksteady, the studio behind those superb "Arkham" games, has shifted its focus to the villains of the DC universe with their new release, but most folks aren't thrilled.
More than 30 reviews are recorded at OpenCritic, and "Suicide Squad" averages out to a "Weak" 63/100 score. In comparison, 2015's "Batman: Arkham Knight," the last full-size release from Rocksteady, had a "Mighty" average of 86/100. That's a huge tumble that has drawn comparisons to BioWare's ill-fated pivot to live-service games. But is there something to actually enjoy here? Let's see what critics are really saying.
The core design falls flat — an indictment of a game that's supposed to be a live service
"Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League" is a thoroughly frustrating game to play. There are things to enjoy here, with combat that's snappy enough to carry it through a genuinely good DC comics story artfully dressed in high production values. But everything else just falls down around it. Engaging mission design is nearly non-existent, the looter-shooter mechanics are tired and dull, and the grotesquely-repetitive postgame leaves little-to-nothing to do of interest. The result is a bit of a mess that doesn't ever impress with any of its numerous ill-conceived ideas. It's not bad, it's just disappointing from Rocksteady — pioneers of single-player story action chasing already outdated multiplayer trends. A City of Tomorrow built on the unstable foundations of yesterday.
Yet, unfortunately, "Suicide Squad" just had to be something bigger than another 12-15 hour single-player adventure. It had to be a live-service video game that could support months or even years of content. The game does a good job of hiding this fact for a large chunk of its runtime, but by the end, it's laid bare and impossible to ignore. That's assuming you even reach the end and don't get bored by the same six missions being copied and pasted around the city to pad things out and make "Suicide Squad" feel bigger than it really is.
It's a pretty game, but it's not groundbreaking on the tech side
While it can be visually pleasing, especially as you look out on the destroyed Metropolis, you're ultimately seeing a hollow shell — little more than a movie backdrop, where the extras only come out in the required scenes and nowhere else. If only the suspension of belief was strong enough to convince me otherwise.
There's more, of course, but my basic feelings are this: "Suicide Squad" is not a mindblowing game but it's a handsome one with very impressive cutscenes mixed with a good looking but not stunning open world environment. The VFX work is quality too. I feel that pre-release media may have negatively [colored] the viewer's impressions of these visuals, unfortunately, as its busy nature means that YouTube basically destroys most of the detail. It looks a lot nicer "in person."
The games-as-a-service aspects are arguably its worst parts
As I approach the end game portion of the game, where we're supposed to spend many more hours, and tinker with the online experience, which takes away the cool option to switch from one character to another on the go, I fear that the bland and uninspired will eventually overtake the awesome part of "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League." It's an extremely funny, well-made, and once-traditional co-op game stuck in a live service cage that makes it sadder and more tiring as time goes on. Will the most demanding content in the game convince players to stick around and actually engage with the "numbers go up" systems? I don't think so, but I'm not writing it off just yet.
Once you drop into the endgame, a bunch more activities appear on the map, but they're still just slight variations on the same themes, albeit with optional difficulty levels to help improve the loot rewards. It's a testament to how enjoyable the core combat, [characterization] and story were that I didn't get bored of these much earlier.
But boredom will eventually set in, and that's because of the loot. It's pretty poor overall, but with spots of [brilliance]. There are legendary items here with powerful effects that can change how you play your character significantly, but there's only a small pool of them so your interest slowly wanes as you get more and more repeats. There are a few tiers of loot as you might expect, but Legendary and Infamy (basically item sets that provide a bonus) loot are the only ones that really matter due to being significantly more powerful and having additional affixes, so they always [last] long enough until you find another to replace it. Any activities that won't improve on what you've already earned just end up feeling like a waste of time, getting the balance wrong for a looter shooter.
TL;DR
Unfortunately, no amount of solid writing, subversive story beats or even sharp comedy can cover up the repetition of the core gameplay loop, which is a shame.
To be honest, I don't really want to spend any more time with it.
It's tough not to think about what could have been if Rocksteady opted for another traditional single player title — especially since the split personalities at this game's heart stop it from reaching the heights of the developer's previous works.
"Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League" is out now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Want to play a better game? Give "Tekken 8" a try.
[Image: DC]
