Rocksteady cemented itself as one of the most talented developers in the industry with the Arkham trilogy, so to say that the wait for the studio’s next game has made fans antsy would be a bit of an understatement. We have, of course, officially known about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League for some time now, but precise details on the game and actual gameplay footage have been horribly scant, if that- until now. At Sony’s recent State of Play presentation, Rocksteady and WB Games finally showed off the superhero (or supervillain, in this case) shooter, offering an extended look at gameplay and revealing a bevy of new details. Here, we’ll be going over all of that information.
STORY
Rocksteady confirmed quite a while back that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be set in the Arkham universe, but what exactly does that entail? Details on that front have now emerged. Set five years after the events of Arkham Knight, the game sees Metropolis City taken over entirely by the alien supervillain known as Braniac. The Justice League attempts to fight him, but is quickly defeated and brainwashed, and now serve as his puppets. With the likes of Batman, Superman, The Flash, and Green Lantern running amok (Wonder Woman seems to have scaped Braniac’s clutches), Amanda Waller recruits the central group of four villains and tasks them with heading into the city, killing the Justice League, and putting a stop to Braniac’s plans.
CHARACTERS
With the likes of the four members of the titular Suicide Squad, mastermind Amanda Waller, the aforementioned superheroes, and, of course, Braniac, the game’s going to star plenty of recognizable DC characters- but that’s not all. Several more have also been confirmed to be making an appearance. There’s Oswald Cobblepot, a.k.a The Penguin, who’s been roped into the Suicide Squad’s mission as their arms provider. Then there’s Hack, a digital ghost who will help them navigate the world and upgrade their neck bombs. Another character revealed for the game is Toy Man, who will be focused on upgrading and perfecting the Squad’s gear. And finally, there’s also Gizmo, who, as his name suggests, helps them by coming up with vehicle creations that can be used to wreak havoc in a variety of different ways. The gameplay showing also offered glimpses of Lex Luthor, though it remains to be seen what role he will play in the story exactly.
TRAVERSAL
Something that Rocksteady has made abundantly clear is the fact that traversal is going to be central to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s core gameplay loop, with each of the four characters having unique movement and locomotion abilities. Harley Quinn is the most agile of the lot and moves with a combination of haphazard dives through the air and a grapple hook that lets her swing around like Spider-Man (wrong universe, but whatever). King Shark is a big brute, and his movement options are all about massive jumps and leaps that let him cover big distances quickly. Captain Boomerang is equipped with a speed force gauntlet that he uses in conjunction with his boomerang to zip around so quickly that it almost looks like he’s teleporting. And finally, Deadshot is equipped with a jetpack that he can use to hover around and fly through the air. According to Rocksteady, the traversal abilities of the four characters will be central to the game in more ways than one, and will also shape combat in key ways. Speaking of which…
COMBAT
At its very core, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is going to be a third person shooter, but you will, of course, also have access to a variety of unique abilities depending on which character you’re playing as. Rocksteady provided a few examples of this during its recent gameplay showing. Deadshot, for instance, can use his sniper rifle to devastating effect, and Captain Boomerang can use his speed force gauntlet and his boomerang to deal quick and deadly strikes to enemies before they even know what they hit them, while King Shark, as you may have guessed, is all about getting up close and personal with heavy, hard-hitting attacks.
WEAPONS
Your primary way of attacking enemies, as we touched on earlier, will be shooting at them using your weapons, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will have a variety of these on offer. In total, the game will have six different categories of weapons- assault rifle, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, miniguns, and pistols. Weapons will also vary and have unique attributes depending upon who they’ve been made by, with a number of different manufacturers included in the game, including the likes of Lex Corp, GCPD, Amertek, and more.
GEAR
Many might be dismayed to hear this, but it looks like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is essentially going to be a looter shooter. Gear will play a big part in the core progression loop. Each hero will have an individual Gear Score that will go up as you equip better and more powerful gear, allowing you to take on more missions, while plenty of cosmetic options will also be featured. Interestingly, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is also putting a unique twist on its loot mechanics by introducing unique gear sets later on in the game that will be themed around specific villains. If you equip one of these sets, you’ll take on that specific villain’s abilities- so if you’ve got a Bane gear set equipped, you’ll be able to use certain abilities and powers that are associated with Bane.
ALWAYS ONLINE
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League can be played solo from start to finish, which is something that we’ve known about for some time, but this is a game that is very much built around co-op first and foremost. An example of that that is sure to dissatisfy a great many people is the fact that the game will require a persistent online connection if you want to play it. Even if you’re looking to play through the entire game all by yourself, you’ll still need to be connected online to be able to access the game. Always online requirements for single player content rarely ever go down well with audiences, so it’s a tad disappointing (to say the very least) that Suicide Squad is taking this approach as well.
CROSS-PLAY
If you do plan on playing the game with 1-3 additional players, you’ll be able to play with anyone, regardless of what platform they’re on. Full cross-play is supported, which means players on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC will be able to pay with each other. Sadly, local co-op is not supported, so online play will be your only option if you’re looking to squad up.
PERFORMANCE
Details on Suicide Squad’s technical aspects are still scant, but Rocksteady has confirmed what its performance target will be- on consoles, at the very least. On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, the game will target 60 FPS. Whether additional graphics modes will be available, and what PC players can expect, remains to be seen.
POST-LAUNCH PLANS
Rocksteady is adopting a live service approach with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which means its initial launch will be just the beginning for the open world game. Following its release, the developer plans on releasing new content in the form of additional playable characters and new story missions, all of which will be available to players at no additional cost. Meanwhile, the game will also feature a battle pass that will come with free and paid tiers- though the battle pass will be tied exclusively to cosmetic items.
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