But the one aspect where Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League does manage to impress is the visuals. Built using Epic’s Unreal Engine, Suicide Squad flaunts some high production values in its environments and character models – but what’s actually running under the hood? How does it leverage the power of ninth-gen machines and how does the game scale across different platforms?

With this technical analysis, we try to answer these questions, break down individual aspects of the game, and assess them with a critical eye along with performance profiling across both PC and PS5.

Game Engine

As mentioned previously, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is using Epic’s Unreal Engine to render its rendition of Metropolis. More precisely, it’s using Unreal Engine 4 which might come as a surprise considering that it’s exclusive to current-gen consoles – but the team seems to have made good use of the available features to craft a visually competent current-gen experience.

The decision to go with Unreal Engine 4 instead of 5 also helps in keeping the baseline a bit lower, which should make for a more optimized experience across a wide variety of PC specifications. Everything from the world streaming tech to character models and post-processing effects looks pretty competent from a ninth-generation perspective despite being based on an older version of the engine.

Character Models

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League features some highly detailed character models that flaunt some pretty high polycounts. The skin meshes are beautifully complex, and the clothes that these characters don are also comprised of physically based materials that react appropriately to light and sway with your swift movements.

Characters like King Shark flaunt some impressive detail on the material side of things. The hair physics implementation isn’t anything spectacular, but the rendering of the hair itself is pretty great with impressive levels of hair density per model. You can obviously notice artifacts along the fine edges if you really zoom in on the details, but overall – the character models look really good from a visual standpoint.

Similar quality efforts seem to have been put in the animations department as well, where we get to see some excellent translation of the actors’ motion captures to the in-game character models. The skin meshes react to the movement of lips and eyebrows, and the actor’s subtle movements look pretty crisp in cinematics as well.

Environments

Like any other game of this ilk, the macro-level detail of the open world is just as important as the attention that’s gone into the micro level of the presentation. In the case of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, the open world does look stunning from a visual perspective – but it just doesn’t have the substance to make players want to explore each nook and cranny of this huge map but that’s beside the point of this discussion.

On a technical level, the assets used throughout the environments are of pretty high quality. Whether it is the numerous buildings peppered throughout the map or the grass on the occasional rooftop garden or the cobbled roads, Suicide Squad has some great-looking assets that react to light and cast detailed shadows in an appropriate fashion.

As for the world streaming, Rocksteady makes great use of the increased memory of current-gen consoles to render huge chunks of the map at once. The draw distance is pretty high, and the level of detail across distant objects is also really good which is perhaps why we get to see such scant usage of volumetric fog to portray a sense of scale within the world. Level of detail swapping also works pretty well, and we didn’t notice any pop-in or other signs of artifacting in our test across both platforms.

Lighting And Reflections

Switching gears to the lighting, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League doesn’t seem to be using ray tracing for the global illumination on the PS5 version. Instead, it seems to be utilizing some form of screen space global illumination to light up its scenes which works well enough for the most part. Indirect lighting is pretty rudimentary as a result, but it doesn’t really matter much amidst the heat of constant battle.

The same story continues over to the reflections side of things as well, where we get to see a screen space-styled implementation on consoles. Reflections also update in sync with the framerate, and they look pretty good in action.

Furthermore, the intensity of the reflections also depends on the material on which it is cast – so rougher materials like concrete wouldn’t obviously reflect their surroundings with the same precision as, say, glass panes lined throughout a building. Suicide Squad also seems to be using additional cinematic lights during gameplay which add a bit of depth to the scenes and the extra shadows that are cast from these lights help in really bringing out the detail that’s present within the character models.

PC Settings and Test Bench Specifications

In addition to the PS5 version, we also took some time to test Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League on PC. Our test bench consists of an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, Nvidia RTX 308Ti, and 32 GB of RAM which is well over what the game recommends.

Briefly taking a look at the settings menu, we have a pretty barebones presentation where you have a dozen or so sliders ranging from shadow quality to upscaling and reflections among others. It doesn’t show any comparison screenshots or the setting’s impact on system memory – so it definitely leaves a bit to be desired.

That being said, Suicide Squad does feature support for modern upscaling techniques like DLSS and FSR2 – so it comes with all the essential features and sliders but nothing more than that. Given our test specs, we were able to turn the game’s settings all the way up to high with ray-traced reflections turned on, and we ran the game at 4K with DLSS turned on.

Differences Between PC And PS5 Versions

Suicide Squad retains the same base presentation across both PC and PS5, but the ray tracing on PC helps in creating more realistically lit scenes, and indirect reflections look much better as a result. Asset quality is mostly the same across both platforms, but the PC version looks crisper which might be a result of DLSS’ superior upscaling as compared to what seems like an FXAA or TAA-based solution on the PS5.

Draw distance, particle effects, and character models exhibit the same level of detail across both platforms, so there isn’t too big of a difference between both versions. That said, it is pretty weird that Suicide Squad on PS5 doesn’t have any graphics modes to choose from; there’s just a standard 60fps performance mode and that’s it.

Performance, Loading Times And Conclusion

As mentioned previously, the decision to go with Unreal Engine 4 instead of 5 gives quite the benefit for performance – and we are happy to report that Suicide Squad performs pretty well across both of our test platforms. The PS5 version is able to hold its framerate in a solid fashion, and while there are occasional dips here and there – it’s a pretty consistent experience for the most part. Even on PC, we kept VSync on and the game was able to chug along smoothly even during intensive encounters.

As for the loading times, the game takes about 10 seconds to load a save on our PS5 – which isn’t too long but isn’t too impressive either. We saw similar results on the PC which also took about 13 to 14 seconds to queue in with bots and load into a save – which does make me suspect that the developer has probably not optimized the game for PS5’s SSD or Windows DirectStorage API.

In conclusion, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a great looking game that makes good use of Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 to craft visually appealing open-world and realistic character models.

Alongside being available on the Nintendo Switch for the first time, the collection of Batman: Arkham games will also include every DLC that has been released for the three games so far, including all story DLC and the smaller costume DLC. Interestingly, Batman: Arkham Origins is missing from the bundle.

The last game in the critically acclaimed series, Batman: Arkham Knight, was released on June 2015. While all three games have seen quite a bit of critical and commercial release, Batman: Arkham Knight was regarded as the most divisive entry in the trilogy, thanks to an added emphasis on vehicular combat that makes use of the Batmobile.

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass continues to expand with even more Xbox One games added to the service. Starting today, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Batman: Return to Arkham, Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two! and Double Fine’s Headlander are available for subscribers. On February 28th, Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 2 and The Creative Assembly’s Alien: Isolation will also be available.

Batman: Return to Arkham is arguably the highlight of this month’s launches. It includes remastered versions of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, complete with all of the downloadable content for both. As for Headlander from Double Fine Productions, it’s a retro-futuristic Metroidvania-type game where you play as a disembodied head. Ripping off robot heads and attaching yours to their bodies is important for success.

Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two! was designed by Warren Spector (who’s currently working on System Shock 3). It features Mickey and Oswald as they work to save the Wasteland. Various Disney characters and attractions will be encountered, further adding to the charm- even if the sequel isn’t as good as its predecessor.

It has been a while since we’ve seen a really good Harry Potter game, so if you’re a fan of the game, you’re definitely going to be excited to see this new leaked gameplay footage that has just surfaced out of nowhere. There hasn’t been any announcement made about any major developers working on a new Harry Potter title, so this comes as quite the surprise.

The video was shared on Reddit, and it doesn’t look to be fake, simply because of how polished the gameplay appears to be. As of now, we have no idea which developer could be associated with this game, but there’s a good chance that it could be either Rocksteady Games (they are working on a new game, after all, and have a history with Warner Bros. properties), or Avalanche Software, who were rumored last year to be hiring people to work on a new Harry Potter RPG.

The game looks very exciting in the footage, and it looks like you will be able to create your own character at the start. Based on the description provided with the video, we learn that the game is set in the 19th century Wizarding World, and players can choose from among eight different wizard types for their character, and also whether to play as good or evil. Additionally, it also seems like the game will feature an open world, in which players will be seeing familiar places and also visiting some new locations.

There will also be fantastical beasts to find, obviously, and many supernatural creatures to fight as you go on your journey through Hogwarts. You will also be able to craft potions and use all kinds of different spells throughout your adventure. There will be a new magic system in the game that “creates countless possibilities to master magic.” As you go through the story, you will also be able to choose your own friends and your own House in Hogwarts, and it should be interesting to see how this affects the game’s story.

The description also provides information about the premise of the game’s story. In the game, you will play as a newly arrived 5th year student who has a unique ability to track and “identify remnants of a potent ancient power.” As you arrive, some trouble starts brewing and some strange occurrences take place in the Forbidden Forest. You will have to figure out the cause behind these events with the help of Professor Elezar Fig. Finally, we also learn that story we get to see here is one that is totally separate from what we’ve seen in the books and films, so it looks unlikely that we’ll be seeing any known and beloved events from the franchise.

You can check out the leaked video below (before it gets taken down). Do keep in mind that this is by no means an official announcement, and as things stand right now, this leak could be very true, or not true at all. Hopefully, though, we will get some official announcement regarding this game soon.

https://youtu.be/2-HER1xKQl4

Earlier this year, after multiple leaks, Warner Bros. finally confirmed that they would be launching a collection of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, remastered for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The remasters were supposed to be extensive, bringing those classic games to the Unreal Engine 4.

However, just a while back, the collection was unexpectedly delayed ‘indefinitely,’ prompting many to question if the project had not maybe been too ambitious, and if it had not been called off behind the scenes. However, now Eurogamer is reporting that according to multiple sources, Return To Arkham is due out in November- at the earliest. This means that it could be out later too, in turn prompting speculation that whatever caused the delay with the game is a far more far reaching issue than may originally have been suspected.

Warner Bros.’ own official stance, on their part, has not yet changed. In a statement to Eurogamer, they said, “After reviewing the progress of the project, the team at WB Games has decided to delay the release of Batman: Return to Arkham to give the team at Virtuous Games additional time to deliver a polished Batman Arkham game experience.

“We do not have a release date yet and will be sure to communicate that once we are sure the game will be ready. We know this is disappointing news, but we feel the extra time will allow the team to create the best gaming experience for our fans.”

Still facing issues with Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight on PC, even after the numerous months of fixing and patching? The developer has reached out to users on Steam to offer a full refund. This will be valid until 2015 end, no matter how long you’ve played the game.

Rocksteady stated on the game’s Steam page that, “We are very sorry that many of our customers continue to be unhappy with the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. We worked hard to get the game to live up to the standard you deserve but understand that many of you are still experiencing issues.”

You can also receive a refund on the Season Pass but it needs to be returned with the base game. Those who continue to stick around can see Warner Bros
So until the end of 2015, Warner Bros. will offer full refunds of Arkham Knight “regardless of how long you have played the product.” In addition, players can get get their money back if they bought the DLC pass, but only if they return it along with the full game.

For everyone else, Warner Bros. said it plans to “continue to address the issues that we can fix and talk to you about the issues that we cannot fix.” Those facing issues with the refund process have been informed by Valve that “For users still running into playtime based refund rejections, we are looking into what is causing those. Please wait to re-submit your refund until we have this resolved. Thank you.”

It’s a shame that things ended up this way for Batman: Arkham Knight on PC, especially considering how brilliant it was on consoles. What are your thoughts on the whole debacle? Let us know in the comments.

Rocksteady wants you to know that it hears you when it comes to the numerous problems that have popped up for players of Batman: Arkham Knight on the PC. This being launch day, it was almost a given that there would be problems with the game. Users have started to steel themselves against the proposition that in the year 2015, a launch day is going to be marred with issues that will need to be fixed later on. Having said that, Batman: Arkham Knight launched on the PC with so many problems that it is grabbing headlines in a way that hasn’t happened since Assassin’s Creed: Unity launched last fall.

The problems have been big enough that Rocksteady has posted an official response and explanation on the community forums, apparently as a way to tamp down the frustration being felt by PC gamers who just wanted to kick a little Scarecrow butt today. The statement reads, “We’re aware that some users are reporting performance issues with the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. This is something that Rocksteady takes very seriously. We are working closely with our external PC development partner to make sure these issues get resolved as quickly as possible. We’ll update this thread when we’ve got more info to share.” As of right now, it doesn’t appear the developers have any more to share, because the thread hasn’t been updated.

If a patch is needed, and it seems likely that it will be needed, it could be days before users are able to play the game the way it was meant to be played. Batman: Arkham Knight launched today on the PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight is currently available worldwide for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. However, issues have already begun to crop up for the PC version and they’re far from your usual glitches or bugs.

Several users on Steam are reporting issues with frame rate performance, including excessive drops when summoning the Batmobile. In some cases, frame rates would drop at low as 10 frames per second and this isn’t on your run of the mill GPU either. Users on Steam are reporting these issues with graphics cards like the GTX 980 and even the Titan X.

That’s not all – on restarting the game, users have found issues with the frame rate being locked to 30 FPS. This setting can be changed by heading to your game’s install directory and modifying the “maxfps” setting in the “BMSystemSettings.ini” file from 30 to 60 FPS.

It’s especially a shame when you consider those who pre-load the game have also run into crashes when attempting to decrypt files and play, which would lead to Steam downloading large portions (if not the entire game again) to verify the game’s cache.

We’ll keep you updated on other issues and how Rocksteady is responding to them.

We got a brand new trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight at Sony’s E3 press conference today (Sony does have co-branding and co-marketing rights for the title, after all), and for everyone in the audiences at E3, it may have been a little annoying, as the video is seemingly full of spoilers. If you have any intention of playing the game with as little knowledge of the story as possible, do not watch the video, and close this window now. The video, and naturally this post discussing it, will have loads of spoilers.

The video shows us The Joker, and discusses ‘the death of the Batman,’ before showing us what seems to be a classic 1940s noire style criminal setting and shootout. I don’t want to spoil more of the video and the game than is necessary, so I suggest you check out the video for yourself if you wish to see what happens.

Batman: Arkham Knight launches next week, on June 23, on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage from E3.

Batman: Arkham Knight has a plethora of pre-order content and DLC that it will be receiving at launch and while you could pre-order at GameStop to net the Red Hood’s story, why not control Mr. J’s main squeeze instead? A new trailer showcasing the Harley Quinn DLC has been released so you can check out some of her combat skills.

Harley Quinn will be playable in an exclusive story mission, which serves as a prequel to the events of Arkham Knight. Not much more has been offered other than that but as the trailer showcases, Harley will have her own range of sneaking and attack skills to fight off enemies. This includes a Jack in the Box explosive and some kind of primal scream power-up.

The Harley Quinn DLC will be free for everyone who pre-orders Batman: Arkham Knight. The game itself launches on June 23rd for PS4, Xbox One and PC.