Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (version reviewed), Xbox Series, PC
Genre: Warner Bros. DC Comics-themed multiplayer online third-person shooter that probably came in too late after the GaaS boom

Despite what the internet has you believing, games as a service can work. Look at classic titles like World of Warcraft, Warframe, and Path of Exile for proof of the model working and staying around longer than anticipated. It’s just that these very rare cases succeed because they’re fun games with long-term replay value first, with the existing microtransactions coming in dead last on the priority scale for their respective owners and publisher.

Having said that, games as a service have ruined a lot of modern titles because their priorities are put into reverse; that’s capitalism for you, putting money in the forefront and eventually ruining the dynamic of the game’s intended modus operandi. Lord knows what happened during the more-than-a-decade development process of Rocksteady Studios’ take on the DC Comics anti-hero group Suicide Squad, but there’s definitely a decent idea for a free-form open-world action game with four different traversal styles and multiplayer group-play player-versus-enemy gameplay loop. Unfortunately it’s all buried with mundane grinding activity and the need to make the whole title a forced daily ordeal with post-game content that feels forced.

Group Therapy

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is exactly what’s advertised on the title – four miscreants of the DC Comics universe are forced to kill Earth’s Mightiest Heroes the titular Justice League who are being controlled by an alien bad guy named Brainiac. There are a couple of twists and turns that seem intriguing, and hearing familiar voices like Tara Strong’s Harley Quinn and the late Kevin Conroy as an evil Batman is always a treat. If anything, seeing the Suicide Squad -Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark- bonding with each other in their own twisted way while dealing with people who want them dead or under servitude (like the evil Justice League and their handler Amanda Waller) is the highlight of the game’s story. True, some gaming and comic book fans may not want to see their Arkham universe canon world end up like this, but given where the whole game’s story is leading, it may not even be the same universe; just one that is eerily similar.

Gameplay-wise, the feel for each character is deceptively different and unique. Sure, all four of them use guns and have some form of melee, but each of them traverse the ruined setting of Metropolis in various ways. For instance, Deadshot has a jetpack that has its own flying and launching mechanic I gravitated towards quickly. Captain Boomerang’s Speed Force-teleporting boomerang takes a while to get used to, but fits with a hit-and-run playstyle involving shotguns. King Shark power leaps his way to -and through- platforms and things ala The Hulk, while Harley Quinn grapples and swings around using a Bat-drone device and her grapple hook. Personally, Harley’s style of traversal feels lacking, but that’s only because I spent more time with Deadshot’s jetpacking and King Shark’s jumping a lot more from start to finish. The guns you use and fire feel good, and the console version I was on perhaps has the most generous auto-aiming I’ve experienced in my years of playing third-person action games with hyper-jumping and open-world shenanigans.

Yes, even the Saints Row games (and Grand Theft Auto 5) do not hold a candle to how responsive the aiming and movement for each switchable character in the field. And it’s not like the shooting is braindead and the enemies are slim pickings: each of the Brainiac enemy fodder have different skills and quirks. The helicopters eventually get Green Lantern-powered shielding, while some sniper enemies require you to counter-shoot them (use the alternate fire button as you aim and wait until they’re about to attack) before you can even damage them. You also have grenades, traversal special attacks, and Suicide Squad attacks to also penetrate their defences. This means you can’t just fire-and-forget; you have to use whatever options are available to deal with the variable horde to get by and survive. In spite of the game’s user interface being busy, at least the enemies are highlighted as such so that you know what they’re weak against and whether they’re currently shielded or not.

The game encourages you to switch between the four members for each sidequest and story mission so that you get an XP boost for the highlighted squad member. That gives you a big incentive to play through each and every one of your miscreants, figuring out which weapon works best with their playstyle and which traversal suits your gaming style in the game. Deadshot’s sniper rifle and handgun combo along with King Shark’s minigun and assault rifle loadout fits well with their playstyle of bopping Brainiac’s goons.

Unfortunately, those are the only good things I can say about Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League because the rest of the game is neutered and left half-baked by possible corporate decisions to become a games as a service type title.

Bad Blood

Despite the game’s story being intriguing, it’s bogged down with a lot of repetitive and mind-numbing missions meant for continuous daily play and acquiring bigger and better loot to boost your power levels. From the standard “destroy enemies to make Towers and Incubators vulnerable for destroying up-close” to “protect convoys” to “kill groups of enemies until civilians show up to be rescued”, they seem fun to play through and can go by fast within the first hour or three. Then they just get old as they repeat themselves throughout the entire 10-hour story ordeal. The only memorable missions I’ve played through in the story mode are the Batman segment at the start when the Suicide Squad are being hunted (which makes a good case for a Batman-themed survival horror game), and fighting Superman.

That’s it: two story missions within the 10 hours I’ve slogged through. Granted, the entire experience isn’t bug-ridden and horribly-paced, but it is monotonous and repetitive especially if you’ve played Rocksteady’s past Batman games that are jam-packed with stellar single-player gameplay moments. If the game’s controls weren’t this good, I would be more hard-pressed to go through the mind-numbing tasks given to me for the sake of better loot and numbers. You’re not exactly challenged for the majority of the game; you’re just enduring and doing. Plus, the ruined shambles of Metropolis isn’t exactly the most interesting and diverse location, at least when compared to other open-world games made for the past 20 years. It’s serviceable, but is more a backdrop than an actual living and breathing location full of personality and charm.

The eventual post-game content is just you repeating all those standard missions I mentioned earlier (and other variants) just for the quest for epic purple-coloured Infamous tier loot. While these are enticing and make for good combinations to power up your squad, you’d probably just want to take a break from the monotony of the gameplay loop and only feel obligated to do so because you paid for the game. Hopefully you’ve suckered others to play with, because at the very least these looter shooter titles are fun with others, if only for an hour or so before you realized that the whole game could have been a better single-player experience had developer Rocksteady stuck with their original vision of the game that wasn’t bogged down by corporate mandate.

I should also be obligated to mention that the game was out in early access, 30th January, but its servers went offline for 7 of those 72 early hours due to a glitch where players who log in at the start get an error message that they completed the game. The devs and publishers did give early access players US$20 worth of premium currency as reparations, but it does highlight the problem of these games having to be online for you to even play just a modicum of it. This review was supposed to be out yesterday, but was delayed because the server went down on Saturday 3rd February for a few hours, thus I couldn’t get through the endgame just before the weekend ended.

Burning Down The House

Rocksteady’s attempt at a pure action game with loot and live service mechanics isn’t the worst thing out there, but it isn’t exactly brimming with excitement. While shy of reaching the heights of Destiny or even the two Division games from Ubisoft, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League stands mildly tall at being just competent and serviceable, with one or two key story moments that are genuinely well-done.

I do wish it was a game similar to your Batman Arkham titles structure and level design-wise, because the game controls and mechanics are admittedly solid. What we end up with is a game that’s molested by its publisher to the point of attempting to be a DC Comics cash cow that will most likely be on discount after six months. The game shouldn’t be sentenced to die for existing, but I’d be hard-pressed to find it worth recommending to anyone who isn’t into Suicide Squad lore or anyone who likes brainless action with numbers going up and loot dropping down.

Pros

• Good shooting and movement for each character.
• Interesting story & great voice-acting from the cast.

Cons

• Rote and repetitive gameplay loop & missions.
• Lacking boss fights, with one of its mechanics used in another battle.
• Endgame tailored for fans of live service looter shooter titles, but no one else.

FINAL SCORE: 50/100

Review code provided by publisher.