Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League review — too late to the looter shooter party

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could have been an intriguing take on the looter shooter genre. Instead, it’s a bland gaming experience that feels horribly out of date. Toss in a mediocre story and a lack of reverence for the iconic characters it depicts, and you’re left with one of the most disappointing games in recent memory.

Rocksteady Games brought us the innovative and influential Batman Arkham games. Because of that, I expected Kill the Justice League would offer something fresh to the genre. Sadly, that isn’t the case — which only serves to make this title all the worse. Aside from its impressive graphics, there’s little to like here — especially if you’ve grown tired of looter shooters.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, like Marvel’s Avengers and Anthem before it, is unfortunately, another example of what happens when a studio known for its narrative-driven experiences tries to chase the games as a service hype train. I can save you time and tell you to avoid this title, but if you’re curious as to why, read my full review to find out.

Dying to save the world

Set in the same universe as Rocksteady Studios’ Batman Arkham games, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has the titular bad guys forced to eliminate the Justice League after the alien Brainiac brainwashes the superheroes into conquering Metropolis. The Suicide Squad (officially Task Force X) wants nothing to do with the mission — but bombs implanted in their heads by Task Force X director Amanda Waller don’t give them much choice.

The story is standard fare if you’ve read the Suicide Squad comic books. Amanda Waller forces the team to complete a seemingly impossible task and threatens to blow their heads up if they don’t comply. This creates tension among the group of former supervillains since they’re each trying to find a way out of their situation — with no qualms about betraying each other in that pursuit.

The intriguing premise is undermined by sloppy writing and poor characterization. The Suicide Squad are supposed to be hardened villains but come off acting more like anti-heroes. Except for Captain Boomerang, the other members of the team have some small semblance of honor. I’m all for sympathetic villains, but we don’t get a sense that these are truly rotten people.

I won’t delve into spoilers, but the way the Justice League is depicted is, quite frankly, insulting. I understand this title is called Kill the Justice League, but you’d expect some kind of reverence for heroes like Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Superman. Combine this with the out-of-character villains, and you don't have a single person to root for.

Tools of the trade 

The Suicide Squad consists of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark. You can switch to any of them between missions if you’re playing alone but can only play as one if you’re in a co-op session with three other players.

Each character has similar but different abilities and weapons. All of them can carry up to two firearms and a single melee weapon. They can also scale up vertical walls and have unique ways to traverse the city faster. For instance, Harley Quinn can use a grappling hook while Deadshot can utilize a jetpack. This adds some variety and might make you prefer one character over another. That said, their move sets are similar enough to let you be proficient with the entire team.

Controls are solid across the board, which is no surprise given the developer. Shooting aliens with assault rifles or introducing them to the business end of a sledgehammer feels good and visceral. Moving across the world is also seamless thanks to the aforementioned means of transportation. Scaling skyscrapers or running through the devastated streets presents no issue.

You gain experience points by killing enemies and completing missions. When you’ve earned enough experience, you’re awarded skill points you can then use to purchase new skills on the skill tree. This includes abilities like increasing your critical shot rate, enhancing melee attacks and more. You’ll also unlock powerful super moves that do a great job of clearing enemy mobs. You’re free to swap out different skills between missions, which allows you to experiment to see which skill loadout serves you best.

Speaking of progression, you’ll unlock more powerful weapons throughout the game. As is usual for live service games, the weapons you unlock are just a little bit better than what you currently have. This drip feed of slightly improved gear can give you an incentive to push forward, but it can also be frustrating to receive the same weapon only with marginally better attributes.

Controls are generally solid, and it can be fun wiping out hordes of enemies. This is one of this game’s few saving graces.

Life in the city 

Metropolis offers a vast open-world setting to explore. Traveling from one end of the giant city to another can take several minutes. There’s plenty to do, as numerous quests, sidequests and random activities litter the sprawling map. Unfortunately, most aren’t very enjoyable or memorable.

It’s sometimes hard to distinguish between main missions and side quests. For the most part, missions involve you fending off successive waves of enemies while you defend a location or try to collect specific items. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that’s basically how missions in other looter shooters like Destiny tend to play out. This made me want to avoid side missions. However, if you want better gear, you’ve little choice but to repeat the same types of missions.

Since this is the DC Universe, you’ll run into familiar characters like Penguin, Poison Ivy and the Riddler — the latter of which offers a slew of quiz-based side quests. The game has more Batman-centric characters than anything, which is weird considering you’re in Metropolis. I love Batman’s rogues' gallery as much as anyone, but more villains native to Superman’s home city would have been nice.

Metropolis provides a vast playground but it often feels empty — and not just because most of its population has been turned into aliens. The city’s streets feel cramped, and it’s hard to imagine actual people living and moving around such enclosed spaces. There are some open areas, but the city feels much too dense. This isn’t Cyberpunk 2077, where Night City is deliberately designed to be claustrophobic and imposing.

Looks that kill 

The Batman Arkham games featured incredible graphics, and Suicide Squad follows in that tradition. It runs on a modified Unreal Engine 4, but it looks so good that I would have believed it’s running on Unreal Engine 5.

Graphics look best during scripted cutscenes. This is where you’re better able to see the detail in the character’s clothing and the subtle (or not-so-subtle) facial expressions. Everything looks great during regular gameplay as well, with the city’s different sections feeling unique. I especially enjoyed climbing tall buildings so I could get a better view of the land. Yes, there’s a giant Brainiac skull ship looming above the city, but Metropolis is still a sight to behold.

Not the heroes we asked for

I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into both Destiny and The Division, so I’m not fundamentally against looter shooters/live service games. But as I said above, this genre’s heyday has long since passed. Because of that, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League feels like a relic from a bygone time. Yes, there’s some fun to be had thanks to the tight controls and eye-catching graphics, but if you’re familiar with the genre, you won’t find much that’s terribly exciting.

I initially didn’t dislike this title. But after completing it, I felt as hollow and empty as the game’s world and story. This is a shame considering how Rocksteady Studios redefined superhero video games. It’s possible that Kill the Justice League could improve with future updates. However, I can already see it following Marvel’s Avengers, Anthem and similar looter shooters to the proverbial grave.