Rocksteady made a name for itself as one of the first teams to make a universally acclaimed superhero game with Batman: Arkham Asylum. It followed that success with two sequels, the even more beloved Batman: Arkham City and the divisive, though still fantastic Batman: Arkham Knight. Fans were left waiting to hear what this studio would tackle next. Most assumed it would be another DC property, since it is owned by Warner Bros. Games, and those suspicions turned out to be right on the money, though with a property not many would have predicted.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was given a formal announcement as the newest project from Rocksteady at the DC FanDome event in 2020. At the time, outside of the graphic novels, of course, we only had the one flop of a film based on this antihero group, so many fans were hesitant to see them tackle this property. Now that we’ve gotten a few trailers and footage of gameplay, however, it has become clear that Rocksteady hasn’t lost its touch. We took on this suicide mission for you and made off with all the details you need to know about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
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Release date
It took a long time from the game’s reveal to get a release date, but Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will arrive on May 26, 2023.
Platforms
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is confirmed for all current-gen systems, those being the Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Trailer
The first true trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League came at the 2021 Game Awards. This trailer was just shy of three minutes, but was our first real look at the game in action. We open on Captain Boomerang recording a video of himself taunting the squad’s current target, The Flash, before he is interrupted by the man himself. Other heroes mentioned included Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern.
After a cut we learn from Deadshot that The Flash is, for reasons unknown, either working for or under the control of the villain Brainiac. After the orders to kill him are repeated, the squad leaps into action in a montage showing how each member will move through the city and fight the mutated techno monsters. Eventually, they encounter Flash again and engage in combat. We get a close look at his face, with glowing red eyes and dark veins showing through his cheeks, heavily implying some form of mind control.
The trailer rolls on with a ton more gameplay footage, which we will cover in the next section, before one last encounter with The Flash. This time, he runs circles around the squad, literally, to create a massive tornado. It ends with Captain Boomerang about to throw a boomerang at Flash, who is somehow charging up some kind of energy ball between his hands. After a cut, it appears like the Suicide Squad has won — until a giant explosion of light cuts their celebration off.
Taking a step back for those who might be confused, what even is the Suicide Squad? Well, in this game specifically, they are a group composed of DC villains such as Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and King Shark, who are contracted by a woman named Amanda Waller. Their mission? Well, kill the Justice League, obviously. So far, we know this version of the Justice League will at least be composed of Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and The Flash, if the names Captain Boomerang threw out are any indication. Other possible members, based on other iterations of the superhero team, could include Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Cyborg, and more. Naturally, we don’t expect them all to appear, but there may be a few surprises.
We can also reasonably expect Batman to be in this game as well since Rocksteady has confirmed that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will take place in the same universe as the Arkham series. Without spoiling Arkham Knight, though, that would all depend on when this game takes place in that series.
The big baddie, though, definitely seems to be Brainiac. Not only does he seem to have somehow taken control of the Justice League members, but the entire city the game takes place in as well, with giant mechanical creatures and structures all over.
While the February 2023 State of Play trailer was focused on co-op gameplay, it did give some interesting story beats to look at. Once again, the trailer centers around the squad hunting down The Flash and rescuing Lex Luthor. First, the team needs to destroy a massive mortar.
Once they take it down and are about to save Lex, they are overwhelmed by Flash. Wonder Woman appears, and is the first member of the League we’ve seen free from Brainiac’s control. She uses her lasso of truth to subdue The Flash and learns that the only way to save the Justice League, and the world, from Brainiac, is to kill the Justice League.
Gameplay
Not to be confused with Gotham Knights, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an open-world game where you can play on your own, or with three friends in co-op. If played alone, you will pick one of the Squad to control directly, with the ability to jump between them at will. Anyone not being controlled will have an AI take over. It will be set in the open world of Metropolis, which you will be able to explore in a variety of ways.
With there being four main characters, each one has its own spin on how they will play. At the core, it appears that the basics of gameplay will be an expanded version of what we got with the Arkham series. We see tons of flashy attacks, grapples, and special moves unique to each character, as well as a more robust system of ranged options and different modes of traversal.
King Shark, for example, can make giant leaps, sprint straight up walls somewhat like The Hulk or Spider-Man, and has hand-to-hand strikes, grabs, a pair of hook weapons, and a mini-gun for ranged attacks. Deadshot, on the other hand, moves around via his jetpack, fires with automatic and explosive weapons, and can get slightly close-up with his gauntlet guns. We don’t know if the rhythmic-based combat that made the Arkham games so satisfying will return, or if it will be more of a traditional third-person action game.
The structure of the game, outside of it being an open world, also remains a question mark. We hope that it would allow players to pick and choose which member of the Justice League we wanted to pursue, though it will probably keep Superman locked off until last. Maybe we could even accidentally run into a member when we weren’t expecting it. Reclaiming the city from Brainiac’s control is another system we highly suspect. Liberating areas from the strange fodder creatures we see and weakening his grip on the city may play a role in freeing the League from his control.
There will be six weapon types, as well as different gear types you can equip that all have different effects, strengths, and weakness. This also influences your character’s gear score that will dictate which missions you can take on.
Thankfully, you can wear any costume you want without having to worry about it impacting your stats or gear score.
Multiplayer
Yes, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is built to be a single-player and co-op experience. This is a first for Rocksteady but makes sense given the team-based nature of the game. You can play with up to three of your friends together, each taking a different member into battle. What we don’t know is how they will handle progression. This has been tricky for developers as of late so we just hope that it isn’t another situation where only the host player makes or keeps progress, but we will have to wait on the specifics on this one.
DLC
Rocksteady has confirmed that it will support Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League after launch with new characters, weapons, and missions. Whether these will be free or paid is still unclear. The team also announced a Battle Pass with cosmetics items to unlock, which we also don’t know the details of as of yet.
Preorder
While we did get the May 26, 2023, release date for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, preorders have yet to show up on retail sites. We’ll update you as soon as they do.
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