Summary
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, if pulled off well, will show that Rocksteady hasn’t been stuck in the same slump of its ways from over a decade of developingBatmangames. It still gets to make DC games, butSuicide Squadwill be decidedly more humorous and colorful than itsArkhampredecessors while obviously making a huge leap into the realm of live-service multiplayer. Rocksteady’s production manager Jack Hackett said it best when describingArkhamgames as being dark due to that suiting Batman, whereas aSuicide Squadtitle is deserving of a more lighthearted and animated tone:
“TheArkhamgames weren’t gritty because Rocksteady makes gritty, dark games. They were that way because that’s what suits a Batman story.”
Still,Suicide Squad; Kill the Justice Leaguedoesn’t need to lean fully into irreverent wise-cracking and frivolity, at least not all the time. One sequence in particular looks ripe forthe same brand of horror that theArkhamgames depicted, unleashing a wave of nostalgia at the same time as ushering in a new era of the Arkhamverse with a unique perspective.
RELATED:Rocksteady’s Own Take on Gotham Knights Could Exhume One Abandoned Arkham Feature
Batman: Arkham Knight’s Jump Scares are Terribly Effective
Knightisn’t known for being the most beloved of theArkhamgames, though it’s always a back-and-forth now between whether it orOriginsis on the bottom of the barrel. That said, the barrel in question is still in a league of its own where action-adventure superhero-related games are concerned. It’s true that Rocksteady’s latest game might’ve leaned too much into its Arkham Knight militia army, for instance, but what it achieved more than any otherArkhamgame before it was a sense of psychological and existential dread coupled with some remarkable jump scares.
There are few jump scares in gaming that have surpassed the memorability ofKnight’s Man-Bat jump scare, but the jump scares with Batman suddenly appearing behind the player while they spin around in a first-person perspective are truly haunting, whether it’s Batman sneaking up behind an unsuspecting Jim Gordon or a statue of Batman appearing behind a terrified Joker.
IfSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguecan achieve something similar in the sequence where a mind-controlled Batman encounters Task Force X, it would be a special treat. The sequence plays on Batman’s stealth in a comedic way initially when Harley stumbles upon a cutout of Batman, but tension instantly mounts when Batman himself appears. It’s possible that this encounter may not have the same tone at all in the actual game, but allowing it to be scary would be reminiscent ofKnightin an appreciative way.
Thefirst Suicide Squad Insidershowed what looks like gameplay of that encounter with Harley running through a haunted house-like interior soaked in red lighting, and if pursued by Batman it could be extraordinarily frightening, even if all the scares come from a third-person perspective. It will be interesting to see how this encounter plays out and how other possible Batman encounters look, especially if it’s true that players must kill him and the rest of the Justice League.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.
