While Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has gained a growing backlash in recent months, a new report sheds some hopeful light on the upcoming superhero shooter. Acclaimed Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady revealed its new spin-off project way back in 2020, and for the past few years fans have been slowly getting new details about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s plot and gameplay. As the rag-tag members of Task Force X, players will be charged with eliminating heroes like The Flash and Batman after they are taken over by Brainiac on the worn-torn streets of Metropolis.
This premise excited fans of the excellent Batman: Arkham series at first, but once Rocksteady started to show off more of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s third-person shooter gameplay and microtransaction-based loot system this optimism started to wane. Gamers have already grown weary of live-service models and always online connectivity in the wake of titles like Marvel’s Avengers, and a recent showing of Suicide Squad during a PlayStation State of Play in February did little to quell fans’ concerns. It is even being reported that Rocksteady is planning to delay Suicide Squad past its previously-planned May 26 launch date to address some of these issues.
All of this is certainly a troubling sign for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, but there may be good news for Rocksteady’s latest DC game yet. On the latest episode of the VCG Podcast, host Andy Robinson revealed that he received some positive feedback about the game based on a recent internal playtesting. He says that the playtesters were happy with Suicide Squad’s combat and game world, with some making favorable comparisons to last year’s divisive Gotham Knights.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s gameplay might have drawn the ire of gamers who dread another live-service superhero title, but there are some aspects of the game’s recent showings that players have praised. The late Kevin Conroy is returning to voice the Arkham universe’s Batman one last time, a reveal that gained an emotional response from fans during the 2022 Game Awards in December. The idea of taking control of the titular Suicide Squad and battling against some of DC’s greatest heroes is also interesting - even if recent Suicide Squad trailers draw concerns about a lack of variety in the game’s playable characters.
However, if the positive feedback that Andy Robinson reported is true, there may still be hope for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League yet - especially if the rumored delay allows Rocksteady to fine-tune the gameplay that playtesters are supposedly enjoying. Only time will tell if Suicide Squad can deliver a dark superhero gaming experience with the level of quality that fans of the Batman: Arkham series have come to expect from Rocksteady, but these early playtests are a promising sign of things to come.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
Source: VGC (via Comicbook.com)