Suicide Squad review: Kill the Justice League, or super mediocrity

Sometimes we would like not to have to shoot the ambulance, to say to ourselves that behind the media noise, undoubtedly exaggerated, there can emerge a surprise, if not a crush. Since its announcement and, more particularly, since a detailed presentation in 2023, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League suffered enormously. So much so that it was condemned even before its release, due to a shaky project from the start. Unfortunately, playing it only confirms the presentiments and proves the penguins bad omen birds.

There is, however, a renowned studio behind it Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, whose launch was complicated. This is undoubtedly what makes the situation a little sad, beyond the recognition of failure. With its Batman: Arkham trilogy, Rocksteady has been able to build a foundation of excellence for a genre that has long been ridiculous (video game adaptations). Without the Batman: Arkham trilogy, it is not certain that PlayStation would have given birth to such hair-raising Spider-Man titles. How can you fail so much after having succeeded in everything? This is the question that raises Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewhich wastes real know-how in an irrelevant economic logic.

Suicide Squad could have been a great game

Like Square Enix with Marvel’s Avengers, Warner Bros. wanted to get involved in the seemingly lucrative genre of service games. Titles in this category seek to retain players by offering them regular content, in the hope of generating income in the long term (thanks to a store with cosmetic items, for example). A category in which Marvel’s Avengers just broke his teeth, like so many others (Anthem, despite ultra-solid foundations). Warner Bros. wants to try this bet with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueexcept that Rocksteady was certainly not the studio best suited to triumph.

When we play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, we also find notes of optimism which remind us how talented the developers are. The gameplay, overall, provides excellent sensations. You can play four really different characters — Iron Man Deadshot (our favorite), Harley Quinn, Boomerang, King Shark –, with an emphasis on verticality. The action is particularly frenetic and the key lies in the need to stay moving to give enemies no chance. Rocksteady allows itself to pump certain ideas seen in other shooting games (examples: rapid reloading in Gears of War, the flow of Anthem in certain air travel). It also provides a progression structure as much focused on the powers to unlock as ever more powerful weapons to equip.

We also find Rocksteady’s speaking talents, with an incredible respect for DC Comics lore (fans will appreciate it) and great narrative efforts. On this subject, we nevertheless end up getting tired of the circus proposed by our four merry men. They are responsible for killing individuals much stronger than them by cheating (superheroes, Batman and Superman in the lead, have become threats to the city of Metropolis, under the yoke of Brainiac). We feel that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League searches too much for the joke to the detriment of the rhythm, multiplying the cutscenes which make you want to sigh. Upon arrival, the story does not fly very high, we feel like we are in a court of miracles populated by skillful stand-uppers. It’s funny, sure, but we’re far from the immersive darkness of Batman: Arkham. The rare good idea comes after the end credits, when we learn that the multiverse will serve as a basis for future content.

The main fault of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League fits in its terribly lazy structure. Where we just string together missions with generic objectives, which constitute clichés of the soulless looter-shooter. Capture the flag? Check. Point protection? Check. Convoy support? Check. Destruction? Check. And everything ends up repeating itself from one outing in Metropolis to the next. A feeling of repetition sets in very quickly: after a maximum of two hours, we have the impression of having already covered the issue. We had a surge of hope with the ultimate objective of the story. Alas, getting rid of Brainiac didn’t prove any more thrilling or original than the rest. Too bad when we know what such a face-to-face meeting at the summit could produce with more passion.

To make matters worse, the environments of the city are empty and artistically uninspired despite a graphic quality to be highlighted (it’s beautiful and fluid). Exploration is not encouraged either, due to the small scale. When we think about the excellence of the gameplay, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League gives the impression of having a sensational weapon in your hands while having no valid target to shoot at. A shame for an experience that requires you to constantly press the trigger with the sole aim of annihilating henchmen with an uninspired design.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League could have been saved a little by his cooperative argument. It still had to include phases where team spirit becomes an essential element for moving in the right direction. Here again, we are satisfied with so little when we could have so much fun, together, in the company of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. You don’t become a hero overnight when you’re a zero — no offense to Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Boomerang and King Shark. We just hope that Rocksteady doesn’t go the other way. Once you’ve reached the top, there’s no guarantee you’ll stay there.

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