Howdy!
As always, I hope you’re doing well and staying hydrated.
It’s been a while since I did a news post, but today’s post is actually going to be one of those. I originally intended to throw this segment into another piece I’m working on, but it would’ve been just a bit too long so I paused.
More importantly, today’s topic is a cry for help.
It’s been three years since Rocksteady announced their first new project since Batman Arkham Knight, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, during the 2020 DC FanDome. I wasn’t hyped back then as something felt off; who knew I was a clairvoyant?
Since the reveal, it’s been nothing short of an absolute nightmare that not even the Justice League could save.
This game is everything Rocksteady’s trio of Batman titles is not, and it’s bewildering. It’s a co-op, looter-shooter, filled to the brim with wretched monetization schemes such as battle passes. It’s been the subject of many delays, probably three or four, and fans hoped each delay would help Rocksteady right the horrid course this game is bound for.
To the dismay of many, the newest developer walkthrough killed any remaining fans had.
In all fairness, I don’t think it looks awful. It’s heavily inspired by Sunset Overdrive, with each piece of new footage showing its inspiration from Insomniac’s sleeper title, as each character has a slick set of traversal mechanics to help navigate through Metropolis. It almost feels like this game is trying to gain an audience because of that, almost as if the developers are trying to market this to those cracked-out Call of Dutykids who love movement mechanics.
After the decent success (didn’t sell well, but it was LIGHTYEARS better than the first try) of the revamped Suicide Squad movie under James Gunn, it’s nice to see these villains get their screen time. The narrative of playing as the villains to kill the brainwashed Justice League sounds and looks good so far.
But for the specks of good it shows, it’s all washed away with a simple “What the fuck is this shit?”
Battle passes, Destiny style menus and live service bullshit fills every crevice of this game.
I mean just look at these responses from the game’s FAQ:
“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will have a post-launch cosmetics-only battle pass to earn new outfits, emotes, and other items to customize playable characters. A new battle pass will be available during each season of post-launch content and will have free tiers available at no cost to all players, along with premium tiers that will be available via an optional in-game purchase. All battle pass items will be cosmetic and will not affect gameplay in any way.”
and then this:
“Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will have cosmetic items available for optional in-game purchase that can be used to customize playable characters. Each cosmetics-only battle pass will also have premium tiers that will be available via an optional in-game purchase. All in-game purchases will be completely optional and will not affect gameplay in any way.”
Maybe it’s just me, but how do you go from the greatest trio of superhero titles, single-player and free of this shit, to where we’re at now?
I’m probably being too critical, but nobody asked for this – at all. With the launch inching closer to us, provided another delay doesn’t come through, the allegations of “box office bomb” won’t be beaten for SS: Kill the Justice League.
It sucks because I like Rocksteady, and I bet you the team probably wanted to make something different or not have it come out this way. However, that’s not the timeline we’re living in, and they have to sit here and believe in this vision.
This title’s launch will probably be painful, and we have no one else to blame but WB Games.
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