I reviewed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Here’s why I think it can still be saved

09.02.2024 - 15:59 / digitaltrends.com / Tomas Franzese

Is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League a salvageable live-service game? That question was top of mind as I reviewed the latest DC Arkhamverse game from Rocksteady Studios.

The antihero game is a co-op multiplayer shooter, and Rocksteady and WB have already committed to seasons of post-launch content. It’s set to follow a live service approach with its endgame and in-game store. Historically, games like this have gone both ways after a rocky launch. Titles like Anthem and Marvel’s Avengers stand out as notable failures. They both seemed initially promising, launched in a rocky state, failed to garner the needed support through post-launch updates, and eventually shuttered.

Some initially-maligned games have recovered, though. Most famously, the launch versions of No Man’s Sky and Final Fantasy XIV weren’t well-received but eventually flourished as their developers fixed their games’ biggest issues and brought the experience to new heights. Although I have plenty of problems with Suicide Squad, there is something worth fixing here if its developer and publisher are truly committed to Suicide Squad long-term.

• Here’s when can you expect our Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League review
• Divisive Suicide Squad game’s newest look emphasizes story over live service
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The hope

Right now, the worst things about Suicide Squad are its user experience, mission design, and content variety. Unfortunately, those are three of the most important elements of live service games. You need to have enough original, varied content to keep players engaged for hours upon hours, and it needs to be presented in a seamless way. At times, Suicide Squad is a joy to play when I’m flying around as Deadshot, taking advantage of the intricacies of the affliction and combo systems to deal maximum damage to enemies. It’s an enthralling loop that I think fans of multiplayer shooters like The Division or Remnant II would enjoy, but Suicide Squad actively works to make part of the game less entertaining.

The UI is a visual mess, which gives the game a harsh learning curve as you need to learn where everything is. It also constantly interrupts the comfortable pacing of the experience with post-mission menus. A significant UI and UX revamp is required in the future if this game is to be a success. That can’t get in the way of the seasonal content already promised and accounted for by Suicide Squad’s narrative and gameplay systems.

The ending of Suicide Squad reveals that a coalition of 13 Brainiacs is behind these multiversal attacks. Presumably, the plan is for two-to-three years of post-launch content to be about taking them all down. A road map has been