Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Review
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League lets you play as four supervillains on a mission to take down some of the greatest heroes the world has ever known. The adventures of the oddball outfit are fun, but the game ultimately falls short, my full review.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been a game in the making for a long time. Ever since Rocksteady Studios announced that they were working on a new project after the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham trilogy, I was eagerly anticipating what came next. When the studio finally revealed that it was a game about the Suicide Squad tasked with killing the Justice League, I was intrigued. With the creatively of the studio, and this new premise, the possibilities seemed endless.
"With the creatively of the studio, and this new premise, the possibilities seemed endless."
As a huge fan of both DC Comics and Rocksteady, I was excited to check out the game and see how they would approach such an ambitious premise. After sinking hours into Kill the Justice League, I can answer whether it was a blast or a total bust and it’s somewhere in between. In this review, I’ll share my thoughts on the game’s story, gameplay, graphics, end game and more. Let’s drop into Metropolis and explore all that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has to offer.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Details
Platform: PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X|S
Developer(s): Rocksteady Studios
Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Games
Genre: Action-adventure, third-person shooter
Modes: Single-player, multiplayer
ESRB Rating: M for Mature
A plot to kill the Justice League
The story of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League explodes on the streets of Metropolis, the home of Superman. A mysterious alien invasion has turned the city into a war zone. The Suicide Squad, consisting of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark, are sent by their ruthless handler Amanda Waller to infiltrate the city and destroy “a target of high importance.” However, they soon discover that the target is none other than the Man of Steel himself, who has been brainwashed by the alien overlord Brainiac, along with the rest of the Justice League. Now, the Suicide Squad must use their skills, weapons, and explosives to take down the world’s greatest heroes at all costs. Along the way, you’ll encounter familiar faces from the DC universe, and uncover the secrets behind Brainiac’s plan and the fate of the world. Overall, the story and its high production values are a standout in the game’s overall package. I’m hoping through more content drops and seasons we get more story that further expands this universe.
Unimaginative loot n’ shoot gameplay
Kill the Justice League is a third-person shooter with action-adventure elements, where you can play as any of the four members of the Suicide Squad, either solo or with up to three other players online. Each character has their own abilities, weapons, and traversal methods, which you can upgrade and customize as you progress through the game. For example, Deadshot can fly with his jetpack and use his wrist-mounted guns and sniper rifle, Harley Quinn can swing with her grappling hook and bash enemies with her baseball bat and mallet, Captain Boomerang can teleport with his boomerangs and throw explosive ones, and King Shark can leap across buildings and rip enemies apart with his teeth and claws. You can switch between characters or revive your teammates if they fall in battle. Let’s delve further into what you can expect from the Suicide Squad experience:
Rooftop hopping
The main missions are focused on taking down the Justice League members, who act as boss fights that require strategy and teamwork. No spoilers here, but some of them are creative and very interesting showdowns. Outside of this, you’ll also face waves of “samey” foes, such as Brainiac’s drones, soldiers, and robots. These purple enemy types are everywhere, and the combat encounters are a little too similar in structure. They have you run and gun over a series of rooftops battles with little variety in between. The combat and effects are still a spectacle to behold, everything is fast and fluid, it would just be great to have a lot more variety with each encounter.
Guns, guns, guns?
I felt there was a real over-reliance on guns for a superhero (ahem…supervillain) game. Even characters who have unique weapons like boomerangs and brute force options like ripping apart enemies with their jaws still were packing heat. This leaves all the characters feeling a bit too “samey.” As you can imagine with so much reliance on firearms the game revolves around constantly upgrading weapons. In the hunt for more sidearms, there are some neat weapon designs based on DC Villains, but they don’t have many attributes that set them apart.
An open-world battle ground
The game is set in an open-world version of Metropolis, where you can explore, fight, and cause as much mayhem as you please. The city is divided into different districts, each with its own landmarks, enemies, and missions. You can also find collectibles, (Riddler Trophies make their return!) easter eggs, and side activities.
Graphics and overall performance
Suicide Squad is a stunner, especially on the PlayStation 5, where I did all my testing with the game. It ran at smooth 4K 60 frames per second, even as scores of enemies showed up on screen. The game pushes the Unreal Engine 4 to the max offering up realistic lighting, shadows, reflections, and textures. The cutscenes look incredible offering action and effects that could rival many Hollywood offerings.
The character models are detailed and expressive, with excellent animations and facial capture. The environments are also impressive, with a lot of variety and destruction. The one downside with the open world is it is devoid of any signs of life, no citizens running about, it looks amazing, just very sterile. The game captures the comic book style of the DC universe, with vibrant colours and stylized effects. Performance is mostly smooth and stable, with only occasional drops in frame rate and minor glitches.
Stellar audio design and voice acting
The game’s audio is also top-notch, with a great soundtrack, sound effects, and voice acting. The game features the original cast of the Suicide Squad from the Arkham games, such as Tara Strong as Harley Quinn, Bumper Robinson as Deadshot, Daniel Lapaine as Captain Boomerang, and Samoa Joe as King Shark. They deliver their lines with humour, emotion, and personality, making the characters likeable and memorable.
"They deliver their lines with humour, emotion, and personality, making the characters likeable and memorable."
The game also features other famous voice actors, including the late great Kevin Conroy as Batman. Conroy turns in another legendary performance transforming the Brainiac version of Batman into a truly twisted and maniacal figure. Nolan North also does an excellent job with his portrayal of Superman.
Final thoughts on Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a game that has a lot of potential, but also a lot of flaws. It has a fun and engaging story, with a great cast of characters and a witty script. The gorgeous and expansive open world is fun to explore, but it's sadly devoid of life. The gameplay is fast and fluid, but it would have been great to see more unique powers reflected in each character’s combat repertoire. The missions have a repetitive and shallow design, with a lack of challenge and diversity with an endgame that features much of the same. Suicide Squad tries to do too many things at once but in the areas like storytelling and combat, it has some fun qualities.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League PROS
+Great story and characters
+Great graphics and performance
+Fluid combat and traversal mechanics
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League CONS
-Very repetitive missions
-Pacing issues with frequency of boss fights
-Generic enemy types
-Poor and lacking endgame
-Looter shooter and live service elements get in the way of the experience
Overall Assessment of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Gameplay: 6/10
Graphics: 8/10
Sound: 8/10
Replayability: 5/10
Overall Rating: 26/40 (65%)
A copy of the game was provided by Warner Bros. Games for the purpose of this review.
About the Author - Matthew "Dapper Tux" Rondina
Matthew has been involved in all things gaming since the 8-bit era. He is a veteran of the video game and tech industry who has been passionate about technology and gaming for over 20 years. Along with being the Managing Editor of dappertux.com, he has bylines with Best Buy, Cineplex Entertainment, Mobile Syrup and Walmart. Follow Matthew’s gaming + tech adventures on multiple social platforms with the handle @dapper_tux via "X", Instagram, Threads, TikTok and join in on the fun!
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