If there’s one part of the DC universe that keeps the Suicide Squad from doing what they’re told, it’s the Squad itself. In case you didn’t know, the Squad is either the government team of antiheroes you’d better not love, called Task Force X, or a bunch of supervillains with bombs stuck in their heads. As it stands, they have established a domain where disorder is the rule. They exploded the standard in comics and movies—and now they are barging into the gaming world with Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. It’s as crazy as you would expect; loud and chaotic.
Rocksteady, the game developer that gave us the Arkham series, decided to take a drastic turn away from the dark Batman and the detective mode. In Kill the Justice League, you find yourself in the ravaged Metropolis and can play as one of the four characters: Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, or Captain Boomerang. The story is absolutely bonkers: After brainwashing by Brainiac, the Justice League is only the Squad’s way of coming to the rescue—while the Squad tries to keep the bombs off the trigger. A GameGrin review states that the result is a third-person shooter which is as insane and frantic as it is ruthless, thus trading the darkness of the Arkham series for a kind of riot which is most typical of comics and which doesn’t try to hide itself.
The team members are the type of trouble the Squad gets into. Harle, for instance, uses the ceiling for her next move with a grappling hook. Deadshot is powered up with a bunch of gadgets and takes off in his pack, Boomerang teleports, and after that rushes at full speed, and King Shark? Well, he just wrecks everything by jumping in. Although each character is different in movement and fight, the gameplay becomes somewhat repetitive after a time—game aliens, destroy objectives, do it again. GameGrin states that flashy movement notwithstanding, missions are not different from each other, and the loot system is far from being the actual progression that players would look forward to.
And just when you thought it was done, you haven’t. Rocksteady is betting everything on a live-service model, delivering new characters, storylines, and missions via seasonal updates. If you want to witness Brainiac’s ultimate defeat, you’ll have to wait for future content. In the meantime, microtransactions are already implemented, with in-game money (yes, they’re called Luthorcoins) and a battle pass system on the way. Not surprisingly, some gamers feel that they bought half a game, with the other half in the hands of a paywall and a schedule.
There’s still plenty here for fans of DC to get excited about. The dialogue is sharp, packed with dark humor and sassy repartee that feels ripped directly from the best Suicide Squad comics. Tara Strong is back as Harley Quinn, infusing the character with her trademark zest, though some fans believe that her work falls short of her previous best. Captain Boomerang steals scenes more than anyone might have anticipated, while King Shark proves there’s more to him than straight-up brawn. Deadshot, conversely, is sometimes a mite too down-to-earth and tends to get lost in the mix.
One of the most poignant moments of the game is Kevin Conroy’s return as Batman. As reported by The Cosmic Circus, Conroy’s voice has been legendary for a decade, from Batman: The Animated Series to the Arkham trilogy. His cameo in Kill the Justice League is an impactful and sentimental moment, made even more heart-wrenching by the fact that it’s one of his last performances before he passed away. For longtime fans, hearing his Batman one last time is worth showing up for.
You can’t talk about the Suicide Squad without touching on their big-screen resurgence. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad film took everything that didn’t work in the 2016 version and turned it on its head—embracing chaos, leaning into weirdness, and still finding a surprising amount of heart. It was a wild, emotional, and really funny ride, declared the Los Angeles Times. That same energy resides in Rocksteady’s game, where heroes are both deadly and cuddly misfits. Both film and video game know that the Squad functions best when they’re violating all the superhero conventions.
Harley Quinn is the poster child of the Squad’s trademark gorgeous chaos. Her path—formerly Joker’s sidekick, then morally ambiguous antihero, then reluctant leader—hasn’t been predictable. In the comics, as evidenced by Harley Quinn #19 (reviewed here at Batman News), her character vacillates between goofy and deplorably human. The game engages that crazy unpredictability, and even when the story stumbles or the gameplay slogs, she remains the star presence.
So what’s in store for the Squad? With Rocksteady promising regular updates, we’re not done with them yet. Is it their bickering team dynamic, their naughty joy in flouting rules, or the sheer theater of Harley Quinn attempting to kill Superman? The Suicide Squad continues to show they’re DC’s most unpredictable—and fun—team. If you’re holding out for the whole experience, perhaps wait, and don’t press the detonator button just yet.