Over the last few years, DC Comics fans have had to deal with a shortage of top-quality console games based upon the iconic pantheon of heroes. While Marvel has been busy finding developers to adapt the likes of Spider-Man and The Avengers, things have been quiet on the DC front aside from a few titles such as Lego DC Super-Villains. Barring any potential delays though, things should change dramatically in 2022 thanks to Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Fans will likely be excited about the latter in particular, considering how it’s been seven years since Rocksteady Studios released Batman: Arkham Knight.
Having been teased since towards the end of WB Games Montreal’s Batman: Arkham Origins, expectations over how the Suicide Squad's game would shape up have been allowed to build ever since. While details are still being released at a relative snail’s pace, and there’s still notably no release date attached to the project, last year’s Game Awards provided an exciting look at the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s gameplay in action. It should be no surprise, based upon Rocksteady Studios’ previous work, how much the upcoming open world game looks like a villain-themed take on Batman: Arkham City.
Suicide Squad’s Gameplay Heritage
Even though Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will feature optional cooperative gameplay and live-service design hooks, the game still appears to have a lot in common mechanically with its action-adventure cousin, Arkham City. During the Game Awards’ brief examination of the game, several members of the titular band of villains employed tactics that could have easily come straight from The Dark Knight’s own playbook. Harley Quinn’s ability to grapple and float around the city of Metropolis in particular, looked a lot like the moves that Batman utilized in order to explore the open-world setting of Rocksteady Studios’ second Arkham game.
The comparisons between the two, and the new villainous spin on proceedings, don’t stop there either. While appearing to be slightly more violent than the Batman of Arkham City’s already gratuitous attacks, King Shark’s ability to beat down one of Brainiac's minions suggests that his moves will be inspired heavily by the former’s melee-based arsenal. It’s not too hard to envision Captain Boomerang’s ability to fire his trademark boomerangs, being traceable all the way back to the work Rocksteady Studios’ put into making Batman’s own Batarangs. Right now, it appears as though the jetpack wearing Deadshot is the only member of the Suicide Squad who hasn’t inherited one of the Arkham games’ famous gameplay quirks.
Open-World Similarities In Suicide Squad
On the face of it, it might appear as though the sun-baked city of Metropolis of the Suicide Squad has little in common with the bleak depiction of Gotham found within Arkham City. However, that’s not strictly the case, as the game’s latest trailers appear to suggest that Rocksteady Studios has employed some of its old design philosophies while creating its latest open-world sandbox. Beyond being packed with the same level of admiration for its DC source material, as evidenced by the Easter eggs that have already been uncovered by fans, Suicide Squad’s Metropolis appears to feature a number of interior Metrodvania-style locations. Similarly to those that populated and often defined each of the Arkham series’ entries.
During the recent trailer released at 2021's DC Fandome for example, the Suicide Squad can be seen engaging with Wonder Woman within the interior of an unknown building. This suggests that the action won’t always take place exclusively within the open-world of Metropolis, and that separate smaller locales will once again be available for players to explore and return to periodically. With roughly 84 year’s worth of Superman material to pull inspiration from, it stands to reason that the studio won’t want to miss the opportunity to let its villains run around some famous locales like The Daily Planet. The presence of Arkham Asylum during the game's story trailer reveal, also suggests that the location could be playable in some shape or form once again.
Arkham’s Lore Continued
Considering that the game shares a universe with the Arkham series, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was always going to follow in Arkham City‘s footsteps from a lore perspective. Perhaps the biggest way in which the game feels like a villainous spin-off of the aforementioned game, is through the fact that a lot of its characters have already appeared prominently in previous installments. If fans have experienced one of the existing Arkham games, they’ll have already become familiar with Suicide Squad’s incarnation of Harley Quinn for example. Being a villain-themed spin-off ensures that the cast of Suicide Squad should get more time in the spotlight, alongside more nuanced storylines.
Beyond Harley Quinn, characters like Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Amanda Waller, have all previously featured physically in the Arkham series’ animated movie, Batman: Assault on Arkham. This universe’s Deadshot also featured prominently in the movie and several of the franchise’s previous games where he often went toe-to-toe with Batman directly. However, for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady Studios has decided to retcon the character a little ensuring that he is now depicted as a black male similarly to his recent DC live-action appearance.
Being a villain's eye view of the Arkham series ensures that Rocksteady Studios is going to have to examine several plot lines that were featured in the previous entries in the series. The apparent death of Batman during the end of Arkham Knight will no doubt feature throughout the story, especially considering how the Suicide Squad is set to face-off against his former teammates. The appearance of the Penguin, a character who first appeared in Arkham City, and teases that allude to Poison Ivy's presence, both help to further reinforce the interconnected nature of Rocksteady Studios’ games.
Boss Battle Legacy
Based upon the premise of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, it’s highly likely that the game will feature some memorable boss battles as the team fights the brainwashed members of Earth’s famous superhero legion. In the handful of trailers released so far, the stage has already been set for confrontations with Superman, the Flash, and John Stewart's Green Lantern. Not to mention Brainiac, and his army of monsters.
Throughout the Arkham games, similar boss fights with members of Batman’s rogues gallery were featured prominently as devices that pushed the narrative forward. Beyond that they were also often some of the most enjoyable parts of the games, which appears to be a tradition that’s being maintained in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, only with a unique villainous twist this time around.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is planned to release in 2022 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.