Highlights

  • Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will explore intriguing changes to Harley Quinn and Batman's characters from the previous Arkham games.
  • Batman's vulnerability to gunfire in the Arkham games poses a challenge for his boss fight in Suicide Squad and may require a reevaluation of his durability.
  • The boss fight with Batman in Suicide Squad may focus on stealth and strategy rather than a straightforward firefight, potentially incorporating nostalgic elements from the previous games.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League may not be everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to gameplay and its always-online live-service emphasis, but it’ll be intriguing nonetheless to see what direction Rocksteady has taken its beloved Arkhamverse continuity. It’ll be interesting to see how different Harley Quinn is now after being seen mourning Joker in Arkham Knight, for example, and it’s going to certainly be exciting to see if and how Rocksteady explains Batman’s return to the public following the Knightfall Protocol.

Seeing Batman again in general will be exciting and it’s thrilling to know that the perspective has flipped with Batman now having a boss fight in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, though it comes with an awkward caveat. Skilled Arkham game players could utilize Batman’s entire arsenal of gadgets, combat, and stealth tactics effectively, but regardless of what players could achieve there was always one constant truth: Batman might as well not be wearing any armor when bullets start to fly.

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Batman: Arkham Knight Missed a Huge Opportunity That Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Took Advantage of

Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 leans on a terrific boss fight idea that Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Knight missed out on eight years ago.

The Arkhamverse’s Batman is Notoriously Vulnerable to Gunfire

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Might Need to Give Batman Prep Time

If there’s anything about Arkham combat and stealth that always felt obscenely overpowered in the enemy’s hands it was firearms. No amount of ballistic protection upgrades could really help Batman sustain damage from gunfire at all, leading to a swift death if Batman wasn’t able to clear the line of fire quickly or preemptively.

That was largely the point, though; Batman needed to outwit the gun-toting criminals he hunted, encouraging players to subdue them one-by-one from advantageous points in the environment and ideally without being seen by a single enemy.

Batman’s suite of gadgetry could also be used before engaging enemies head-on, allowing players to jam assault rifles or rig gun caches so that such weapons weren’t a variable players needed to worry about while they’re in the throes of counters and beatdowns. Rocksteady’s Batman could easily be cut down by gunfire and his reprisal in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will need to reevalute that if he’s meant to withstand any attack from Task Force X.

Batman Can’t Be Bulletproof Nor Weak to Bullets in Kill the Justice League

Batman’s boss fight in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will likely involve him stealthily making his way around the arena and attacking players from vantage points or floor grates if Rocksteady wants to pack that encounter full of nostalgia. This would be a fantastic way of turning Batman’s techniques on the player this time around, and by doing so he might only be seen sparingly as he moves from position to position and avoids detection.

If so, a straightforward firefight may not be how this boss battle will turn out anyhow—Batman might simply toss down smoke pellets whenever players take a shot, for instance—but maybe if players are able to get a shot on him it will deal substantial damage to accurately represent how much damage he’d take from bullets in the past. If not, Rocksteady will hopefully have an explanation ready as to why, such as him finally donning a suit of armor that is actually resistant to bullets this time around.

On the other hand, perhaps Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Penguin has a weapon he’s cooked up that will be perfectly effective against Batman and will not require Task Force X to fire a single ordinary bullet at him. This boss encounter amid others will be exciting to see play out in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.