Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League dissociates itself from being a traditional superhero game by having fans play as relatively ordinary criminals equipped with extraordinary technology. King Shark is obviously the furthest from being an ordinary criminal, but he should be balanced accordingly and still wields a lot of the same weapons that other Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League characters will. Deadshot, on the other hand, has a lot to live up to in terms of the firearm expertise he is commonly lauded with, and the game will need to emphasize that.
Harley Quinn has never been known as a terrific fighter, and even with a Speed Force gauntlet Captain Boomerang isn’t expected to be terribly skilled in combat. Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang will likely be the source of comedic relief in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, leaving Deadshot to potentially be a stubborn, stoic leader. Deadshot is the only playable protagonist who has believable experience with a wide assortment of guns, and due to the premise of him never missing a target that needs to be reflected in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s live-service gameplay.
Deadshot’s Gunplay Needs to Feel Masterful in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Deadshot has only had a few genuine gameplay clips to portray what his gameplay will be like. Narratively, Deadshot is even more of a conundrum for Rocksteady fans who have been questioning the legitimacy of his backstory, especially with how it reportedly coincides with previous Arkhamverse games.
It seems as though a lot of his gameplay will revolve squarely around his jetpack flight mechanics to gain aerial surveillance of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s open-world Metropolis. This could make it far easier for players to avoid incoming damage unless there are Brainiac minions designed for anti-air assaults.
Further, Deadshot will likely be hounded by minigun constructs in Green Lantern’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League boss fight. But whether players take to the skies or remain grounded, Deadshot needs to have the most accuracy inherent in his gunplay. The whole design concept that makes Floyd Lawton interesting in the first place is that he never misses his shots, and while this has been proven wrong before it is still a characteristic that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League should attempt to honor for the sake of immersion.
This could come in the form of a passive status effect for Deadshot that increases the accuracy rating of any guns players have equipped, for example, or abilities that do not require the player to aim their shots in order to get direct hits on multiple enemies. Such an ability could have wrist-mounted ammunition ricochet between enemies for critical damage, supporting the idea that Deadshot’s accuracy is unmatched while not needing the player to support that theory with their own skills.
Indeed, fans with naturally unskilled aim might make playing as Deadshot unsatisfactory if his shots are missing left and right. In this way, Deadshot could be a protagonist whose skills as a marksman make his gameplay much simpler for some players who are not usually fans of competitive multiplayer shooters.
Of course, each character seems to have a bevy of abilities and melee attacks as well, but Deadshot should arguably feel the most fun and easy to play when aiming down sights and sniping enemies from a distance in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Then, when the game’s post-launch DLC finally adds other characters, it would be interesting to see if these marksman affinities could potentially translate to antiheroes such as Deathstroke or Red Hood.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League releases on February 2, 2024, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
