Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is on its way, and it's worth noting that Batman: Arkham Knight was the most divisive of Rocksteady’s Batman trilogy, but it is not surprising why. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City had a distinct tone and atmosphere inspired by the animated series that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill also starred in and that Paul Dini also wrote. This tone relied heavily on psychological horror while still being whimsical and adventurous, giving it the unique feel of a graphic novel. Batman: Arkham Knight does deal with psychological horror elements in its own narrative, but eschewed that tone in its gameplay.
Batman: Arkham Knight floods the evacuated island districts of Gotham City with a militia presence that never quite matched the tone the game was hoping to perpetuate. This helped Rocksteady be able to fill its open world with enemies, composed of seemingly infinite camo-clad gunmen loyal to the Arkham Knight. Batman was therefore no longer dismantling petty criminals in dark alleys, and instead was met with an overwhelming if not uninteresting occupation. Unfortunately, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League looks to be inspired by Batman: Arkham Knight’s worst fight.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Loses What Made the Arkham Games Unique
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is obviously a starkly opposite game from Rocksteady’s previous Arkhamverse titles, but that does not mean it will be inherently unlikeable. Third-person action shooters are a little past their trendy status and have become more divisive lately, especially when it comes to how a live-service model is integrated into the superhero genre. Indeed, the only diversity that is apparent in Kill the Justice League’s gameplay right now is each character’s traversal, which could easily be what catapults it into a stylish new multiplayer design.
However, the Arkham games all had engaging gameplay throughout since they only ever needed to concentrate on making Batman fun to play as. Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight would later add other Bat Family affiliates and antagonists as playable characters, but Batman: Arkham Knight is also where the trilogy began to lose its fans’ interest. The reigning gripe that fans have with Batman: Arkham Knight is its implementation of the Batmobile, citing both its traversal and combat as irritable and inconvenient.
It is true that combating swathes of militia drones became stale after a while considering that they compose most of Batman: Arkham Knight’s laborious side quests throughout Gotham City. An emphasis on vehicular combat against other vehicles was an obvious push away from the tone and atmosphere that earlier Arkham games had. It is unfortunate, then, that Kill the Justice League looks to be reprising this undesirable approach to combat.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Has Its Own Batman: Arkham Knight Tank Fights
Batman: Arkham Knight’s Cobra tanks and Cloudburst were arguably some of the worst designs in Rocksteady’s trilogy. These fights task players with firing upon highlighted weak points on the backs of Cobra tanks, and the Cloudburst fight is uniquely arduous due to how stealth in the Batmobile is awkward and unengaging. Essentially, anything concerning the Arkham Knight’s unmanned militia drones or Batmobile gameplay, in general, is highly divisive if not largely disliked, but these moments are demerits in an otherwise exciting new gameplay feature.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has not revealed any instances of a vehicle players can drive, but it has unfortunately shown that tanks will be moving about as enemy vehicles that players need to gun down. Like many of the enemies or targets in Kill the Justice League, this approach involves having to fire upon the glowing nodes that appear. If Kill the Justice League is not more creative with its combat and enemy design, it could easily become Rocksteady’s most challenged or underwhelming Arkhamverse game.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is in development for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
