Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League review

By now most people should know that just because it says it on the internet, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s true. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has had some pretty strong opinions thrown its way, lots of them negative. However having played the game over the past two weeks I don’t understand why that’s the case.

Let’s start with the story, the game picks up five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight. Brainiac has corrupted the minds of the justice league and Amanda Waller has decided the only way to stop them is to create Task Force X formed of Villains Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark. Unsurprisingly they aren’t keen on working together but lethal explosives implanted in their heads forces their hands. They end up facing an unenviable task; killing the Justice League.

The game starts with you working to capture some extra help in the form of Penguin, Poison Ivy and ToyMan who’ll help you in various ways as you progress through the game. Penguin is your local arms dealer will give you the option to craft weapons, then there is Poison Ivy, reimagined as a child skilled at creating biological toxins that can aid players by applying elemental afflictions to the squads melee weapons and grenades. Gizmo, a scientist and inventor can air-drop armored flying vehicles that can be used in combat. Toyman can enhance gear based on different playstyles; and Hack who can… hack the Squad’s neck bombs to upgrade and customise each character’s skills. You’ll also meet some other characters along the way but we won’t spoil that here.

These characters provide side quests in the game and the come with their own unique challenges, these mostly come in the form of killing enemies in a certain way, whether its using afflictions on opponents before being able to deal damage or using counters to get the better of them. Some of the challenges are particularly tough, but they are always fun.

Playing as the different members of the squad is fun, I’m still struggling to decided which character I like best. The most fundamental difference between each of them is their traveseral styles. Harley uses her acrobatic skills and grappling hook to catch ledges, Deadshot uses a jetpack to fly around, Boomerang uses flash technology and his boomerang to reach new heights will Shark uses his powerful leap to seamlessly reach great heights. Each of their loadouts can be customised and enhanced by working with the other DC characters and as they earn XP and level up, the skills points they acquire can be used in their talent tress to enhance their abilities.

The script and voice acting is excellent, it’s also very funny. Boomers’ Australian sense of humour is great, Despite how great he thinks he is, he often ends up being the butt of the jokes. Harley is exactly how you would expect, brash but you also discover her sensitive side too. Deadshot would rather be anywhere else but remains focused throughout but Shark, for me, steals the show. His desperate need for knowledge ends up giving him all the funniest lines especially when he attempts humour.

If you want it to be co-op is available almost straight away, you can create and join a clan then use your clans characters as you play alone, or team up live with your mates. Progress, XP, and rewards are saved regardless of how they are earned, ensuring that players are free to join up and work together how and when they want. When playing solo, players can equip their AI teammates with the gear that other players have equipped. Those who have their AI teammate loadouts used in this way will receive rewards for it as well, which is a nice feature.

There are leaderboards to encourage some friendly competition, whoever performs best in a mission gets to become Squad Leader. I was impressed with how seamlessly everything worked, during the final battle my Xbox crashed but within 45 seconds I was back in the game with my friends without any significant loss, all too often trying to join your friends games is an arduous process so I was glad it wasn’t the case here.

Visually the game is great – The facial animations are excellent, Harley especially. During the heat of battle things can get quite intense on the eyes and there have been complaints about how much is going on. Ignore the haters, it’s no worse than what you would see on a game like Destiny. Rocksteady have you covered too, there are whole host of UI options  at your fingertips to reduce the amount you see on the screen at any time.

Once you do reach the end of the main campaign there is a bunch of stuff to do. You will face new challenges including a new horde mode all while unlocking brand new gear while continuing to level up your characters. There will be seasonal content coming too so there are plenty more hours of gaming to do.