Random Video Game Review - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

 

There is but one reason why I decided to play this long delayed and very controversial game set in the Arkhamverse. That reason is because my all-time favourite Batman, Kevin Conroy, is voicing him in this game and for the last time in terms of gaming since he passed away. But saying that, I do enjoy something that involves Task Force X. The first thing I ever saw them in, was funnily enough, an animated film set in the Arkhamverse which may be seen by many as non-canon due to events that occur. But it was a good introduction to the team, and they did get away with some risqué things like a naked Harley Quinn and Killer Frost, who were insanely hot in that film (albeit with the nudity being minimal). Cut to 2016 when the team made their DCEU debut which although widely regarded as among the weakest of the films in that cinematic universe (and with a director's cut that we probably never will see), did show us a team that was in some ways, likeable, and I'll be honest, Margot Robbie nailed it as Harley Quinn in terms of how hot she is and the personality of her. Then many years later, James Gunn would give us his take on the team which was more well received and now finally this game. People have wondered if this should be considered an Arkham game due to the differences and the fate of Batman in this game. Regardless, I want to give it the benefit of a doubt because these are the people that made the critically acclaimed Arkham games, so why on Earth would they stoop so low. Anyway, enough of me blabbering away, let's get to it:

Set some years after Arkham Knight, Metropolis gets invaded by Brainiac (voiced by Jason Issacs) who, in turn, works to control the minds of the Justice League to have them do his bidding. With not many other options to turn to, Amanda Waller (this time, voiced and mo-capped by Debra Wilson instead of CCH Pounder) reforms Task Force X (after having done so previously in Assualt on Arkham if you want to consider that canon or not) and has them infiltrate Metropolis to stop Brainiac and defeat (and possibly kill) the Justice League before the Earth terraforms. If you have played any of the Arkham games before playing this, then you'll know a fair bit of the mythos, story and so forth. The gameplay is similar in that it's played from a third-person perspective and each member of this line up, has their own skill trees, abilities and things that kind of resemble the heroes that they faced such as Harley Quinn (reprised by Tara Strong) using Waynetech, Captain Boomerang (voiced by Daniel Lapaine) using speed force weapons and so on. As it's a team based game, the game allows you to play solo or with others with AI filling in if played solo or with less than four other players (one of a few times where AI can be used without controversy). In addition to what each member acquires over the course of the game, they also have their iconic weapons too like Harley's baseball bat, the boomerang and other things too.

With many characters and gameplay elements from the Arkham games returning to this game, it should've been a pretty decent game. But there are several problems such as plot inconsistencies which the developers try to address through a thing called the "Batman Experience" (clearly missing the trick of calling it the Bat Experience) which recaps the events of the Arkham games including what became of Batman (reprised by Kevin Conroy in one of his final ever roles), but completely ignoring Origins. Even then, there are still issues with, the main one for me being how this game is online only, which can be good for those of us planning to invest a lot of time in a game like this. But given how big DC is these days, that does kind of rule out those of us without a good internet or any kind of internet connection. As for everything else, it's clear that they are trying to give us something different, but familiar and in most areas, that is done well. Where it sadly fails in that department is the lack of innovation. So many games now, use what this game has in its gameplay, and it can get a little repetitive to the point where it can be quite predictable. While I haven't yet killed any member of the Justice League at the time of review, I have had some issues with recording this game on YouTube in that the game bar appears in the recordings, and it's the first ever time this has happened for me. Plus, the recording thing flickers as I play the game. So overall, it's far from the strongest game in the Arkhamverse and I would've wanted a better explanation of Batman's appearance in this, which feels like it came out of the blue with no explaination and even this "Batman Experience" doesn't explain it well enough. Overall, and I may change the score later down the line, this game gets a 7/10