Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Review — Superpowered Shambles?

I really, really wanted to like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The alternate, villain-centric premise, gorgeous presentation, and snappy combat were highlights; however, the game is bogged down by a completely unnecessary loot system, missions geared towards being endlessly playable online scenarios, and an unsatisfying conclusion, giving Suicide Squad an identity crisis that ruins its own potential.

It’s hard not to compare Suicide Squad to the likes of Anthem, whereby EA’s stunning and exciting shooter, which had truly enjoyable core gameplay, was ruined by too much meddling with XP, shoehorning loot into the game, and missions feeling like hollow multiplayer raids disguised as story beats.

It’s a shame, as the base game that is there is unbelievably impressive. There has clearly been so much love and care gone into the visuals, voice-acting, story, and core combat; and from the crumbling Metropolis skyline to the banter between the characters in the excellently animated cut-scenes, there is so much to like. The facial animations and performances are some of the best of the generation, with some legitimately funny dialogue, but the moment you leap back into another generic mission that sees you fighting off hordes for two minutes, it feels like a massive wasted opportunity and a very jarring juxtaposition that remains for the whole game.

Each character does have their own play style, and a highlight is their respective traversal options (Harley Quinn has a grappling hook and Deadshot has a jetpack, for example), and mastering each of these feels different and beneficial to different combat styles. However, all the guns feel the same, making the loot system of hunting down weapons feel pointless. Add to the fact that the stellar visuals and amazing environmental design are ruined by so much clutter, number confetti, and an overstuffed HUD, that it takes away from the visual splendour that is there.

To its credit, from a story perspective, the game does commit to the Kill the Justice League tagline, and the plot goes places where you wouldn’t have expected it to go. While some may find it controversial, it’s the boldest and most interesting decision Rocksteady made with Suicide Squad.

If you’re a die-hard DC fan, you will find a lot of pleasure in zipping around Metropolis and encountering iconic characters along the way, but be prepared for the sheer amount of superfluous padding along the way. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League would’ve benefitted from being a far more focused and simple Arkham-esque game without all the live-service ambitions.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.