Mission Accomplished... I think? (Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in review)

     Hey friends! Today I would like to talk about a game that came out recently to a pretty negative reception, but one that a friend of mine and I have played together and have had a lot of fun, being Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Before I get started today, I would like to address the elephant in the room. Yes, no one likes live service games anymore, people would rather get a game that has a complete experience right away. As far as I can tell, this is the main reason that people are disliking this game, unless they actually don't enjoy the game, which I'm sure there are some, as every game isn't for every person. I would just like to ask for you to read this with a fresh set of eyes and to come in without any preconceived notions. I'm not going to be giving this game the argument that it's a perfect title in basically any way. There are a fair number of bugs and glitches, and not every story beat is handled in the best way, but there's still a pretty good time to be had here despite some of these problems, and I think this game deserves slightly more respect than it has been given so far.

A Game with a Lot of Personality!

    Part of the reason that people have given me so far about what they don't like about this game is that it's such a different game from the Arkham series. I totally understand that, it's something akin to culture shock I think, considering the Batman: Arkham games were always very solemn and brooding, much like the main character himself, and the personality here is very different. Batman's whole thing was about not using guns, and this game introduces guns right out of the gate, which makes much more sense for this set of characters. First of all, you have playable characters Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark. It's not out of place for them to be using guns, as they are villains, and more than that, villains being told to use guns by Amanda Waller, the leader of ARGUS and the one who could potentially blow up the bombs in their heads if the four unlikely protagonists don't do as they're told. The level up mechanic is kind of weird, but it fits into the game's story in an interesting way, and fits for the kind of game that Rocksteady wanted to make, which is fine with me.

    The type of game that they wanted to make, of course, was another point of controversy. Rocksteady is a studio that until now has made single-player story focused experiences, which is why people were expecting perhaps a Superman game next, or maybe Green Arrow after all of the Queen Consolidated signs and buildings around Gotham City. Instead, we got a 4-player Online co-operative looter-shooter with crude humor taking center stage for a lot of the proceedings. To put things into another perspective, people wanted something closer to God of War than Borderlands. There's nothing wrong with either type of game, but people typically hold one in higher regards than the other. Another negative was found when one of my friends who loves Borderlands saw it and he said "Why would I play this when I can just play Borderlands 3 again?" Speaking of other games in comparison to this one, I get something of a Sunset Overdrive vibe when I play this game. It isn't quite as busy with the movement and traversal systems as that game is, but in a similar way to how it works, you're rewarded for doing crazy things while you play. Jumping and sliding while shooting enemies is basically required, and the different ways to maintain your shield is gamified in a similar way. It's not just a pickup that you get randomly, it requires a certain move or way to take out the enemies in question. Each character's unique traversal ability took some getting used to, for sure, but once you figure it out, it is pretty satisfying to sail through the air. 

The Good!

    I already stated that I've really enjoyed this game so far, and though I've beaten the main campaign, the postgame is still just starting for me. The campaign is less segmented than the Avengers game from a few years ago, where each mission took you to a completely different map. All of the game so far has taken place in Metropolis (outside of a brief change of scenery that I don't want to spoil) which is being threatened by Brainiac. Metropolis is a mess, and I feel like the team working on this game did a good job of showing an area engulfed in celebration until suddenly an alien invasion begins. There are streamers and balloons all over the place, celebrating "Justice Day," a day meant to honor the Justice League, though ironically those being celebrated are the biggest threat in this game. The lack of people in the streets is explained almost instantly, as they've been transformed into these alien monsters that are attacking and assisting in Brainiac's assault. There are different weapons that you get as you continue through the game, some of which are based on different villains that you encounter along the way (and some that you don't see in the game, but have been in previous Batman: Arkham games) Along with these weapons with different effects, there are elemental powerups that you get eventually that add to the power of the melee and grenades that you can throw. New villains and other characters join up with your little squad as you continue through the game, until the point where you have your own team of support characters helping you out. It's a cool situation, especially if you recognize all of the supporting players from the comics or other DC media. The team dynamic between these four characters actually really worked for me

The Bad!

    This is not a perfect game, by any means. There have been a lot of bugs that completely mess up the feeling of the game, and I'm going to go over a few that I've experienced so far with this game. There are some vehicle missions, which are pretty fun for the most part, you're flying around in what is basically a hovercraft tank. However, there was one time where I held the button to get into the vehicle... and instead of getting in, Harley just stops moving and becomes completely unable to move. Enemies took her out pretty easily after that, while I was desperately trying to press any button I could think of to make her move again. Unfortunately, even dying and being revived didn't save me, it wasn't until my friend finished the mission without me and the "mission complete" screen came up that Harley was able to move again. It was just really annoying, and I wish that things like that couldn't happen. There was also one time I was trying to use a Suicide Strike (which is a special move that is unlocked once you upgrade a character high enough), and while the character didn't freeze this time around, the move didn't activate, and the camera froze in place, making it so I was stuck looking at the same place, despite my character being able to move around as normal. It was really annoying, but it got fixed by me using my Traversal attack (Which again, you unlock at a certain level), so it wasn't nearly as bad as the other situation. On top of the bugs, a lot of the missions retread the same sort of material over and over again, so it definitely can feel stale after a while. When there's the same mission spread all over the map over and over again, it's really just a chore after a while. The weapon variety is not nearly as diverse as it could be, and yet it still kind of confuses me about whether guns are good or not until I try them out. The story of this game, while really interesting at points, requires a lot of suspension of disbelief, especially if you know a lot about these members of the Justice League that you're going after. The deaths of these superheroes is also just not handled very well, a few were even played off for laughs, and truly only one of them got the ending that they deserved, which is a real shame.

    I went into this game wanting to see the Suicide Squad become heroes, and they do on some level, just because they are willing to do what needs to be done. I would have liked to see some remorse shown in these villains, even as they took down the heroes that got them thrown in prison in the first place. A lot of the dialogue is funny, and they do a great job with having the team bounce off of each other, but it's only in those moments where the narrative gets things right that you realize just how much greater this game could have been. That's just one of the issues involved, and the rest of it involves some general nonsense that I couldn't really make heads or tails of by the end of the game.

    In summary, I really enjoyed the gameplay of this game as long as it wasn't glitching out, and maybe that's due to me playing it through with a friend. I generally just enjoyed watching the other villains move around with me while knowing that my friend was controlling one of them. On the other hand, the narrative, while surprising at times, really only had one or two moments where I felt any sort of emotion besides a general intrigue into what was going to happen next. I wouldn't really advise my friends to pick up this game at 70 dollars, I think that's just a bit steep for what is being offered here. Wait until it goes on sale, it's not an instant purchase, it's not even close to being complete, which comes along with the "Live Service" model attached to it. I know I've discussed a largely unpopular opinion here today, it's much easier to hate on a game that the vast majority have written off as bad, but I hope I've been successful in conveying the little bits of good in this title.

    Thanks for reading this post, friends. I hope you've taken something positive from this review at least, even if the game isn't for you (like it is for most people). I should say that season 1 is coming out on March 28, where they're adding the Joker as a new character (though not the Arkham version of the Joker, since he died at the end of Arkham City). I'm looking forward to it, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. In other news with my very random video game interests, Princess Peach Showtime is now just a week away, so I'm definitely looking forward to playing that when it comes out! I hope you'll have a good week until then, friends! I'm Jonathan, a Self-Proclaimed gaming optimist, and I'll talk to you again soon!