How boring would New York City have to be to take the fun out of web-slinging around as Spider-Man? As boring as Metropolis in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a setting so lifeless not even Nekron could resurrect it. I will be the first person to sing the praises of Rocksteady Studios when it comes to the art design and atmosphere of the Arkham games, but none of that talent or passion translated into a compelling setting for KtJL. The flat feeling of Metropolis even leeches the joy from otherwise fun movement mechanics. So what went wrong and is there any reason to think it will get better?
Suicide Squad’s Metropolis vs. Arkham’s Gotham
Arkham Asylum was arguably the most stylish game in the trilogy, featuring strong visual and gameplay differences as you transition between the sewers, botanical gardens, morgue, and other areas. That said, Asylum isn’t a fair point of comparison for Kill the Justice League. The former is a compact, narrative-driven action game, while the latter is an open-world live-service title. To appreciate the differences between Rocksteady’s past work and Suicide Squad, you need to look at Arkham City and Arkham Knight. All three games feature large, open-world environments, but only Suicide Squad feels weirdly dry.
If anything, Arkham City‘s palette of blacks and grays is even more basic than the browns, yellows, and tans of Suicide Squad. Yet the latter game feels duller and less vibrant as you explore it. That’s because Rocksteady designed the games around different goals. Arkham City is a road race: full of twists and unique sights but ultimately finite. Kill the Justice League is a treadmill: a limitless stretch of road designed to keep us running forever if we’re willing. There’s no lack of detail, from the graffiti and scattered newspapers to the skyscraper windows. Those details never cohere into a location worth exploring. Once you’ve seen one flat rooftop designed for Grunt shield placement, you’ve seen them all.
Kill the Justice League Season One and Beyond
Season One of Suicide Squad will not only add the Joker but also introduce a new world, and the clown’s twisted circus holds tremendous potential. Unfortunately, every map will be bound by the needs of KtJL‘s repetitive gameplay. Just like Sonic must create space for the blue hedgehog to run, Suicide Squad must create space for Defend the Point and escort missions. Knowing what the studio is capable of, I’ll never understand why Rocksteady doubled down on such egregious mission designs. It’s more baffling that the devs decided to run them on a loop, but here we are. Kill the Justice League is okay as a mindless looter-shooter, but if it can’t fix its dull levels, it will never be more.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.
