Gotham Knights Has Put Suicide Squad Between a Rock and a…

Summary

The gameplay trailers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League have left fans disappointed, as it seems to primarily fit the live-service framework, instead of continuing the single-player open-world experience of the Batman: Arkham franchise.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not only needs to win over skeptical fans of the live-service genre but also prove that Warner Bros. Is capable of releasing a quality DC title, as recent DCEU films have faced box office failures.

Over the past couple of years, it seems like the big superhero game developers have wanted their own multiplayer live-service titles. Marvel attempted the concept with Marvel's Avengers, which ended up being a disappointment for the studio. DC tried a similar approach with the likes of Gotham Knights, but that too seems to have fallen flat with audiences. Now, DC is trying it once again with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, and that may have died before it even began.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is supposed to be taking the iconic Batman: Arkham series in a whole new direction. While fans are excited to return to Rocksteady's DC universe, the gameplay trailers have left much to be desired. The only thing it seems to share with those classic games is the continuity itself, while everything else seems to solely fit the live-service framework. There is a chance the game is worthy of the franchise, but that may be hard for it to prove.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Has a Lot to Prove

suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-main-cast-faces — Screenshot of the playable characters during a cutscene in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

After Batman: Arkham Knight finished off the trilogy in 2015, no one really knew what Rocksteady was going to do next. Besides a VR experience in 2016, it seemed like the Arkham series was over, and the studio was moving on to something else entirely. However, that all quickly changed when it announced Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League in 2020. It was supposed to serve as the fifth game in the popular Batman: Arkham series and fans were very excited to see more.

The first couple of trailers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League showed a game that seemed like a natural continuation of the Batman: Arkham franchise. It looked like it would have the same writing and style that fans had come to expect. However, the first gameplay trailer showed a game that was nothing like what players had expected. While it was still in the same world as the Arkham games, the gameplay and mechanics seemed completely different. Each character had a gun, the story was built around a co-op multiplayer mode, and the UI was heavily reminiscent of Marvel's Avengers.

It seems like Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is DC's attempt at Marvel's Avengers, which is not really what fans wanted. Batman: Arkham players expected a continuation of the primarily single-player open-world franchise while DC fans were excited to see the Suicide Squad make their big video game debut. Instead, they are getting another superhero live-service game, and that seems like a strange direction to take the concept.

Since Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be live-service, it will have to do a lot to win over skeptical fans. The live-service genre has garnered some controversy over the years, which Rocksteady will likely want to shake off. On top of that, there has not really been a wholly beloved DC game for a while. Gotham Knights was supposed to be this great new experience from the creators of Batman: Arkham Origins, but it received mixed reviews at launch and players quickly forgot about it. DC fans are now looking for something to turn to, yet many of them did not want it to be a live-service title.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not only has to show DC fans that a live-service game was the right call, but it also has to show them that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is still capable of releasing a quality DC title. That seems like an impossible task, which the box office failures of recent DCEU films do not help with at all. The DC brand in general is in a bit of a rough spot right now, so hopefully Rocksteady's Suicide Squad will be able to show fans it is not out of the fight just yet.