Suicide Squad: KTJL Keeps Its Promise But Doesn't Hit as…

Summary

The deaths of members of the Justice League in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League lack emotional impact.
A Justice League prequel could have made the deaths feel more significant and increased the challenge from both a gameplay and moral perspective.
Wonder Woman's death had the potential for emotional impact, but her disdain for the Suicide Squad throughout the story diminishes its effect. Other hero deaths are mostly fleeting thoughts and are not made as big a deal as they could have been.

The following contains story spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League sees an unlikely team of villains formed to take down the Justice League, as most of its members have been brainwashed by the supervillain Brainiac and are under his control. As Brainiac moves forward with his plans to take over Metropolis and eventually the whole world, this Suicide Squad is tasked with killing those members of the Justice League that are being used by Brainiac to bring the world under his control. The team eventually succeeds and the Justice League is no more by the end of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's story.

While it certainly delivers a story that accurately represents its title, Kill the Justice League's biggest deaths hardly conjure an emotional response when they should — apart from the death of Batman, perhaps — causing the game's narrative to miss out on a degree of conflict deeper than that created by Brainiac's attempted takeover of the world. Despite the story working as intended, this missed potential for a more emotional narrative might have been avoided with a Justice League prequel.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's Deaths Could Have Meant More

Every fight with the Justice League in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League largely fails to tug on the heartstrings of those at the helm, and a Justice League prequel might have made their deaths feel a bit more significant. Had players been given more personal time with Rocksteady's Justice League prior to Kill the Justice League, perhaps it might have increased the challenge of each battle by being difficult from both a gameplay perspective and a moral standpoint, as each character would have once been under the control of the player who is now sent to destroy them.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's Deaths are Inconsistent

Kill the Justice League's most emotional deaths are arguably Wonder Woman's and Batman's, and even then, they don't have the effect they could. The impact of Batman's death is primarily established by fans' familiarity with him from the Batman: Arkham series and the unfortunate passing of his voice actor, the late Kevin Conroy. Still, Batman's role in Kill the Justice League feels very insignificant most of the time, thereby diminishing the impact of his death on Rocksteady's Arkhamverse.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Pulls Its Emotional Punches

Wonder Woman's death is only vicariously felt through Harley Quinn, as she likely stands as a representative of those who rely on Wonder Woman's status as a strong female icon in the world of superheroes. Unfortunately, of all the deaths in Kill the Justice League, Wonder Woman's had the most potential for emotional impact, but her persistent disdain for the Suicide Squad throughout the story makes her a sort of anti-hero to the anti-heroes. The deaths of other heroes, like Flash and Green Lantern, are mostly passed over as fleeting thoughts and only seem necessary for story purposes.

Perhaps Rocksteady intended for the deaths of each member of the Justice League in Kill the Justice League to have very little emotional impact on the player. After all, in a game that doesn't allow its players the freedom to choose, it might have been difficult to navigate the conflict created by an emotional attachment to the characters that are designed to be destroyed by the player's hands. However, a Justice League prequel might have contributed to a more compelling narrative in Kill the Justice League, and it would have fit the character arcs for each member of the Suicide Squad as they entertain the idea of being "good" throughout the story.

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Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

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Released: February 2, 2024

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Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.

Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect. All the while, the Suicide Squad must be mindful of the lethal explosives implanted in their heads that could go off at the first sign of defiance.

Each squad member has their own unique moveset with enhanced traversal abilities to freely explore the dynamic open-world of Metropolis, along with a variety of weapons to customize, and skills to master.