18 January 2023 , 13:26
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A screen confirmed to be from a test build of the upcoming genre-bending shooter, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice league, shows the game will include live service elements.
The image from the upcoming PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC title – which you can take a look at in the tweet below – was first posted on 4chan, and later verified by an anonymous source to VGC. It shows a lobby screen that includes various live service elements planned for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Understandably this has not gone down well with fans of the Arkham series, who are concerned that we may have another Marvel’s Avengers or Gotham Knights on our hands.
However, the source told VGC that the battle pass for the game ‘focused on cosmetic items such as skins.’ The various currencies shown at the top of the screen are also said to be XP used to power up each character, making their move set and playstyle unique to the player.
The developer told VGC: “You don’t start off debuffed and weak. You just start off great and can get ridiculous, like Arkham Knight’s Batman.”
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The latest game from Rocksteady, and the in the Arkham series of games, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, is a genre-bending co-op shooter for up to four players,
Set in an open-world version of Superman’s hometown, Metropolis, Suicide Squad follows the exploits of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark, who are sent on a mission to save the world by killing The Justice League.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League will launch on May 26, 2023, for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Superheroes and live services don’t mix
Obviously, these thoughts are based on a small amount of information confirmed by an anonymous developer. But as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and this picture is the equivalent of Micahel Stipe brandishing a megaphone. Yes, kids, it is the end of the world as we know it. Or at least any hope that this game was not going to be ruined by corporate interests.
You have to wonder who at Warner Bros. looked at the widespread criticism levelled at Marvel’s Avengers and Gotham Knights, which were both rejected by press and players alike for their live service elements, and thought to themselves 'but it will be different this time'.
I’m not even talking about the hints about the battle pass – although apparently, it’s just cosmetic. As if having to pay for a whole section of gaming that used to be free isn’t a big deal. I used to enjoy playing dress-up with characters in games. A new costume was a nice little bonus. It was fun. Do you know what isn’t fun? Having to spend real money on fake clothes.
No, what’s got me alarmed isn’t the multiple currencies (although we all know what that’s going to entail), or even the separate XP for each character. No, it’s the fact that Captain Boomerang – let me repeat that. Captain Boomerang – is holding a gun.
This is the biggest red flag of all because it says to me that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is not, as we'd hoped, a class-based supervillain romp with each character having their own unique set of skills, weapons and playstyles, that, although initially at odds with each other, both in the narrative and gameplay, all coalesce into a slightly dysfunctional, but ultimately capable team.
Nope, this screen tells me loud and clear this is a generic shooter with character-themed specials that’s stolen some popular DC characters' skin. But like Edgar from Men in Black, you just need to stare at it for a moment before you realise something predatory is lurking just under the surface, and it's here to devour all your sugar water.