Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is a follow-up to the Batman: Arkham series from developer Rocksteady Studios, but it doesn’t take much more than a glance at the game to realize that it’s a substantially different experience overall. Although it’s no surprise that playing as a squad of villains will yield a unique bent compared to a stint as the hero, the change in approach goes significantly beyond this basic shift. That being said, there’s still a lot of common ground between Suicide Squad: KTJL and Batman: Arkham for those who enjoyed the past Rocksteady titles.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League follows Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang on an explosive adventure focused on carrying out the mission described in the subtitle. Members of the Justice League have been brainwashed by Brainiac, and Amanda Waller assembles the eponymous team to stop them at all costs. Suicide Squad: KTJL releases on February 2, 2024, making it the first big superhero venture of 2024 in video games or films.
10 Suicide Squad: KTJL Is In The Arkham Universe
The Batman: Arkham Continuity Hasn’t Ended
The most obvious point of comparison between Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Batman: Arkham is that they’re intended to exist in the same continuity, with Suicide Squad: KTJL taking place five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight. Despite a major style overhaul, the Harley Quinn of the game is the same one that showed up in the Arkham series. The voice of Batman himself, Kevin Conroy, also gave a final performance for the game.
9 Kill The Justice League Has A Different Setting
Suicide Squad: KTJL Moves From Gotham To Metropolis
Despite sharing the same world as the Batman: Arkham games, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League inhabits a different corner of it. Although the villains are initially recruited from Arkham Asylum, the game principally takes place in Metropolis, more typically known as Superman’s territory. There’s a big difference in the mood and look of the city, focusing on colorful highlights instead of the darker atmosphere of Gotham.
8 Suicide Squad: KTJL Has Arkham’s Riddler Trophies
A Batman: Arkham Villain Is Still Up To Hijinks
The trophies scattered about by the Riddler are a memorable part of the Batman: Arkham games, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is bringing Riddler trophies back. These collectibles are rewards for solving a variety of different brainteasers and completing various challenges. The nature of earning them might be somewhat different in Suicide Squad: KTJL, but they’re certainly a familiar element regardless.
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7 Kill The Justice League Is An Ensemble Game
Batman: Arkham’s Solo Protagonist Is Long-Gone
The Batman: Arkham games were always unsurprisingly focused on Batman, although they experimented with different gameplay styles by featuring playable segments as some other iconic characters. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, however, is an ensemble game first and foremost. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang are all principal playable choices, and each has a fully fleshed out style and set of moves intended to offer equally engaging experiences.
6 Suicide Squad: KTJL Has Batman: Arkham’s Grapple
Harley Quinn Inherits Batman’s Mobility
Batman may not be one of the fastest superheroes, but the Batman: Arkham series always put an emphasis on his mobility, making extensive use of just how far a grappling hook and wingsuit cape can get him. In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, these basics are transferred over to Harley Quinn, who is able to nimbly navigate rooftops using the same technique. There’s a big focus on verticality again, so the inclusion is definitely welcome.
5 Guns Are The Focus In Suicide Squad: KTJL
Batman: Arkham’s Brawling Isn’t In Kill The Justice League
Although guns make some appearances in the Batman: Arkham series, they’re never a primary gameplay prerogative for obvious reasons pertaining to the Caped Crusader’s tendencies. In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, however, they become the primary method of attack. The gameplay retains a third-person perspective, but flinging bullets at enemies replaces a focus on fists.
4 Suicide Squad Has A Full Story Mode Like Arkham
The Kill The Justice League Campaign Can Be Played Solo
The Batman: Arkham games received their fair share of acclaim for their story-driven campaigns, which tended to do a good job at packing a variety of villains and interesting set pieces into exciting and focused narratives. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t abandoning the story mode, and it will apparently include plenty of cutscenes to flesh out the events of the game. Despite a multiplayer focus, the campaign can be played single-player.
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3 Suicide Squad: KTJL Adds Live-Service Elements
Kill The Justice League Will Keep Expanding Over Time
As games focused on single-player campaigns, the Batman: Arkham titles lacked much in the way of ongoing updates or monetization, although that isn’t to say that there weren’t a few elements here or there. Despite Rocksteady’s insistence that it’s not a live-service title, however, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League seems to be going in heavily on this kind of model. In-game purchases will focus on cosmetics, with additional missions and characters being added for free, but it’s a major shift in development and design.
2 Suicide Squad: KTJL Has Combos And Counters
Timing And Flow Is Still A Big Deal
The combat in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League isn’t that much like Batman: Arkham brawling overall, but there are some core elements they both share. Suicide Squad: KTJL maintains the inclusion of combos and timed counters to enemy attacks, placing a higher valuation on the rhythm of combat than many shooters. Taking down bigger targets can also be reliant on hitting designated weak spots, like in the Batman: Arkham games.
1 Kill The Justice League Includes RPG Features
Batman: Arkham’s Simple Upgrades Get More Complicated
While Batman’s toolkit in the Batman: Arkham games tends to focus on a discrete set of fairly linear upgrades (with some minor choices to make about what to prioritize), Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is leaning more heavily into RPG features. Building a character has more branching options and interesting combinations, and grabbing loot can be a big incentive for the general gameplay. This is likely to become more and more complex with post-launch additions, ensuring that customization will be a major part of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League for quite some time to come.
Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League
Set in the Arkham game universe, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an action third-person shooter live-service game from the developers at Rocksteady. Players will choose from one of four members in the Suicide Squad, headed by Amanda Waller, as they’re forced to take on their most difficult challenge yet – to face a corrupted slate of the world’s greatest heroes, including the Flash, Batman, and Superman. The game allows for teams of up to four players as characters collect gear to improve their chances of survival.
- Franchise
- Batman: Arkham , D.C.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X
- Released
- February 2, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Rocksteady Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Genre(s)
- Shooter , Adventure , Action
