Are they prepared to face Justice?

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is chasing a tricky goal: online success

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The world of superheroes and supervillains is one of dual identities. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is no different, the latest showcase since the leaked screenshot of the loot-based inventory only emphasising that. It’s a game with a cosmetic items battle pass, a gear score made up of equipment that has a bunch of little stat percentage numbers, and a constant online connection. On the other hand, it looks incredibly slick to play, with a compelling, well-produced story.

We saw plenty of the game in action during a recent presentation. While Rocksteady Studios seemed confident in the production values behind its four-player sandbox, an undercurrent of anxiety was detectable with regard to other aspects of the game. After all, this is an online game launching in the wake of high-profile shutterings of several close competitors such as Marvel’s Avengers, and coming out right after the loot-heavy, multiplayer Batman spin-off Gotham Knights (oddly, also from Warner Bros), which received a very lukewarm reception.

We’ve known for some time that Rocksteady’s latest follows on five years after Batman: Arkham Knight, though that timing’s always felt played down – until now, when it’s started to become repeated like a mantra. There’s perhaps concern that the wild success of the Arkham games won’t automatically lead to fans picking this one up, given how different it looks. It’s not helped by the way Gotham Knights poached Arkham Knight’s cliffhanger story where Batman apparently dies, that game dealing with his death, while in Suicide Squad he’s simply alive (albeit brainwashed by Braniac).