Summary
The Arkhamverse’s undiminished emphasis on Batman guaranteed that his role inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewould always be of paramount concern. Batman is a scene-stealer whenever he appears and rightfully so with how much reverence and legacy is left behind him in Gotham City. Batman’s death inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueseems to ensure he will no longer be playing such a role, but he doesn’t bow out without delivering a couple of iconic final moments.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Batman Experience museumis a clear zenith for the live-service shooter as it slows the game to a crawl and offers a haunting inversion of players’Arkhamexperiences before guiding players down memory lane. Following this reveal of an antagonistic, murderous Batman, he appears lurking in Metropolis’ open world and stalking Task Force X. This was a brilliant decision on Rocksteady’s part, but it unfortunately sours quickly.
Batman’s Stalking is Cool the First Time and Unintimidating Thereafter
Spotting Batman at a distance, standing with arms crossed or perched in a crouch as his cape billows, is tremendously thrilling when players initially catch a glimpse of him. Knowing he won’t do anything and vanishes away if players fire at him or come close, though, makes Batman much less intimidating.
After the second or third time players see him, the gimmick doesn’t have the same effect. If there was a much lower percentage chance that players could look around and notice him on a rooftop the gimmick could hold its weight and maybe players would forget he even spies on them. Instead,Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s Batman is seen spying on TFX quite oftenand, coupled with the fact that his voice is heard frequently on comms, it is as if Batman is always around, rather than being a figure stalking players without them knowing.
Oftentimes, too, players may complete a mission, gloss throughitems looted from a Bat-Pod, and begin traversing again, only to hear Batman vanishing in a plume of smoke somewhere off-screen, meaning he was right there and wasn’t even noticeable. Much of the game is a sensory overload and it becomes natural to move at a quick pace, so remembering to take the time to look around for Batman is difficult after a while.
Of course, Batman also isn’t around to stalk players for the entire campaign, either. Maybe that’s why Rocksteady packs the early game with so many sightings of him in the distance, but it could’ve been a much more fascinating water-cooler talking point if some players went through the entire campaign without ever being able to catch Batman watching them.
Overall,each climactic Batman moment inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguestands out because they are the only times when the game deviates away from being a live-service multiplayer shooter, at least in terms of its core design.
The fear toxin sequence that precedes Batman’s boss fight inSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, for example, is highly repetitive and is arguably no longer eerie or interesting after players shoot dozens of the Knightmare Batman hallucination witheach playable TFX protagonist. Batman is later defeated and held captive until he’s eventually killed, but his legacy as a character who struck fear into the hearts of criminals had already evaporated after the first couple of times that Batman is seen on a rooftop, where he could have easily swooped in undetected and killed TFX following the Batman Experience sequence but chooses not to for whatever reason.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
WHERE TO PLAY
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.
