by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
“I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed.” Two sentences and six words you never want to hear from a parent. Usually the parent saying this has a position of authority in life; they probably pay for the roof over your head and the food in your belly. That makes it hurt even more, because it’s coming from someone you love and care about. However, in this scenario, the person disappointed is not the one with the money. It’s the fans of the Batman: Arkham games. You see, when you head from a grounded and gritty third person hand-to-hand game to aping a very popular online combat game, you’ll anger even the best of your loyalists. But I was a Arkham disciple, so why do I not hate Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League?
It’s some point in time after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight, but Batman is no longer on the side of humanity. He, like a few other prominent Justice Leaguers, including Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash, is under the control of the sinister Brainiac. Having traveled to Earth from his home planet, the green evil genius intends to wipe out our species and take control of our world. But Earth has one last hope, THE SUICIDE SQUAD… and Wonder Woman. BUT SHE’S NOT IMPORTANT HERE! Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang are on the job and will put their nefarious and criminal lives on the line to stop the green meanie in the sky!
Let me cut to the chase here: This is a Fortnite ripoff. The jumping, traveling, punching, shooting, and just general mechanics gives me PTSD of getting bullied by 12-year-olds online. Is it an exact replica? Not necessarily, because the graphics are cleaner and look better, but to quote Gene Belcher, “It’s like looking in a mirror!” Given the online push that this game has had as well, it’s clear that the motivation behind it was more economic than artistic. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world; people have to get paid and make money to live. But the love and respect people have for the original quadrilogy of Arkham games is built off the work of artists and original play styles.
With the idea of the legacy of the Arkham games being marred by SS:KtJL, I actually enjoy myself while playing around as the Suicide Squad. One of the perks of copying Fortnite’s formula is that you get to try different flavors of characters. Deadshot is a sniper and great from distance. King Shark is a brawler and goes for big pain with all of his weapons. Boomerang is a wild card with a bit of speedster complex. And Harley Quinn is even more of a wild card than Boomer. Plus, you get options for their own weapons, costumes, and skillsets to help make the game more personalized for you. The only downside of these personalizations is I can barely tell the difference between the damage being done by different weapons, or what any of the other attributes mean. But if that doesn’t matter to you (like it doesn’t to me), you will not care.
Another departure from the older games in this franchise is the tone. The Arkham series had much grounded and individual stakes to Batman. Gotham is in danger. Joker is running around killing people. The Dark Knight is solving a mystery and collecting clues. Very gothic and very Batman. But this game elevates the stakes by a million with Brainiac trying to subdue and recreate our world into what he wants. The tone of our protagonists is nothing like the brooding Batman. These chuckleheads are making jokes, mocking each other, antagonizing the Justice League, and questioning orders left and right. I particularly enjoy the sense of humor from Harley (played wonderfully by Tara Strong) and Boomerang (Daniel Lapaine). They are both absolutely nuts and do not take any of the danger around them seriously.
The plot portion of the game is what seems to be creating a lot of vitriol amongst fans. If you could not already tell from the title of this game, your goal is to kill the Justice League. Specifically Flash, Green Lantern, Batman, and Superman. And fans do not seem to like the idea of their favorite league members getting their brains or guts spilled at the hands of a mercenary with nice beard, a royal fish, an Australian unhoused person, and a nutjob with a Phd. Now, here’s where my take on this game becomes really controversial: I like the Suicide Squad trying to kill the Leaguers. In the modern world there is no concrete cannon for superheroes anymore, Superman has been a psychotic killer at least four different times and Batman has versions of himself where he’s as nutty as the Joker. It’s the beauty of the multiverse era. We can get a variety of crazy stories to read about our favorite costumed heroes. Trying to mitigate these heroes into a set story is creatively restrictive. Let our heroes be killed by loser criminals. You can do whatever you want with them.
Rating: Liked It
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