This article contains MAJOR SPOILERS forSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.Proceed at your own risk.
Summary
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguehas found itself at the heart of some of the biggest controversies in gaming several times over now, and that hasn’t come to an end with the game’s official release. It’s been about a week sinceSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguewas first made available to the public, and the perception that’s formed around the game is more clouded than it’s ever been before.
Plenty of fans and outlets are making their fair criticisms and praises ofSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueas clear as possible. Nevertheless, there is also a lot of hyperbolic vitriol for the game out there, often aimed at its bold story choices. WhileSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s storycertainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, Rocksteady was smart to lean all the way into its core premise.
Playing as a Villain is Rare in Superhero Video Games
In the RPG genre, players are often given the opportunity to walk a truly evil path. Games likeFable 3allow players to force children into slavery,Skyrimallows players to be cannibals,Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republiclets players murder half of their party at the end, andFallout 3lets players nuke an entire city – but those are RPGs. When it comes to the vast majority of action and adventure games with a linear plot and defined characters, playing as a truly evil character isn’t usually on the cards. Even if the player-character does something evil, it’s usually a one-off that’s quickly forgotten about or ultimately resolved.
This is especially true when talking about superhero video games. While comic book video games have been around since the early 1980s, it’s been an extreme rarity to find one that lets fans play as a truly villainous character. It’s often the case that even when players are taking control of an iconic supervillain, there’s some caveat that means that their actions aren’t truly evil, whether it’sInjustice’s blurred lines of morality,Batman: Arkham Knight’s Jokernightmare sequences, orLEGO DC Supervillains' family-friendly approach. One of the few comic book-inspired series to actually let players be a full-on supervillain is the now-dormantInfamousfranchise.
From the very get-go, it’s clear thatSuicide Squad’s four playable charactersare very bad people. Captain Boomerang is obsessed with The Flash and is constantly talking about brutalizing and killing him. Harley Quinn is completely unhinged. Deadshot is a world-famous assassin with an absurdly high body count, and while King Shark is the calmest of the bunch, he’s pretty prone to violence.
But unlike team-upgames likeGuardians of the Galaxy, where the team brings out the best in one another and helps patch up each other’s flaws,Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s titular team encourages each other to be the very worst they can be. ThroughoutSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s story, players are constantly reminded that these characters are true villains who love torturing and murdering their enemies, and that’s exemplified with the deaths of the Justice League.
Though they’re past the point of saving,the Suicide Squad killing the Justice Leagueis no mercy mission, and they make no secret of the fact they’re enjoying every minute of taking down the world’s greatest heroes. While this has proven to be a controversial narrative, Rocksteady was right to fully embrace it, delivering a genuinely refreshing comic book video game story in the process.
