Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is presented from a third-person perspective and its open world design allows players, either individually or cooperatively, to freely roam Metropolis. The game was announced in August 2020 and was scheduled to be released in 2022, but was delayed multiple times. It had an early access period for owners of the deluxe edition that began on January 29, 2024.
Kill the Justice League was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on February 2, 2024. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its story and gameplay, but criticized its repetition and live service elements. Some fans also criticized the portrayal of Batman in Kevin Conroy's final video game role as the character. The game failed to meet the sales expectations of Warner Bros. Games.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an action-adventure game[2] set in an open world based in Metropolis.[3] The game features five playable characters: Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, The Joker and King Shark.[citation needed] While it can be played solo, the game features a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode. When played solo, players can switch between characters at will, while the other characters are controlled by the AI.[4][5]
Each character has access to three weapon classes, with each class being shared by two of the four characters available at launch. Each character has a unique melee combat style and traversal method, such as Harley Quinn who uses a bludgeon and travels using Batman's grapple gun. A skill tree progression system is included, allowing players to re-spec into different skills at any point throughout the game for different build experimentation.[6] Post-launch content is set to be released in the form of "seasons", with frequent free content updates featuring new locations, activities and playable characters.[7]
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is set in the Batman: Arkham universe,[8] five years after the events of Batman: Arkham Knight (2015). The game centers around the Suicide Squad, which is composed of Arkham Asylum inmates Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn (Tara Strong),[9] Digger Harkness / Captain Boomerang (Daniel Lapaine), Floyd Lawton / Deadshot[b] (Bumper Robinson), and Belle Reve prisoner Nanaue / King Shark (Nuufolau Joel "Samoa Joe" Seanoa),[10] created by A.R.G.U.S. director Amanda Waller (Debra Wilson).[11] The main antagonist takes the form of Brainiac (Jason Isaacs),[12] who has invaded Earth and brainwashed its inhabitants, including Justice League members Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman (Nolan North),[13] Barry Allen / The Flash (Scott Porter), John Stewart / Green Lantern (Dan White),[14] and Bruce Wayne / Batman (Kevin Conroy).[15]
Other characters interacted with in the game include Diana Prince / Wonder Woman (Zehra Fazal), the only member of the Justice League not under Brainiac's control;[16] Colonel Rick Flag (Jim Pirri), an A.R.G.U.S. operative working for Waller; Lex Luthor (Corey Burton), a megalomaniacal billionaire and Superman's arch-nemesis;[17] Lois Lane (Seychelle Gabriel), a Metropolis news reporter working for the Daily Planet; Aaron Cash (Duane R. Shepard Sr.), an Arkham Asylum guard; Edward Nigma / The Riddler (Wally Wingert), a narcissistic supervillain who challenges the Squad with completing various puzzles across the city; Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin (Nolan North), a Gotham City crime lord and weapons dealer who supplies the Squad with anti-metahuman weaponry; Mikron O'Jeneus / Gizmo (Rick Pasqualone), a vehicle expert who develops various means of transportation for the Squad; Zalika / Hack (Omono Okojie), a technomancer who monitors the Squad's neck bombs and provides them upgrades; Hiro Okamura / The Toyman (Christopher Sean), a mechanical genius who idolizes the Justice League;[17] and Pamela Isley / Poison Ivy (Darcy Rose Byrnes), a reincarnated version of the plant-controlling supervillain who died during the events of Arkham Knight, with no memories of her past life.[18] Season 1 features the addition of a fifth playable character: the Joker (J. P. Karliak), an alternate reality version of Batman's deceased arch-nemesis who is the sole survivor of his universe after an invasion by Brainiac.[19][20]
Arkham Asylum inmates Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, and Belle Reve prisoner King Shark are freed from captivity by A.R.G.U.S. director Amanda Waller and forced to join her Task Force X, the "Suicide Squad". After miniature bombs are injected into their heads, Waller sends the squad into Metropolis, which is under attack by Brainiac. When they raid the Hall of Justice, a brainwashed Green Lantern attacks the squad and explains that Brainiac's attack is the beginning of his plans to terraform Earth. The Flash intervenes to rescue the squad but is gravely wounded and captured by a brainwashed Batman when Boomerang pulls him out of hiding. The squad retreats to the Hall of Justice and encounters Wonder Woman, the only member of the Justice League who was not brainwashed. She refuses to work with them just as Waller orders the squad to kill the Justice League and end their threat.
Waller has the squad scour Metropolis for weapons and technology that can be used against the Justice League, as well as forcibly recruiting other villains into their ranks. They attempt to apprehend Lex Luthor to obtain his knowledge, but he is killed by a now-brainwashed Flash. The squad narrowly escape thanks to Wonder Woman's intervention. She uses her lasso on the Flash to find a way to stop Brainiac, with him replying that the only way is to kill her friends. The squad is supplied with anti-Speed Force tech, which they use to kill the Flash. Green Lantern arrives and forces the squad to flee through one of Brainiac's portals. The squad finds themselves transported to Earth-2, an alternate Earth that has already been destroyed by Brainiac. They meet an alternate version of Luthor, nicknamed Lex-2, who reveals that he had been collaborating with his Earth-1 counterpart to prepare for Brainiac's invasion.
Lex-2 transports the squad back to their dimension and warns that Waller will get them all killed as her Earth-2 version did to her own squad. The squad breaks into Wayne Enterprises' secret bank vault, where they find Wonder Woman crafting a Kryptonite-based shield. After she leaves, Lex-2 secures Yellow Lantern batteries Batman was keeping as a contingency against Green Lantern and gives them to the squad. He reveals that Waller has no intention of granting the squad their freedom, either letting them get killed or using Brainiac's mind-control technology on them otherwise. The squad confronts and kills Green Lantern, temporarily disabling a shield protecting Brainiac's ship. Waller attempts to call a nuclear strike on Brainiac, willing to sacrifice the squad, but a brainwashed Superman thwarts her plans.
Wonder Woman and Superman begin battling each other as the squad attempts to escort Waller to safety inside the Hall of Justice. Wonder Woman stabs Superman with a shard of Kryptonite, but he survives and kills her before retreating to Brainiac's ship. Lex-2 theorizes that Brainiac changed Superman's DNA to be more resistant to Kryptonite and, through Boomerang, suggests to an oblivious Waller that they capture Batman so he can devise a countermeasure. The squad captures Batman in his hideout and takes him to Lex-2, who develops Gold Kryptonite to combat Superman. With no further use for Batman, the squad takes him to an open area, where Harley kills him. Superman is lured out and subsequently killed with the squad's Gold Kryptonite weapons. However, Brainiac captures them, intending to brainwash them to be replacements for the League. Lex-2 rescues them and reveals that he has learned there are thirteen different Brainiacs spread across different dimensions working together to take over the entire multiverse.
Waller and Lex-2 coordinate to teleport the squad to the first Brainiac's location on Earth-2 to confront him directly, where he reveals his name to be Vril Dox and proceeds to mimic the Flash's appearance and abilities. After a lengthy battle, the squad subdues and captures Vril Dox, allowing Lex-2 to extract the information in his brain. The extraction ends up killing Vril Dox, with Brainiac's ship reacting by partially exploding, but does not stop the invasion as twelve Brainiacs remain, whom the squad prepares to hunt down across the multiverse.
Waller sends the squad to "Joker Earth", an alternate universe where Brainiac terraformed Metropolis using the DNA of the Joker, who became this Earth's sole survivor after the former's invasion. The squad battles the second Brainiac, who takes the form of Green Lantern, and defeats him. The squad then captures the Joker and takes him back to Earth-1, where he agrees to join them in the ongoing war against Brainiac's forces.
On March 23, 2022, Rocksteady announced that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had been delayed from its initial 2022 launch window to early 2023.[32] At The Game Awards 2022, the release date was revealed to be May 26, along with the announcement that Batman would appear in the game, posthumously voiced by Kevin Conroy in what was marketed as his final performance as the character following his death on November 10, 2022.[33][34][35][36]
On February 23, 2023, during a PlayStation State of Play and a separate FAQ, Rocksteady confirmed the game would require an internet connection at all times, have a battle pass, and is set to receive post-launch content such as new playable characters, missions and weapons.[7][37] On 8 December 2023, Rocksteady announced that an offline mode will be added to the game after launch.[38]
On April 13, 2023, Rocksteady announced that the game had been delayed again to 2 February 2024.[39] The Epic Games Store version, however, was delayed to March 5, 2024, then later to March 26, 2024, for unspecified reasons.[40]
b37509886e