Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Live-Service Features and Beyond

Whether you enjoy the concept of a Suicide Squad game set in the Arkhamverse or not, the fact remains that it is coming. And soon, at that, with the official release date for Kill the Justice League now slated for February 2, 2024! Very, very soon, indeed. Now, while we've already covered all our bases concerning the game's technical affinities, such as its release date, system requirements, playable content, and more, there's one thing we haven't discussed properly yet. Specifically, it's Suicide Squad's live-service features.

The first thing we need to mention here is that Rocksteady seems intent on not describing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League as a live-service title. We're going to make no assumptions here, with that in mind. Instead, our goal is to summarize and explain all the live-service(ish) bits that we know are coming, as that's what matters the most.

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Explaining Suicide Squad's Live-Service Features

"We don't really think of our game as fitting with any particular label," said Rocksteady's Darius Sadeghian, the studio product director at Rocksteady. According to him, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is "still full of the DNA that infuses the Batman: Arkham series." Further, Sadeghian added that "for [Rocksteady], it wasn't so much about making a game in any particular genre. Rather, the focus is on creating a sense of flow and trinity between all out gameplay systems. That's reflected in the way the traversal, melee, and shooter elements all blend together when you're playing."

That being what it is, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League certainly does come with a whole suite of live-service features. Based on these alone, Suicide Squad positions itself as a competitor to the likes of The Division 2 and Destiny 2, of all things, which comes with its own set of expectations from the player base.

To summarize all the live-service tidbits we already know about, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will feature:

• An evolving open-world Metropolis changing from one season of content to the next
• Seasonal progression, narrative and content-wise
• Battle Pass content
• Gear Score progression
• All-new playable characters, villains, and post-launch content plans
• At least one year's worth of post-launch content
• A wealth of social features, such as clubs, gestures, emotes, and other community aspects

And, of course, there's an even broader set of goodies coming on top of all of this. Sadeghian confirmed in an interview that players should expect "new story missions, locations, gear, costumes, collectable trinkets, and more," all slated to release throughout the game's life cycle. So, even if Suicide Squad isn't aiming to be a live-service title, it definitely has many of the features that come part-and-parcel with live-service experiences.

Is it possible to play Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League solo?

An important consideration for any given live-service(ish) game is whether it allows players to enjoy their game solo. Rocksteady first cut its teeth on dedicated single-player experiences with an occasional multiplayer side-mode in the Arkham titles, and it'd be a downright shame if Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League had no such feature in tow.

Thankfully, Rocksteady has already confirmed that the game would be playable solo if players choose to do so. Obviously, co-operative multiplayer is the most important consideration here, but the fact that we'll be able to enjoy the campaign without other paratroopers is great news indeed. It also means that, if you find others annoying, you may be able to simply run about and enjoy Suicide Squad at your own pace. Whether that means saving Metropolis in the campaign mode or, perhaps, simply dealing with alien stragglers - that's entirely up to you.

There is, of course, something else we need to discuss here...

Is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League an always-online game?

Having a solo option in a live-service game is one thing, but allowing players to go offline is something else entirely. After a bout of backlash, Rocksteady ended up promising that a dedicated offline mode would be coming to Suicide Squad sometime after the game comes out. So, even though you won't be able to go fully offline on day one, when the game releases, one of its subsequent post-launch updates will have that feature ready to go.

Something to keep in mind here, however, is that Rocksteady has only confirmed that the campaign will be available offline. We'll need to wait and see how the open-world and campaign integration works in practice, but the wording implies that other gameplay options may be inaccessible if you go offline. Expect testing and explainers as soon as the game comes out - right here at 2Game.

Is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Hype Warranted?

With Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League slated to release in short order, it's worth pointing out that the earliest previews are already in. With word of rock-solid gameplay and some potentially iffy implementations already in tow, the tensions are high on whether Rocksteady can deliver something as good as the Arkham games were. And still are, in fact.

For what it's worth, we're very interested in seeing Kill the Justice League in action ourselves. Word is that the gameplay is something to behold, with great combat and movement systems. As Eurogamer puts it, Rocksteady is trying something new and exciting here and, for all intents and purposes, it may yet pan out. Stay tuned!

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