Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PC, PS5, Xbox Series S/X
Tested on: PS5
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League – Episode of Fear and Battle Pass – Review
It’s been more than two months since Rocksteady Studios released the controversial Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and it is clear that many players have already moved on. We gave the game an optimistic positive review thanks to the fun fast-paced combat and the enjoyable storyline this version of the DC universe presented. The game fell flat, however, in the post-game content, or the lack thereof. A handful of repetitive missions and an open ending didn’t sit right with many players, but the promise of multiple seasons of free content updates and new playable characters kept us hopeful. Now this first season has arrived with new activities, a Battle Pass, and The Joker as a playable character.
Season one of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League arrives as a two-parter with the first part, Episode of Fear, out now for all players to enjoy. After a motion comic-style opening video introducing The Joker and his captivity in a parallel world, players are dropped into the Metropolis they are familiar with. Here, you’ll be treated to the same gameplay loop that the base game featured, completing missions to access bigger missions in one of the Elseworlds. These take Task Force X to a new world themed around The Joker, filled with presents and bright colors. While this is a nice change of scenery, it becomes clear pretty quickly that these are no different from other levels and they only have a cosmetic change. The handful of new missions also don’t offer that much of a change, as you’re still facing the same enemies you did before with a slightly different scenario, like facing only superpowered enemies or brutes.
Taking on these missions now also rewards players with episode ranks. When you reach such a new rank, rewards are handed out like weapons, experience points, or resources. This is an extra incentive for players to keep grinding the missions, but each completed event grants one rank, so the lack of variety can become a bore. There are some nice rewards here, mostly the battle pass currency or the new seasonal weapons based around the Scarecrow that deal poison damage, but most of them won’t get you too excited.
But the star of the show is of course the Clown Prince of Crime: The Joker. Once players reach episode rank 35, they will unlock a story mission to save the newest member of Task Force X. This is the only real story mission in the game and pits players against a new Brainiac boss fight, which is just a reskin of the Green Lantern boss fight. This is a nice way to revisit an earlier encounter, but it is a bit sad that this is the only big fight the season offers at this point. The Joker himself is fun to use with an upgraded umbrella as his unique traversal mechanic, and a new talent tree to interact with, but getting him is a chore since you have to play over 30 repetitive missions to unlock him. There is of course a much easier way to get access to the newest playable character, namely by throwing down some cash.
That being said, The Joker is not the only new way players can spend money on the game thanks to the release of the first Battle Pass. Let’s address the elephant in the room first: The Joker is not included in the Battle Pass and needs to be purchased separately if you want to skip the grind. This was a big disappointment when we first booted up the new season since many other games have included new playable characters in the season pass. What the pass does offer is purely cosmetic, which is nice to not give players the option to get ahead by paying their way to better gear. There are four new costumes, each with unlockable additions like color changes or different headpieces, along with a ton of emotes and banners. Players can earn Battle Pass currency by completing missions in the game or progressing through the episode rank, making the progress towards a new reward ever-present. The problem is that this currency is delivered in very low doses, with normal missions and incursions only giving players 100 points of the 1000 they need for each reward. Grinding through ten repetitive missions just doesn’t seem worth it for a new emote or voice line. The new costumes on the other hand do look nice, but there isn’t even one for each character. The Joker is included in the four new costumes, but sadly Captain Boomerang has been left out and can only unlock some new taunts or emotes. This seems like an odd choice and will disappoint players who main this character. There are a lot more new costumes, but they can of course only be purchased with the premium currency.
Conclusion
We had high hopes for the first season of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League but we’ve only experienced disappointment. Episode 1: Fear has only added to the mindless repetitiveness of the main game’s endgame, which also locks the new character behind hours of grinding or a paywall. The promise of more to come with Episode 2: Duality doesn’t get us hyped anymore since it will only add more of the same. The only thing scary about this season is that we fear for the game’s future, especially thanks to bad monetization and a Battle Pass that is not worth its price.
No Comments