Summary
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leagueis nothing if not novel. Though the game has been almost universally panned as another live-service flop, its use ofDC Comics storylines and characters, coupled with its industry-leading visuals and character animations, give it a certain appeal that, while perhaps not enough to totally redeem it, has certainly grabbed the attention of many.
This sort of attention-grabbing premise is typified by Joker’s arrival in the game. Joining the team of playable characters nearly two months after the launch of theSuicide Squadbase game, Joker reinvigorated interest in the project, though this revived attention was short-lived. Though it may have been in vain, Joker’s introduction as a playable character speaks to a broader phenomenon in the world of DC Comics adaptations: there is a non-negligible portion of the gaming population that would love to play a bona-fide Joker game. The popularity of Batman’s arch nemesis never seems to waver, enduring rough on-screen portrayals and cinematic flops with ease, making him an ostensibly easy pick for a video game protagonist. However, this idea is borderline impossible for a few reasons.
Thestory oftheSuicide Squadgame is still evolving, but it’s safe to say that it has established itself as somewhat over-the-top. Though it’s set in the same universe as the decidedly serious and soberBatman: Arkhamgames, it’s surprisingly tongue-in-cheek and flippant, looping in outlandish concepts like alternate realities in a game world that has, up until this point, been relatively grounded by comic book standards.
It’s through this narrative and tonal framing that the Joker is able to make his way to the stage. Pulled from an alternate reality,Suicide Squad’s version of the Jokeris able to fulfill a long-time wish of many players: he can soar through Metropolis, shooting down bad guys while cracking jokes and being generally insane, as he is wont to do.
In a way,Suicide Squad’s generic, straightforward gameplay loop is what allows the Joker to work as a playable character. It’s easy to ‘turn the brain off’ when stepping into the shoes of the Joker, if the only thing he’s doing is shooting down mindless enemies. Even if certain elements ofJoker’s moveset inSuicide Squaddon’t exactly make sensefor the character, who isn’t exactly known for being an acrobatic action star, he is at least somewhat consistent with the interactive and narrative aspects of the game in general.
Joker Probably Can’t Be the Star of His Own Game
Kill the Justice Leagueinadvertently reveals some of the complications inherent in making a Joker video game. The most obvious problem with putting the Clown Prince of Crime at the helm of his own adventure is his necessarily amoral worldview: it would be difficult to create, market, and ship a AAA game where players commit mass murder, city-wide destruction, or various acts of terror as central objectives.
But even setting that issue aside, it’s hard to envision what a complex, dedicatedJoker-based video gamecould look like from a practical perspective. Joker isn’t an antihero with a questionable set of morals who ultimately gets the job done — he is a maniac who is seemingly driven by chaos. A feature-length game with him as the protagonist could easily devolve into a jumbled mess of narrative contrivances and awkward justifications for gameplay, as his insanity makes it impossible to tether him to a compelling, intelligible story, at least in the context of a video game. There have been a few ‘what if’ comic books that see the Joker becoming more sane, but a full game following this premise would arguably defeat the purpose of putting him in the main character position in the first place.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
WHERE TO PLAY
Play as the Suicide Squad to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, is a genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series.
