‘Suicide Squad’ Channels ‘Avengers’ A Bit, But Seems To Leave Loot And Live Service Behind

Suicide Squad

Rocksteady

Yesterday we saw the debut of not one, but two new DC games from WB, one from Arkham Origins studio WB Montreal, Gotham Knights, one from Rocksteady, Arkham main trilogy studio, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

Gotham Knights is further along, aiming for a 2021 release, and we got to see actual gameplay from it. Suicide Squad, out in 2022, only gave us a cinematic trailer, and we are left to parse what exactly the game itself will be like. But I think I have a pretty good idea now that the dust has settled.

All day yesterday I heard rumors that Suicide Squad was going to be a Games as a Service title (Gaas) with loot and leveling and other ARPG type stuff. And yet from the reveal, and from the fact that the other “leaks” ahead of time turned out to be total BS, I don’t think that’s true, much to the relief of most players.

At first, it did sound like Suicide Squad was channeling Avengers, the upcoming Crystal Dynamics game that is a live service game with loads of loot. The structure is the same in that it’s meant to be a co-op title at heart, and you can run whatever character you want on most missions, and if you’re playing solo or not with a full group, the remaining players will be controlled by AI teammates. This is pretty much exactly how Avengers works.

And yet, I am not seeing any telltale signs that this is a live service game. In the official press release for the game, it talks about an “open world,” but not an “evolving world,” which is usually code for a live service game. And when it comes to loot, all we have is the following description: “Each squad member has their own unique moveset with enhanced traversal abilities to freely explore the dynamic open-world of Metropolis, along with a variety of weapons to customize and skills to master.” That just sounds like Arkham to me.

Avengers

CD

Though the game is described as a “shooter,” it’s clearly third-person, not first-person, which is also said outright in the release. But it’s obviously not a cover-based shooter like The Division between Harley doing backflips, King Shark being unable to fit behind cover and Deadshot having a literal jetpack.

My takeaway from all of this information and the reveal itself is that Rocksteady is crafting a game that’s some combination between traditional Arkham brawler combat and something more like Sunset Overdrive, focused hugely on traversal and action-oriented shooting rather than hiding behind cover to regen health like Gears or Division. And while each hero has an upgrade tree and customizable gear, no, I do not believe that this will be a “looter” in the traditional sense.

Granted, the game does not come out until 2022, so maybe those elements will worm their way in. But from what’s being described, and what was shown in the cinematic, this seems like it will be in the vein of Arkham, just with a lot more guns and new ways to move around while shooting them, besides a bat-hook and cape gliding.

Suicide Squad

Rocksteady

I would say that out of everything, Gotham Knights is the game that looks like it could potentially be more of a looter. We didn’t see any loot in the trailer, I don’t believe, but we did see a whole lot of traditional ARPG stuff like enemies with levels above their heads, damage numbers onscreen and XP after kills. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean it’s live service, but if it has all that other stuff, I am wondering if it has loot too, and possibly the Avengers-like idea of adding in more characters to the game in time. But we’ll have to see.

For now, only Avengers is confirmed to be a live service looter superhero title, and depending on how that goes, that could influence what direction DC takes with these two upcoming games. But my guess is they stick to what they know to a certain extent, and don’t try to force a live service where it doesn’t belong.

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