Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has been delayed. Here's how they can salvage the game.

     

    Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice will now be releasing on February 2 of next year instead of it's previous date of May 26, 2023. DC announced a suicide squad game all the way back in 2010 and a decade later we got the first trailer for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. I think that most everyone was pleased with what they saw and the hype was real for Rocksteady's new game set in the famous Arkhamverse. However, the more we saw of the game, the more skeptical we became. Now that I know what the actual game will be like, I wouldn't buy it. I think that a lot of people feel the same way and it's sad because this game has so much potential and the studio behind it is full of talented people. There are multiple things that Rocksteady would have to change but I think that someone on Twitter summed it up in a pretty good list of things that need to be changed if Rocksteady wants to salvage this game. 

Remove the loot based combat

    In the right game, loot based combat can be a great addition to the gameplay. Take games like Borderlands and Path of Exile for example. Getting good loot after defeating a powerful enemy can be one of the best feelings in a videogame. However, in games that aren't RPGs, the constant sorting of better and worse gear can become tiring. Also, in a lot of games it's more rewarding to know that you are beating difficult enemies because you're getting better at the game, not just because you're getting more powerful gear. 

Reduce the RPG mechanics across the board

    Now it is difficult to pin down exactly what qualifies as an RPG these days, especially since so many other games pull in RPG mechanics like character customization, stats, and leveling up. So this isn't to say remove RPG mechanics entirely, but reduce them. Constantly worrying about leveling up, character upgrades, and stats is not something we want in games like this. Rocksteady's previous games, the Batman Arkham series has a perfect balance of RPG mechanics for what it is. Upgrading certain skills and gadgets for Batman and having a limited amount of cosmetics that you can use to change the way Batman looks. Those work well within the game and Rocksteady should definitely look back and take some notes for the suicide squad game.

No battle pass or store

    This is a big one. Why does every new game have to have a battle pass! I definitely understand with free games like battle royales but there's no reason to have something like that in a game that we already have to pay for. Stores are fine as long as you're buying stuff with in-game currency that you can earn through gameplay, but once again we don't want to be spending more real world money after we've already paid for the game. It honestly feels like a selfish thing for any game company to do something like this and definitely isn't something I would consider consumer friendly. I know that many gamers find themselves paying for extra stuff in games they've already purchased but nobody actually wants to do that. It's definitely one of my biggest gaming pet peeves. 

Make each character use different weapons instead of just guns

    As a fan of both superheroes and videogames, this one really irks me. Why are characters like King Shark and Captain Boomerang using guns? Who thought that this would be a good idea? I hate to use Marvel's Avengers as an example of something good but at least their characters had different abilities. King Shark could play similar to Hulk and Captain Boomerang should be using...boomerangs. Harley Quinn can use guns but she should also be using a melee weapon like a bat or her giant hammer. Deadshot should be the only one that's exclusively using guns. 

Focus the game more on the main story rather than live service

    From the first trailer, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League looked like it would be a great story driven game in vein of their previous Batman Arkham games. However, with the addition of live service elements it seems that a lot of the story is being pushed to the sideline in favor of meaningless tasks and obnoxious grinding mechanics. If nothing else, this might be something that Rocksteady can fix in the relatively short amount of time that they have.

Scrap Live Service

    "Hey guys, remember Marvel's Avengers? Almost everyone hated it because it was a live service game. That gives me a great idea, why don't we make a game that does everything that game did except even worse. I'm sure everyone will love it." That is a direct quote from an executive at DC studios talking to the people at Rocksteady. 

    Okay, maybe I made that up, but it definitely seems like that's the conversation they had. Right here is the root of the problem, the fact that it is a live service game. It feels like rocksteady is combining the gameplay of Marvel's Avengers and Gotham Knights. Two of the most disappointing superhero games in recent memory. It really frustrates me because the prospect of a suicide squad game has so much potential. Also, this game will be the last performance from the late, great Kevin Conroy, which might be the game's only saving grace.

    Obviously, it would be impossible for Rocksteady to change all of these things in the time that they've given themselves. I think that this game needs to be pushed back even more so that they can completely rework the game. Will you be playing the game if they release it how it is? Let me know in the comments and special thanks to SynthPotato for the idea.