On August 7, Rocksteady Studios tweeted a picture of Superman, a stylized set of crosshairs marking the words "Suicide Squad" over his head. The tweet also came with the caption “Target locked” and two hashtags: #DCFanDome and #suicidesquadgame. Rocksteady is clearly developing a game starring the titular squad, and somehow this comes across as both terribly boneheaded and exceptionally clever.
It’s worth it to set up a couple things in order to understand the climate in which this was announced. First of all, Rocksteady has some of the most robust experience in developing superhero games out of anyone in the business, being the creative team behind the titanic Arkham series of Batman games. Secondly, this tweet arrives not long ahead of the planned September 4 release of Marvel’s Avengers, currently being developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. For now, it’s unknown when Suicide Squad is slated for release, and that detail could be a vital determinant in the game’s success.
Come August 22, the date of the DC Fan Dome, Suicide Squad’s prospects will become clearer. If it’s directly competing with Marvel's Avengers, such as offering an online (or solo) team-based brawler, it likely won't be received well. This comprises one of the major reasons this move feels silly: it feels like trend-chasing to announce a team-based superhero game so close to the release of a major competitor’s highly anticipated title. That said, it’s worth noting that Marvel's Avengers itself was initially announced back in 2017, so Suicide Squad could easily be a more distant project, and the timing is simply a marketing move to get people excited while their minds are on superhero games in general.
Why A Suicide Squad Game Is (Tentatively) A Great Idea
While Marvel has seen unprecedented success in terms of its cinematic universe, essentially changing filmmaking for decades to come, the brand has had a limited presence in recent AAA gaming, especially compared to Rocksteady’s influential, critically-lauded Batman: Arkham franchise. While the company has seen recent success with Marvel's Spider-Man on the PS4, the critic and fan response to Marvel's Avengers' recent beta has been less than stellar, and certainly not as widely-loved as their cinematic offerings.
Suicide Squad’s apparent premise also presents a double-edged sword. On paper, a game about trying to kill Superman sounds like a fun, fantastic concept. However, it comes with the caveat that killing Superman should actually be a possibility, or else a lot of the story’s weight and tension vanishes. An easy solution would be to take the Injustice route and set the game in an alternate universe, allowing for a considerable degree of narrative freedom. Using both the Suicide Squad and the Justice League provides a melange of possibilities in terms of characters and settings. If watching the rogues infiltrate the Watchtower in Justice League: Unlimited is fun, giving players the ability to control Deadshot or Harley Quinn and have them do the deed themselves is immensely better.
Overall, the announcement of Suicide Squad feels overly reactive, making it seem like DC is trying to play catch-up with Marvel, and yet the premise of the game itself is intriguing and exciting. Considering Rocksteady’s pedigree, it’s probably safe to at least assume competency in terms of the game’s construction. Whether it will meet with the same critical and fan response as Marvel’s Avengers is unknown, but as far as the average gamer is concerned, comic book properties are pumping more money into video games, and fans stand to benefit more each time one company prompts the other to come out with well-made, creative, ambitious titles.