I swear, if it were up to me, I’d like to step away from the world of comic books. Unfortunately, I can’t ignore that it’s a big week for comic book announcements in video games. Let’s talk about a company that has been incognito for some time: Rocksteady. I wrote an opinion piece covering The Suicide Squad announcement over at Culture of Gaming, but I want to offer more predictions about what we could see. So let’s speculate about The Worst Heroes Ever.
Again, not my words. Blame DC Comics.
Could this be going up against Avengers?
If you read my opinion piece over at Culture of Gaming, you know my thoughts on the direction Rocksteady could take Suicide Squad. In short, taking a page out of Avengers to allow players to play any more than just one character. This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a Rocksteady game dive into multiplayer since there was the “3v3v2” mode in Arkham Origins. However, the British Studio Splash Damage took care of the multiplayer mode. Fun fact: They would later go on to make the multiplayer modes for Gears of War 4 & 5, the PC version of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and Gears Tactics. In a way, we don’t really have a clue how Rocksteady would make a multiplayer game (should they decide to do it).
When I first saw the teaser, my mind immediately shot to Avengers. I envisioned that this could be a multiplayer game, but instead of heroes teaming up like in Crystal Dynamic’s upcoming title, you have the villains wreaking havoc on Amanda Waller’s behalf. It isn’t to say that Rocksteady is going to copy Crystal Dynamics’s formula. Instead, they could provide their own unique spin focusing on villains teaming up, rather than focusing on one specific character.
Would this be a return to the “Arkham series” combat style, where you have to jump into a group of enemies and take everyone down? The fighting itself could work for the characters who fight up close, but what about everyone else? It seems like they’d have to consider the at-distance fighters, who throw boomerangs and shoot guns.
Who might we see?
The idea behind the Suicide Squad is pretty straight forward: Bring a handful of villains together and watch half of them turn on each other and die in action. However, DC wiki identifies a plethora of “honorary members.” Of the entire list, who might make the cut?
As mentioned in my Spider-Man article, I’m no know-it-all about comics, but I can investigate, scrutinize, and make some wild guesses. First off, I can’t imagine that you’d be satisfied playing as only one character when there are usually five or six members in the Suicide Squad. It would be a shame if you were stuck playing with one person, from start to finish when we want to see characters like Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Captain Boomerang in action.
But who else might we see in the game besides these three? As much as I would want to stay away from the movie with Jared Leto, it did feature a few characters that could be in the game. We may see the Pyrokinetic El Diablo and the man-eating Killer Croc. Maybe The Enchantress as well, but that could be a stretch depending on the feeling they want to give the game. Finally, if we are looking for other fan favorites, we could also consider the Cryokinesis Killer Frost and the vigilante Bronze Tiger. All in all, seven possible characters. Yet this number could be cut down depending on each character’s playability.
Which Villains could be playable in Suicide Squad?
Let’s take a shot in the dark and say Suicide Squad is going to play exactly like the Arkham titles. If this were the case, the most obvious character we could see would be someone who did get a Story Pack in Arkham Knight. If Harley Quinn can move and fight like this in Suicide Squad, she would definitely be a playable character.
Deadshot’s chances are also pretty high too due to how his playstyle does share some similarities with Red Hood in Arkham Knight. While both character know how to fight hand-to-hand, they also are really good at putting bullets into random thugs. Rocksteady could just replace the Red Hood’s handguns with Deadshot’s wrist guns and you have a character who can function almost the same (minus the acrobatics). It’s not like our sharpshooter will waste his energy actively fighting others up close if a distant bullet in the head can do the trick.
So what about the rest of the squad members? If Killer Croc is still going to be a 10-foot monster, he could mow through enemies with little effort. However, he would be an easy target for snipers and other enemies with guns.
Captain Boomerang could have a higher focus on range combat too, like how we see Batman toss out his batarangs. The same could apply with teammates who want to keep their distance in skirmishes. Depending on who you pick, you can provide support for the melee fighters while doing your best to not have enemies get too close.
Will it be a “Shooter” experience?
Regardless of how we speculate, one thing seems certain: there will be guns! An emphasis on guns amplifies the value of those abilities that take out enemies from a distance.
But would a Suicide Squad game have the whole focus be on gunfights? Or could we see other things from Rocksteady’s other titles work their way in? After all, the Suicide Squad is supposed to operate in secrecy. It wouldn’t be much of a secret if you have your villains acting like… well… villains. If they get caught, Waller would sooner blow their heads off before they have the chance to mutter the word “Suicide.”
Will we see stealth elements?
Perhaps there is a possibility that stealth portions will make a return where you have to take out guards silently without alerting them. If this were to happen though, there’s a good chance that could debunk Killer Croc as a playable character (unless if they shrink him down). This also seems especially true too if the plot of the game has you targeting Superman and the rest of the Justice League. So the approach to gameplay will be different from the Arkham games.
Not to say it would play out exactly as we see here, but it could be a fair assumption on how the game could play like. After all, it isn’t like our villains know how to move around the world like Batman. Some of these characters aren’t known to be quiet and would still kick the down a door and open fire If given the option. The fun of the Suicide Squad is in the chaos. It’s one thing to have an organized group working together towards a common goal. It’s a whole other dynamic to have a motley crew forced to work together and eventually turn against each other by the end. One can only hope.
Conclusion
All it all, it seems a wasted opportunity for Suicide Squad to be a single-player game with one playable character. If you were to play through the entire game with someone like Deadshot, wouldn’t you call the game “Deadshot”? There are ample opportunities to bring in multiple villains for all of our gaming pleasures. Hopefully, when the game is revealed, we will discover a variety of gameplay options.
Tell me what you think!
Do you have high hopes for the Suicide Squad? Which characters do you hope to see? Will we fight more heroes than Superman? Will Rocksteady borrow ideas from their previous titles, or will they take a whole new approach?
Feel free to leave a comment and be sure to follow me here at Mad MAS Gaming for more Random Rants about the gaming world.
Let’s hope the next article won’t be comic-related. Take care everyone and stay safe. ^__^
Mad MAS Gaming 