Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was crazy-anticipated when it was first announced. But as the announcements and trailers kept coming in, it turned into a more frantic affair with a different energy from the Batman games, and I was still on board. With the latest PlayStation State of Play on February 23, 2023, I saw what the game had to offer. I found myself suddenly way more excited after seeing the showcase for what’s looking to be the latest live service looter shooter, but I wasn’t excited for Suicide Squad; I found myself getting hyped for Wonder Woman instead.
The Suicide Squad Didn’t Kill the Justice League, but Wonder Woman Slayed the Trailer
I love DC, and I thought for sure that developer Rocksteady Studios had captured lightning in a bottle after the Arkham games. I thought so for good reasons, too, as the games were consistently good, with even prequels being made aping the game’s conventions. Other franchises like Marvel emulated the standards set by these open-world superhero sims, so I figured a team-focused game where you take on an invasion staged by Brainiac seemed too big to fail. But then it started to feel a bit too much like 2020’s Avengers game.
The live service aspects, the battle pass, and bullet-sponge enemies felt strange in a DC world, no matter how satisfying the freedom of movement looked to be in the trailer. It was disheartening to see a property I love so much being turned into yet another way to churn out money from its fans, but there was one redeeming quality to the trailer: seeing Wonder Woman. Her presence in the game didn’t make me more excited for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, but rather it reminded me that Wonder Woman is getting her own, separate game.
Wonder Woman Stole the Show and Reminded Players That She is the DC Legend We Need in a Game
Standing alone against fellow Justice League members corrupted by Brainiac, Wonder Woman reminds us that she is the better angel to the group in one of their worst crises. She is called to action to fight and potentially kill her comrades and is shown not only to be able to take on an incredibly powerful character like The Flash but use her Lasso of Truth to bend him to her mercy and break his cocky persona down. It reminded me that she is a formidable character that ought to be interesting in this game, but more importantly, will make for an incredible protagonist in Monolith Productions’ upcoming game.
While we don’t know much about the Wonder Woman game, we know that Monolith Productions previously made the excellent Middle-earth open-world titles, Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor. In many ways, these felt like a satisfying take on the Arkhamverse formula, and the prospect of swapping out Middle-earth’s Talion with Wonder Woman is insane.
Combine that with recent God of War Ragnarok talent like Mila Pavin, who crafted many of its award-winning accessibility features, and there’s sure to be some buzzworthy gaming to be had with this title.
Wonder Woman is a powerful character, second only to Superman in terms of strength, with super speed, agility, durability, flight, and proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. Putting her on Paradise Island or abroad would be brilliant, especially with the prospects of it being an open-world action game. The idea of a plot where she brings together her Themysciran sisters and human allies against any of her known rogues’ gallery such as Ares, Hades, Doctor Poison, or more is enticing.
But mostly, it’d be fun to see such a formidable, noble leader enjoy as a headlining DC hero. It’s a shame that we’re reminded of this in a game that seems poised to disappoint players with a generic live service approach, but there’s a hopeful future ahead for Diana Prince. By simply appearing in a trailer for a different game, she reminds fans of her incredible potential in a solo outing.
