Kill The Justice League Flips Batman’s Evolution in Arkham Knight on Its Head

Highlights

The tone, story, and gameplay of Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League depart significantly from Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham games.
Batman’s boss battle may be underwhelming due to the lack of complexity in using the Fear Toxin and his role as a bullet sponge.
The fight against Batman in the game lacks meaningful mechanics and can be forgettable, especially for veterans of the Arkhamverse.

This article contains massive spoilers for Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

One of the biggest points of contention since players got a closer look at Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League leading up to its release is that it’s very different from Rocksteady’s past work with the Batman: Arkham series. The game’s tone, the story, the characters, and the gameplay itself are indeed all big departures from Batman: Arkham games, to the point that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League‘s Batman museum is there to explain what happened to the character over the years. Batman himself is very different, and that is in no small part due to Brainiac’s powers – however, a major turning point for the character from Batman: Arkham Knight leaves a lot to be desired when the Caped Crusader is finally faced in battle.

Although the game actually involves killing the various heroes of the League, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League‘s premise may be reverted in seasonal content, as there are hints of some characters returning, including Batman. Things may change in the future depending on what happens and how Rocksteady handles it, but the boss battle against Batman in the base game remains largely disappointing for multiple reasons, including the way his newfound use of the Fear Toxin is implemented.

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Why Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League’s Batman Doesn’t Live Up to Arkham Knight’s

Batman is a Bullet Sponge in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

In Rocksteady’s previous work with the DC hero, Batman ended up seemingly using the Fear Toxin against criminals in a non-lethal way, causing them to see a “demon Batman” when confronted by the hero, who is secretly alive and presumably had faked his death. With the way Batman: Arkham Knight‘s Scarecrow takes center stage alongside his Fear Toxin, which Batman himself is injected with, it’s a great turn to see the Caped Crusader weaponize this concoction. Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League follows up on this and makes for a compelling context for the fight against Batman, but the battle itself is the blandest of them all.

When players take on Batman in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, he uses the Fear Toxin on Task Force X, establishing continuity between the events of the Arkhamverse. Yet, since Batman is the only member of the Justice League not to possess special powers or artifacts granting those powers, his boss battle is just players pitted against demon Batman, who is nothing more than a bullet sponge. The boss fight does include special attacks, but unlike other Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League heroes, there are no additional mechanics worthy of note.

Batman’s Boss Battle in Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League is a Waste of Arkham Knight’s Story

Batman’s Boss Battle Fails to Use The Fear Toxin Effectively

Even The Flash, the very first Justice League member that players take on, has a more mechanically complex fight – the TFX has to avoid tornadoes and all sorts of attacks, all while countering Flash in order to keep their damage flowing. In the case of Batman, players can theoretically ignore all the smaller mechanics of the fight and simply shoot bullets at the brainwashed hero to kill him, even if he’s in “demon form.” This makes the fact that Batman uses the Fear Toxin pretty much inconsequential in the actual boss fight, as it only matters in the segment leading to it.

It is explained in the game that Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League‘s Harley Quinn has concocted a counter-Fear Toxin, which is a pretext to justify why Batman doesn’t kill TFX and why they can fight back. While this makes sense, it’s still underwhelming after teasing demon Batman at the end of Arkham Knight and having him just stand in one place soaking up bullets instead of being the agile prowler he is supposed to be. The fact that the fight doesn’t use meaningful Fear Toxin mechanics is also a missed opportunity, and it can make the overall experience either forgettable for newcomers to the Arkhamverse or straight-up infuriating for veterans.