“Fast-paced, arcade-styled fun in a playspace featuring lots of verticality”. That’s one way to describe Rocksteady’s long-gestating departure from the Batman: Arkham series. A series, mind, that it turned not only into a household name, but also set as an industry benchmark where third-person action-adventure gaming is concerned. And the reason we bring that up is because it’s clear from the first gameplay video for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is that from everything shown, it’s as big a departure from the studio’s cowl-inspired trilogy as you can probably get. And we can’t wait.



Clearly the differences here are the idea of a solo experience in the Batman titles over a team-based affair, and there’s a definite third-person shooter feel this gameplay reveal comes packaged with. Though there is enough differentiation to suggest it'll be pretty unique across the board. And we see things like Harley having a grapple swing of her own (presumably stolen Waynetech), Deadshot being able to snipe from anywhere and utilise rocket packs, amidst small glimpses of all of the game’s characters and their obviously unique skills and abilities.

How all of this works in a homogeneous way is going to be interesting, and outside of some impressive takedown animations we didn’t get much of a look at combat fluidity (Boomerang's impressive free-flow movement moment stood out though), so the jury is still out. But it’s brighter and more fun in tone than the Arkham series, with an obvious arcade lean -- we just need to see more.

Check it embedded above.