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After the lukewarm reception toward Gotham Knights and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s bold new direction, the metric for determining a good DC game has seemingly fallen to Batman: Arkham Knight, released back in 2015. Comparisons are inevitable with Rocksteady Studios’ latest outing in the DC universe, so it’s time to draw the line once and for all in the Arkham Knight vs Suicide Squad conundrum. Which is the better Rocksteady game? Let’s break it down into different categories.
Visuals – Arkham Knight
How could a 2015 game be better than a 2024 game in the visuals department? Well, despite the next-gen textures and lighting of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Arkham Knight still has a more thoughtful visual style, dare we say.
You can even find several comparisons on YouTube already. At times, Suicide Squad‘s specular mapping feels almost nonexistent, so its environments look flatter. It’s painfully apparent when you’re comparing water from both games.
Sound – Arkham Knight
Voice acting plays a huge merit here; you can’t beat the late Kevin Conroy, who personified Batman more than any other voice actor, and there’s more of him in Arkham Knight. Other bits of voice acting in Arkham Knight include police radio and goon banter, which helps the world feel more alive and believable.
Of course, music is another determining factor; again, it’s no contest. Gotham’s gothic hymns and orchestral themes foster better immersion than Metropolis. That’s subjective, of course, but Gotham has always had more personality than Metropolis, even in the comic books.
Story – Tie
Granted, any Suicide Squad story is bound to be ridiculous and illogical. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is even more notoriously absurd. Putting together a bunch of D-list villains to combat Brainiac or any threat that the Justice League can’t handle is a losing proposition.
Arkham Knight, meanwhile, carries a cliched story where Batman’s enemies team up to try to take over Gotham again with a mysterious new vigilante similar to Batman stepping up to challenge his claim over the city. Still, Suicide Squad’s conclusion carries more weight despite Arkham Knight‘s more sensible ending. It’s a tie.
Atmosphere – Arkham Knight
With its more distinct visuals and more meticulous sounds, Arkham Knight wins here when it comes to atmosphere. Yes, yes — it makes you feel like Batman, but beneath the superficial luster is a long history for the character and Gotham itself.
Arkham Knight‘s world is something you feel like you need to save or at least traverse. To be fair, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is at a disadvantage here as there’s no buildup for Metropolis; it’s just a washed-out city whose only purpose is to be a crumbling playground or Brainiac and the Suicide Squad.
Gameplay – Suicide Squad
It’s a hard call for this category. On one hand, Suicide Squad took quite a leap with its looter-shooter format (which, thematically, doesn’t fit as well as it should in DC). But on the other hand, it translates well to fun and modern gameplay with lots of variety and a more frenetic involvement.
Meanwhile, Arkham Knight‘s Caped Crusader Cha-cha is as beautiful and graceful as ever, with one of the smoothest melee combat animations in gaming. However, it’s outdated, even by the time it was released. There wasn’t much input or dynamics needed, and it was repetitive.
Content – Suicide Squad
While you might feel like Suicide Squad is a bit bland or lacking right now, the live service structure ought to populate it more in the coming weeks or months to the point where it might play a lot differently. So, this alone makes Suicide Squad more content-rich.
By comparison, there’s nothing new in store for Batman: Arkham Knight. The game’s done. It also wasn’t celebrated for its side quests, and it’s hard to spare an interest in anything else in Gotham apart from the main quest or mission. You get some challenges and story bits for different characters, but again, gameplay variety and replay value still suffer.
Price – Arkham Knight
No contest here. The older game is cheaper, naturally. You get the full Batman: Arkham Knight bundle for a small fraction of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League‘s price for the base game. If price is your deciding factor for which video game to play or buy, or if there’s a budget to be observed, you’ve no other choice.
However, this categorical win for Arkham Knight might change soon. We did mention that Suicide Squad is a live-service game. The content will pile up, and the new game price tag will skew the win in its favor. Until that happens, though (and hopefully it does), you’re getting more for your money with Arkham Knight.
Overall Winner – Arkham Knight
Despite having an older and more rigid melee and stealth gameplay, you might still find Batman: Arkham Knight — a 2015 game, more satisfying than 2024’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. That should settle the Arkham Knight vs Suicide Squad argument.
There’s a big promise for more fresh content in Suicide Squad due to its live service structure. But until that promise is fulfilled, it might be wiser to go with Arkham Knight if you’re deciding which Rocksteady game to play or how you want to play as a “superhero” in DC.
