Superman turns the Suicide Squad into a horror game

Like plenty of other DC fanatics, I've been enjoying my time with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The looter-shooter gameplay loop keeps me tackling missions with the Task Force X foursome, while the story keeps me hooked on defeating Brainiac and his brainwashed Justice League. However, the dark comedy tones mask a truly horrifying element of this apocalyptic Metropolis.

While the Suicide Squad release date hasn't technically arrived yet, the game is currently in a three day early access period, at least if you purchased the digital deluxe edition. Many of us are making quick work of the Suicide Squad boss list, but one member stands to be a terrifying presence as soon as he enters the fray - Superman.

If you've been lucky enough to dodge the Suicide Squad spoilers so far, we'd recommend turning away and bookmarking this article for later, as we're going to cover some plot beats for the latter half of the main story.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has, so far, kept the comedic tones similar to that of The Suicide Squad movie, keeping the brutality of Task Force X's mission while sprinkling plenty of silly jokes to keep the mood light. However, things turn dark quickly after Waller sends a nuke at Brainiac's ship, and Superman catches it with his bare hands before flying it outside of the city's borders.

As you successfully escort an injured Waller, who consistently insults the band of misfits, Superman and Wonder Woman fight above the ruined city. When you reach the Hall of Justice, the Suicide Squad narrowly misses the debris caused by the heroes' clash, before attempting to save Wonder Woman from death at the hands of the Krypton, who then turns angrily towards our protagonists.

This brief cutscene in the game is a very terrifying window in how writing and tone can affect your feelings of the narrative. Currently, everything has been kept fairly light despite your murderous goals. But the jokes quickly pause during this pivotal moment. The mere thought of a ruthless Superman who lacks morals, enough to kill his friends, is horrifying. If it wasn't for the tone set by the rest of the game, this could've easily been a horror title.

An evil Superman has been done countless times before, as well as being done greatly by Antony Starr who plays the villainous Homelander in The Boys TV show. But there's something about seeing an unhinged Superman, the Man of Steel himself willing to murder for a brainwashing alien.

It's an excellent window into what could've been done if the game decided to be a grounded third-person survival-horror game like Resident Evil instead. I just wish this moment was done through gameplay instead. Earlier in the game, Rocksteady's version of Batman, one many of us have played as for years, starts picking off your team one-by-one, and it's thrilling and scary being on the other side of Batman's stealthy attacks.

Imagine if your traversal abilities got jammed, and as you made your way to back to the makeshift headquarters, Superman starts hunting you down. Debris comes falling around you, lasers fly past your face, as you barely make it back alive thanks to Wonder Woman's intervention. It would've made Superman's initial Suicide Squad appearance even more exhilarating. However, it's understandable why this is locked to a cutscene.

But, since Suicide Squad uses the multiverse as a plot device, I wonder if there's an alternate Earth where the Suicide Squad is a horror game entirely, as you scrape by with Task Force X, narrowly avoiding death - or even, having your team members die over the course of the story to really deliver on the Suicide Squad title. While I'm enjoying my time with the game so far, a part of me would love to see that version of the experience made.