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GaaS

“It's not about sending a Message, it's about the Money”

Since it was announced to be a Game as a Service instead of another single-player adventure, the game lost a lot of interest from the players. The greediness of WB forced a studio dedicated to single player creations to give birth to a live service product, a kind of a game in an already saturated market.. But let’s analyze the aspects of this game. Spoilers ahead!

Gameplay

“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain”

The gameplay can be entertaining for the first two hours, but it won’t take long before you realize that’s all there is. It revolves around repeating the same missions over and over while changing difficulty is your only tool for variety.
These missions don’t shine with originality, they consist of rescuing people, defending/escorting an objective, destroying targets, and aiming at weak spots. One mission, in particular, caught my attention, but not in a positive way. It involves saving some civilians, shrinking them into a sort of pokéball and securing them into a flying bus. This kind of task would be fine for a LEGO Suicide Squad game, but not for a AAA title with nine years of development.
There are different kinds of enemies to deal with, each with unique attacks, but it doesn’t really matter since they look all the same and are dealt with in the same way, shooting. Furthermore, there are visual effects all over the place, making the gaming experience very confusing.
The new seasons added some new playable characters, while the missions remain the same tedious routine that leads nowhere.

Story

“The Bat is dead. Bury it. Consider this mercy”

Ok, the gameplay is bad but maybe it has a fascinating story with plot twists like Arkham City? Not even close. The story is the part I hated most. The idea of playing as a member of the Suicide Squad is great, the idea of killing the Justice League is not. As a Long-term DC fanboy, it’s impossible for me to relate to the treatment given to the heroes I love. After the perfect Arkham Knight ending, it feels really bad to bring Bruce back only to give him a pathetic death, or piss on Flash's corpse. It doesn’t really matter if they were clones, mind controlled or whatever excuse they are attempting in the new seasons to save their faces.
This game has the worst writing I have ever seen in a product based on comics and even spoils the previous Arkham games. Rocksteady must have had a Marvel agent infiltrated in the development team, boycotting from inside; there is no other explanation for this disaster.
The cutscenes during the campaign are actually good. They are filled with screenshot opportunities, feeling like they are preparing you for an epic battle, but when you take control of your character, you find yourself doing the boring brainless shooting again.
The dialogues are written superficially and extremely cringe, which is ok for the Squad members; they are supposed to be trashy, but it’s awful to hear Batman (voiced by Kevin Conroy) and Brainiac talking like B movie villains during the journey. The whole concept of the multiverse was hastily introduced, not necessary and poorly used.

Characters

“Criminals Are A Superstitious Cowardly Lot”

The four main characters are actually quite likeable and have a good synergy with each other. The models and the animations are also well-crafted. Each character has unique and satisfying movements, while the skills are decent, and the leveling-up system is solid.
Except Diana and Joker, who appear to have been designed by someone who was actively trying to make them ugly. One has a face only a mother could love, the other a face for radio.
Metropolis is amazing, not as breathtaking as Gotham by night, but visually beautiful. It's pleasant to hang around, swinging through the skyscrapers, but sadly there isn’t much to do in the city apart from some random enemies and a few Riddler’s challenges.

Conslusions

“Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends”

Overall, the game is a soulless product disappointing under almost every aspect. At 95% discount, it guarantees some hours of fun for random players, but I can't recommend it to any DC fan due to the atrocious writing. The Arkhamverse is dead and the future of the studio doesn't look bright. Will Rocksteady rise from their ashes, rearrange the universe they killed and please their customers with another decent single-player game (with real writers)? We patiently wait (hopefully not 9 more years).