Capsule Review: DC's Justice League: Cosmic Chaos
An action RPG with a vibe like a playable superhero cartoon that really should have had multiplayer for the main game.
Play as Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman (swap freely between them) in a smallish open world where you can wander around picking fights, explore the “dungeons” (some of which are used in missions and some of which are just there to explore), find and complete side quests, or do the story missions.
There’s a surprising amount to do. Most of it is centered around combat, though there are also exploration and even some platforming elements, and there are a lot of themed areas/missions that change up how you play (the Blue Snowman dungeon, for example, has a temperature mechanic requiring you to periodically warm yourself near fires, which changes how you explore and fight in it). Combat itself is approachable but surprisingly deep as character-specific upgradeable skills as well as equipment that anyone can use allow for creating a variety of builds, and since you can freely switch between three characters you can absolutely specialize them for different situations. There are also a few kinds of minigames, unlockable costumes for each character that are (occasionally very deep-cut) references to classic comics, some just-for-fun toys like carnival games and rides, and a high polish level with full voice acting and sharp writing that’s loaded with DC characters and lore.
The only significant omission is the lack of multiplayer for the main game. The basic setup here is screaming for co-op, but the only multiplayer is in a slapped-on-feeling free-roaming “Instant Action” combat mode. I suspect this is why the game is so overlooked despite its high quality and the popularity of its IP.
But it can still be a lot of fun to play alone, if you enjoy DC and open world beat-’em-up gameplay.
I Stopped Playing When: I finished the game with all achievements.
Four Stars: Great. Not only did I finish the game, I probably played through the whole thing again and/or completed any optional objectives. It's an easy recommendation for any genre fan.