It’s the government’s dirty little secret: a rehabilitation program for super-powered criminals, offering reduced prison sentences in exchange for their participation in missions too dangerous or controversial for conventional military forces. The villains consider it a joke, yet another revolving door to freedom in an already porous penal system. The superheroes consider it a mockery of every ideal they fight to uphold. Its founders dubbed it “Task Force X.” The current members came up with a more appropriate name: THE SUICIDE SQUAD.
And you’ve just been named the team’s new field commander. Amanda Waller may be in charge on paper, but you’ll be the one calling the shots on the ground. Choose your friends and rivals carefully, manage your resources wisely, keep a cool head in the heat of battle, and you just might survive long enough to enjoy the freedom that Uncle Sam has promised you… or at least last longer than your predecessor did.
Turn-based tactical RPG action. Build the best squad for each assignment, hand-picking recruits from among DC Comics’ most notorious villains (including Deadshot, Bane, and Cheshire): a mastermind to plot the overall approach (the smarter he is, the more infiltration options open up to your team), a gadgeteer to deal with any automated security measures, a master of disguise to help everyone blend in with their surroundings, and plenty of muscle for when things inevitably go south. Position your troops across the battlefield (locales range from the dark depths of the Batcave to the war-ravaged surface of Apokolips) intelligently, utilize their powers and skills wisely, and you might lead the ragtag bunch of lowlifes back to their cells in one piece.
Choose your background. Are you an ordinary military grunt who was dishonorably discharged under false pretenses? A superhero that crossed the line? Or just another villain whose luck finally ran out? Your past influences which characters are initially loyal to you (“Reputation”), plays a key role in determining squad bonuses (attack power, movement speed, etc), and affects your available resources (military men, for instance, might earn Waller’s grudging respect, thus gaining access to the most up-to-date information on a given target, while “reformed” villains are forced to settle for whatever black market intel The Penguin is able to scrounge up).
Death matters. They don’t call it the Suicide Squad for nothing. Team members level up with each successfully completed assignment, but any that fail to return home are permanently removed from the roster. This includes your own Player Character; if he/she is killed in action, you may continue the story with a new background, a reset Reputation score, and whatever villains/resources you left off with, while your previous protagonist gets a lovely plaque in the Hall of Fame.
“On behalf of the Task Force X support staff, I would like to personally wish you the best of luck and express my sincere hope that you fare better than the last fellow. Yes, we know this is a hazardous job. That’s what we call the price of freedom.”
—A. Waller, Director
[Originally written February 4, 2014, before David Ayer's live action film adaptation tainted the Suicide Squad brand.]