DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos

Genre: Action-RPG

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

Sometimes I encounter a game that’s so niche in its appeal, I have to wonder if its target audience even exists. Superheroes clearly have a wide appeal… but cutesy, chibi-style versions of those heroes? Even if you want to make a kid-friendly take on the property, surely even kids would be more excited by heroes that look “cool” rather than “cute”, right? Or am I just that out of touch with “the youth”?

Well, whatever the case may be, this is what we have with DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos, released in 2023 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. As I’m writing this review in early 2025, I should note that this game will soon be pulled from digital storefronts due to expiring licenses, though the physical version of the game will still remain available for purchase while supplies remain available.

Cosmic Chaos is an Action-RPG featuring DC Comics’ beloved superheroes, with the focus being primarily on the main Justice League trio of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. The game’s story features them having a relaxed celebration with other Justice Leaguers when Superman foe Mr. Mxyzptlk interrupts the event, declares himself town mayor (evidently so he can annoy Superman), brings back Starro to take over most of the Justice League, and summons a bunch of fish-people minions to carry out his bidding (and because the game needs some sort of mooks to act as fodder to fight through).

You can tell that this is a game that does not take itself seriously at all. And while there are plenty of fun little references to DC comics throughout its long history, the story itself seems largely disposable here, just an excuse to have your trio of heroes running around, fighting enemies, and performing menial tasks around a city. And personally, I found that the less-invested I tried to be in the story, the easier it was to get into this game rather than looking too hard at this game’s paper-thin plot.

To its credit, this game’s silly caricatures of DC’s characters is well-written enough that it generally manages to succeed at being amusing with its silliness. Much of this is due to the game’s solid voice cast doing a good job balancing the characters with the childish goofiness of the game’s tone. And when you have veteran voice actors like Nolan North, Diedrich Bader, Vanessa Marshall, Dana Snyder, and Fred Tatasciore, many reprising their roles as these characters in various other forms of media, then it should be little surprise that they still put out good work even when the material they’re given is somewhat lighter in substance.

The rest of Cosmic Chaos’ presentation is… okay. Look, the simple cartoony 3D art style may not be for everyone, and the lighthearted but forgettable soundtrack may not appeal to everyone, but it still largely serves its purpose. Only… well, on Nintendo Switch, the framerates are frustratingly choppy, despite that the game being rendered doesn’t exactly seem super-demanding.

While I’m not exactly won over by the art style or overall tone of the game, the gameplay here is mostly fairly decent. The game takes place in a fairly open world, but it’s not so large that I’d call it an Open-World game, nor is it filled with a lot of interesting things to do. Still, you’ll head from location to location as the plot demands, fighting enemies are accomplishing various tasks, and you’ll even have occasional elements like vehicles tossed in to add variety.

The combat here is okay, if a little repetitive, and players can (and are encouraged to) frequently swap between the three main characters, who each have their own repertoire of moves, each with their own cooldowns. Superman’s eye lasers can be great for clearing out an area, Batman’s batarangs ricochet in a way that makes him great for enclosed spaces, and Wonder Woman’s lasso works great to pull distant enemies towards you. Plus, as you progress, you’ll level up and gain access to additional abilities in an ability tree for each character, as well as getting equipment to further augment your character to better fit your own preferences.

Unfortunately, none of this truly shines the way you would want to. There’s a lot of button-mashing in combat, and enemies you’ll see repeated time and again. What’s more, the combat isn’t as fluid or responsive as you’d like, meaning that when you see an enemy gear up to attack and try to dodge, it might be a while before your character actually does it, leading to you taking hits that seem like they should have been avoided. What’s more, the equipment upgrades only come every once in a while, and not nearly as frequently as you’d find in loot-focused Action-RPGs.

The result of all of this is that DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos ends up being a mostly okay experience that doesn’t seem likely to satisfy anyone. It’s a little too complex for youngsters, but not deep enough for more seasoned Action-RPG gamers. The combat is satisfying in short bursts but repetitive and gets stale quickly. The story has solid voice acting and decent enough writing, but the plot is pointless fluff. And while DC characters are clearly beloved by many, I don’t think this cutesy take on them is something anyone was asking for. As a result, this seems like a game that deliberately aimed to be “okay but not great” and largely succeeded.

tl;dr – DC’s Justice League: Cosmic Chaos is an Action-RPG that has players swapping between cutesy versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, fighting an army of fish people summoned to support a scheme of Mr. Mxyzptlk. The voice acting is good here, and there has clearly been an attempt to add variety to the gameplay, but overall this is an okay but not great game with a lot of repetitive action, a divisive art style, and a disposable story. It’s hard to say exactly who this is for, but it’s hard to see anyone being thrilled with this, so much as mildly entertained until another better superhero game comes along.

Grade: C

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