Tired and tested

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Warner Bros

• Developer: Rocksteady Studios
• Publisher: Warner Bros
• Release: Out now
• On: Windows
• From: Steam , Epic Games
• Price: £60/€70/$70
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i5-1340F, 16GB RAM, Nvidia GTX 3060, Windows 11

For reasons no more complicated than the fact you can’t give Superman a machine gun, you get to play as the villains in this one. Harley Quinn stars alongside three additional baddies plucked from the dustiest recesses of the DC universe wiki, each armed with their own signature style of fighting and movement. Quinn swings on Spider-Man-esque ropes, Deadshot has an Iron Man-esque jetpack, Captain Boomerang can teleport, and King Shark sort of hulks around the place.

It’s all very legally distinct stuff, and takes place in a version of Metropolis besieged by Brainiac, the DC mega-villain who’s conveniently turned the Justice League so incredibly evil that murdering them one by one in a series of self-contained combat arenas over the course of a few dozen hours is the only justifiable response. Brainiac lives inside an enormous hovering skull, by the way, looming over the city like a colossal metal pervert, a pair of glowing, Barbie-pink eyes watching your every move.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Warner Bros

Combat is designed to keep you constantly moving. Some enemies will helpfully telegraph their upcoming attacks, giving you a brief window to counter them with a special shot. Your shield is replenished by meleeing sufficiently weakened enemies, prompting you to repeatedly switch between long-range and short-range attacks. In this way you’re forever diving into throngs of enemies, smacking them up for a bit, then zipping away again to keep your combo-level ticking over. It’s conventional stuff, but lots of fun.

The gradually increasing combo gauge really seems like it should have been the central pillar of the game’s combat, as it often feels sidelined in all of the carnival mayhem, though. You’ll routinely blast your way to a 50x combo without actively trying to, only realising you’ve hit the combo cap when your eyes find a spare millisecond to glance at the indicator on the edge of the screen.

Layered atop the basic combat is an increasingly chaotic set of special moves, critical hits, grenades, afflictions and traversal attacks – so much that the fighting starts to feel bogged down by the needless complexity of it all. At its very best, fights in Suicide Squad feels exquisitely choreographed, thrumming and bouncy. The vast amount of information on screen – the whizzing digits, the neon explosions and the glittering, fruit machine light shows – pushes down hard on whichever bit of the human brain is responsible for dispensing sweet, sweet dopamine.

<img loading=“lazy” src=“https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/suicide-squad-777.jpg?width=2048&height=2048&fit=bounds&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp" onerror=“this.onerror=null;this.src=‘https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhe7F7TRXHtjiKvHb5vS7DmnxvpHiDyoYyYvm1nHB3Qp2_w3BnM6A2eq4v7FYxCC9bfZt3a9vIMtAYEKUiaDQbHMg-ViyGmRIj39MLp0bGFfgfYw1Dc9q_H-T0wiTm3l0Uq42dETrN9eC8aGJ9_IORZsxST1AcLR7np1koOfcc7tnHa4S8Mwz_xD9d0=s16000';" alt=“Captain Boomerang shoots an enemy, with the numbers “777” popping out of them in Suicide Squad. - 4”>

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Warner Bros

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Warner Bros

But less would have been so much more here. Suicide Squad’s overly fussy combat exists to serve the game’s loot machine: so that you can discover and equip new guns and equipment with buffs that do things like increase the amount of shield energy you harvest, lower your traversal cooldown times, apply afflictions or give you an infinitesimally better chance of landing a critical hit. The game seems to be aware of this too, and offers contracts and missions that reward you for murdering baddies using moves you might have forgotten existed.

Your rewards for all of this scrapping are an endless glut of colourful resources, which come in way too many flavours to count. There are experience points, naturally enough, and then money, and then some sort of alloy I think. Then the likes of special Penguin juice needed for an entirely superfluous crafting system, which lets you recycle old weapons and reroll buffs and so on, and so on, until your eyes glaze over, you slump forward in your seat and quietly choke to death on your own tongue.

Suicide Squad piles conventional live service feature on top of conventional live service feature, until this poor overburdened donkey’s spine begins to buckle and break under the weight of it all. The grind becomes an overwhelming ordeal, and it becomes increasingly difficult to tease much basic enjoyment out of the repetitive mission types and the achingly incremental loot upgrades.

Still, the story and its characters are entertaining enough to pull you through the morass of dull resource harvesting and loot unboxing. After a faltering start, the gratingly sarcastic protagonists each become genuinely likeable characters, with seemingly billions of lines of spoken dialogue between them. But just as the nattering brings the characters out of a slump, their non-stop quipping means reactive conversations between the squad regularly overlap with Batman’s delightfully arch radio narration, which overlaps with important mission dialogue, which overlaps with overheard grunt chatter, all creating the uncomfortable sensation that you’ve become trapped in a fast-moving, fully voice-acted Twitch chat.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Warner Bros

The writing suffers from that singularly sarcastic tone found in all comic book movies – and it’s frequently apparent that actors weren’t recording their lines in the same room, or even at the same time – but for the most part Suicide Squad has a well-written and performed script. It’s especially gratifying to hear squad mates dole out highly specific compliments when you manage to pull off a particularly good bit of fighting.

This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by publishers Warner Bros.

Find out how we conduct our reviews by reading our review policy .

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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Still Wakes the Deep, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun and Deathsprint 66 makers to lay off hundreds of staff

Image credit:Focus Entertainment

Sumo Group, the British video game collective which owns developers Sumo Digital, publishers Secret Mode and more - including Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture devs The Chinese Room - is laying off hundreds of staff, cutting 15% of their workforce “to better navigate the upcoming challenges expected in the coming months”.

The news came just a couple of days after Secret Mode showed off upcoming PC releases Critter Café, freerunning Mario Kart-but-deadly-a-like Deathsprint 66 and The Chinese Room’s next moody title Still Wakes the Deep during Summer Games Fest over the weekend, with Sumo Digital chirpily celebrating the “busy weekend” on Monday . The very next day, Sumo Group - which owns the various Sumo Digital studios - released a separate announcement of layoffs, stating that they would be “reshaping operations” to “to ensure the security of the business going forward”.

The layoffs will hit up to 15% of the entire group’s workforce across its 19 UK, Canadian, Polish, Czech and Indian offices - meaning up to 270 people may be affected, going by the latest headcount of 1,790 on the company’s website .

Well… we’ve had a busy weekend! 😅 ICYMI @WeAreSecretMode announced @CritterCafeGame at @_WholesomeGames AND showed exclusive gameplay of @DeathSprint66 at the @pcgamer Show, alongside a haunting launch trailer for @SWTD_Game 🌊 ..We’re off for a lie-down! pic.twitter.com/nHtDCJXxHc — Sumo Digital (@SumoDigitalLtd) June 10, 2024

“This is an incredibly challenging process to go through for everyone at Sumo and our focus is now on supporting our people and working with our partners on their games as we move forward to ensure we emerge from this difficult time, ready for the future,” Sumo wrote. Good luck to all those affected.

Deathsprint 66

PC

Hogwarts Legacy

PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Still Wakes The Deep

Video Game

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun

PC

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