Batman: Arkham Shadows can feel a little rough at times, but it’s still a worthy entry into the Arkham series and a must-have experience for Quest 3.
There’s a moment a few hours into Batman: Arkham Shadow where the prologue abruptly ends and the main game begins. Here, the experience shifts from a traditional, straightforward and fairly linear Batman game in the style of Rocksteady’s Arkham series to something entirely different. It took me a while to put my finger on it, but it suddenly clicked as I was roaming freely around the bowels of Blackgate Prison, listening to prisoners talk and trying to find some contraband to bribe the guards. This is a Batman Arkham game in every sense of the word, but it also gives off some absolutely delicious Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay vibes.
Original Xbox gamers know (and whisper) that Escape from Butcher Bay is one of the best games on the system. With its effortlessly immersive simulation elements, muscular combat, exploration, and character interactions, it makes you feel immersed in Riddick’s world as, you guessed it, he attempts to escape Butcher’s Bay Prison. Of course, Batman doesn’t actually have this problem. He’s Batman, so he has a lot of gadgets to help him escape. But without risking too many story spoilers, you’ll spend most of Batman Arkham Shadows exploring the inner workings of the Black Gate as a prisoner, and at night you’ll play as the Bat Revisit the prison as the Blackgate genpop in order to reach all the secret locations inaccessible to the Blackgate genpop.
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It’s a fascinating narrative idea from developer Camouflaj, who seems to have learned a lot from the fun but flawed Iron Man VR game. Although Iron Man VR has different levels and a repetitive mission structure, here you will feel like you are a part of the world because the flow of the story is not interrupted. You don’t have to load in and out of scenes, or return to the hub between missions; you’re constantly out and about, exploring the wonderful, thick, brooding, slightly metroidvania-esque areas of Blackgate. Sometimes you’ll also jump into a hastily constructed makeshift Batcave built into some hidden ruins beneath the prison – where you can suit up and discuss your plans with Alfred – but mostly Time will come when you will return to the prison cell. End a hard day of testing (and boxing, observing) and get a good night’s sleep to start a new cycle.
But let’s take a step back and start from the beginning. “Batman Arkham Shadow” is a VR game exclusive to Quest 3 and Quest 3S. As the official work of the Arkham series, it makes up for “Batman Arkham Orange” and “Batman Arkham Orange”. The gap between “Madhouse”. You don’t need to have played them to understand their significance, though, and to be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve played them that I’ve forgotten most of what happened. However, there are plenty of Easter eggs and references for die-hard fans of the series. The returning voice actors also add a level of familiarity and gravitas to the proceedings, while surprising newcomer Elijah Wood delivers some top-notch voice work.
It wasn’t just the vocal work that helped set the stage for this particular incarnation of the Arkham universe, though. This is also the charm of VR. The fact that you can look these characters in the eye as they speak their lines, sometimes while simultaneously handing over and taking items from them seamlessly, makes them come alive in a very believable way. You’re no longer just a camera floating above Batman, watching the action on a screen. This time you’re hooded, watching your Batman-shaped shadow grow larger and darker beneath you as you slide from gargoyle to unsuspecting foe. You’re embedded in the grime and decay of Gotham’s underworld (literally, as you’re in the sewer prologue), and thanks to some great hand and finger physics, you can touch the walls and surfaces of this fictional world as if They are really all around you.
Put on a VR headset, and Gotham City and Blackgate come to life in ways that haven’t been possible in the comics, movies, or any previous Batman game, with the exception of Batman Arkham VR, of course. But where Arkham VR is a static game, Shadow lets you live and breathe the world, moving around freely for around 12 hours or so, depending on your tolerance for collectible hunting (let’s Let’s face it, there are a whopping 135 collectibles) All in all, you’ll definitely have no shortage of things to find here). Some collectibles are hidden behind fun puzzles that either involve exploration, climbing, a bit of brainpower, or a combination of the three, making hoovering them all up a fun challenge – both physically and mentally. mentally. Plus, when combined with the fairly basic Challenge Mode, it really adds to the overall longevity of Shadow for those who really want to immerse themselves in its deepest nooks and crannies.
Now, speaking of sport, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the wealth of comfort settings here, which include options like standard click or smooth steering controls, as well as a number of customizable vignette settings. The only comfort option that doesn’t exist is “teleport movement”, probably because I suspect this method of movement would actively improve the fluidity of the Shadow combat mechanics. Instead, this is very much a “smooth movement” experience, and thankfully optional effects like speed lines and smooth framerate help reduce any potential issues. For what it’s worth, I turned off all comfort settings while gaming, except for the speed line (which is on by default), and I didn’t experience any abdominal discomfort. While Shadows is probably best played standing up, I played the game completely seated (because I’m lazy) and it worked perfectly. A quick altitude calibration at the start can make me feel like a bat for the rest of the race.
Shadow also makes good use of the Quest 3’s extra horsepower, as there are moments in the first few levels where you’re treated to stunning views of Gotham City that feel like they wouldn’t have been possible on previous Quest headsets without some serious cuts. of. They are a visual triumph, although I would say these spectacular views are a bit brutal. The distant fireworks and neon lights atop towering buildings tell the story of a big city worth exploring, but in reality, Gotham is a fairly small area compared to the rest of the game, and most of your time will be at the Black Gate Spend time within the gloomy confines of the prison, a place that lacks the vibrancy seen from the rooftops of Gotham.
When I first saw Shadow earlier this year, developer Camouflaj was keen to show me the three pillars of a good Arkham game: deep combat, stealth-based looter gameplay gameplay, and a detective mode that lets you explore in depth. It felt like I was actually solving a crime. These goals were achieved, although some worked better than others. Head-to-head combat is a particular highlight, with the signature rhythm-action-style boxing from Rocksteady games translated perfectly to VR, with a handful of on-screen prompts letting you hit, block, and dodge with ease. In practice, pulling off a series of combos and triggering the finishing move feels effortless and cool, and the combat itself is well spread out so you rarely feel physically fatigued. However, boss fights can last a long time, and since they consist of the classic three-stage setup, it’s easy to get tired, especially if you knock them out near the end (like I did), Just redo the entire multi-stage battle from scratch as you then do.
It also feels great to take a more stealthy approach and stalk enemies from the shadows. Flying from one gargoyle to another using Batman’s trusty grappling hook is fast and smooth (and not vomit-inducing at all), while watching your prey from the rafters is all bone-crunching, up-close Observing your prey adds a nice, slow, Hitman-style strategic contrast. Range operations. However, Detective Mode remains Batman’s greatest weakness – though Shadows at least brings a welcome tactile flourish to proceedings here, as you need to tap the sides of the headset to bring it up. It’s still an effective way to find hidden routes and collectibles in the world, but the physical act of finding clues in various areas is still a bit of a pacing killer for me.
It’s certainly not as interactive as true VR greats like Half-Life Alyx, although there are a few items you can pick up and play with (the Rat King’s Manifesto or the darts, which seem to disappear behind walls when you throw them ), to name a few), your relationship with the world is mostly limited to punching people in the face and sliding open vent covers. That’s all well and good on its own, but after Alyx made you dig through drawers or draw crude drawings on windows with a felt-tip pen, it can’t help but feel like a step back.
From a performance perspective, Shadow ran very smoothly on my Quest 3 for the first half of the game, but as the game progressed, more issues started to arise. By the end, I was frequently seeing graphics stutters, enemies popping up in front of me, and there was even a weird moment where my Batman model fell off the floor and bounced around on the torso until I reloaded the check point. Thankfully the checkpoints were very generous so no real harm was done to my progress. Even more frustrating, however, is that sometimes character voiceovers would trigger prematurely, leading to moments of complete confusion and irritation as I wandered around trying to find something the game told me I should see, but didn’t find it yet.
Some of these glitches and performance issues may have been my own fault – I wore the Quest 3 for multiple three-hour sessions while playing the game for review while also recording footage through it, which may well have caused the Some bat bugs I found. However, a lot of the visual oddities also seem to happen more frequently when there’s a large group of enemies to fight, so if these are gameplay issues rather than hardware issues, we’re hoping Camouflaj can fix them in the near future.
With a little extra polish, Batman: Arkham Shadow could have been absolutely perfect. Despite some interactivity limitations and unpleasant bugs late in the game, this is easily one of the best VR games I’ve played to date, and the best native Quest game I’ve played to date. The fact that it looks so good and (mostly) runs so well on this portable headset without the need to connect to a powerful PC is no mean feat, and I applaud what Camouflaj has achieved here . It gives us VR enthusiasts a glimpse into the future, and the fact that it comes bundled with the Quest 3 and 3S makes this a great introduction to what this headset can do. Of course, this exclusivity will no doubt piss off long-time Bat fans, as this is truly a fantastic addition to the Arkham series as a whole. Given that this is a purely VR game, we’ll probably never see a flat version of it on other VR platforms, and a PS VR2 port currently feels less likely than Bruce Wayne seeing his parents alive again Possibility (too early)? ). However, if you’re a Batman fan and want to try out what Quest 3 can do, there’s no better game to get started.
Oculus Studios provided a copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow for review.
