For the most part, Rocksteady doesn't want you to linger too much in any given area, seeing as most people have varying tolerances for how long they can stay in VR. That said, Batman's various investigations don't provide much of a challenge, though the intimate interactions with the environments-picking up items, interacting with objects, pulling switches-always feel satisfying. I played through Arkham VR with Move controllers, and selecting these items amounted to moving one of the controllers to the proper area on my own waist, and clicking the trigger button.Īs with many of these early VR experiences I've played, I get the sense that Rocksteady doesn't quite know what obstacles players are capable of overcoming-though, to be fair, getting stuck on an adventure game puzzle in virtual reality seems like it would be a special kind of hell. These items are fairly easy to access, too, and sit on the center, left, and right sides of the utility belt you see floating in mid-air while looking down. And to solve these challenges, Batman has three tools at his disposal: a high-tech scanner, which can reveal fingerprints and see inside some objects, his grappling hook, which can pull things down and towards him, and transport Batman to different areas, and Batarangs, which are mostly used to hit switches. In the beginning, you'll find yourself in Wayne Manor, tasked with finding the secret entrance to the Batcave, while later scenes ask you to do heavier lifting in terms of puzzles.
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I'm sure Rocksteady could have done something more creative with the character, but Arkham VR only aspires to give you a sampling of Batman-related stuff in one virtual reality experience: a dash of The Joker, a sprinkling of The Penguin, a pinch of Alfred, and so on.Īrkham VR plays out by pushing you through a series of distinct scenes (tied together by an overarching narrative) with their own interactive environments and distinct goals. You know Rocksteady isn't particularly interested in telling an original story when Batman: Arkham VR opens with the iconic slaying of Bruce Wayne's parents-finally, you can watch the moment you've likely seen one-thousand times play out in virtual reality! But, for the most part, the somewhat uninspired narrative doesn't matter all that much: Simply put, it's pretty cool to just be Batman. In some ways, Batman: Arkham VR feels like a new evolution of classic adventure games, but the sometimes-unreliable tech often undermines its goals.
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This iteration of Batman cuts out the action nearly entirely, and puts him in full detective mode, meaning you'll be doing less swinging, kicking, and punching, and more investigating, scanning, and analyzing.
At first glance, it seems like a formula that can't fail but if you're hoping Batman: Arkham VR apes the actions and mechanics of Asylum, City, Origins, and Knight, you're in for a rude awakening. So, it's not surprising to see PSVR launch alongside a simulation of this childhood dream-and one developed by Arkham series creators Rocksteady, no less. "You can be Batman" might be one of the more convincing virtual reality premises ever created, seeing as children born since 1940 have been running around in their backyards with makeshift masks and grappling hooks. Batman: Arkham VR PlayStation 4 Review: A Real Stand-Up Hero Batman: Arkham VR PlayStation 4 Review: A Real Stand-Up Hero About this game