TechRadar Verdict
Batman: Arkham Shadow is a full-on AAA VR experience that everyone with a Meta Quest 3 or 3S should try, and people who don’t have either headset need to get one to play this game.
Visceral combat
Compelling mystery narrative
A VR masterpiece
Glitchy
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Batman: Arkham Shadowis a masterclass in what a VR game should be. It thrusts you into an immersive experience with gameplay that encourages realistic fighting movement and interacting with your environment in ways a flat console title could never offer, and the narrative-driven mystery is packed with emotionally powerful scenes that’ll have you forgetting you aren’t really Bruce Wayne for a moment.
Platform reviewed:Meta Quest 3Available on:Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 3SRelease date:October 21, 2024
These elements culminate in an experience that I never wanted to put down. Every one of myArkham Shadowplay sessions would begin with me unplugging my fully chargedMeta Quest 3, and end with me taking it off because my battery had hit zero.
The only letdown from this otherwise flawlessVR gameisArkham Shadowis chocked full of glitches.
The vast majority are minor – visual defects here and there – and anything actually game-breaking is easily solved by resetting to the last generously doled-out checkpoint (meaning I lost at most 10s of progress any time I had to reload). However, a few bugs near the finale caused my game to crash partway through what felt like a significant flashback (when I rebooted the title I had skipped it, with no way to rewatch it) and the final challenging puzzle of the adventure became an utter frustration as I was forced to replay it half a dozen times because interactable items wouldn’t behave properly causing me to fail (with it only being solved by another hard reset).
Batman: Arkham Shadowis easily up there with the best VR games ever, there are even arguments to be made that it’s the best VR game of all time. It’s such a delightful experience I’d count it among the top games of 2024, period. Everyone with a Meta Quest 3 orMeta Quest 3Sshould play it whether they got it free with a recent headset purchase or not, and those of you who have previously dismissed VR should seriously consider getting a Quest 3 to try this game (and then explore everything else the platform has to offer likeVendetta Forever,Asgard’s Wrath 2, andWalkabout Mini Golf).
Unfortunately, the glitches have to knock it down a peg right now – which is why it’s not getting a five-star score despite my praise. I’m sure in a month or two when the holes have been patched it’ll be perfect, but as it stands today it’s not quite there.
Ready for a brawl
Now that I’ve frontloaded my only issue withArkham Shadow, let’s get into everything that makes it special starting with combat.
Arkhamverse titles are defined by their fighting, a flowing dance of blows interspersed with combo finishers and gadget trickery. Beyond moving the camera from third to first person,Arkham Shadowis a perfect recreation of this system with fights feeling utterly thrilling.
To build up your combo you must do more than merely fling your arms wildly, instead like a boxer you must mix up your straight punches with hooks or a quick flurry of blows as the game instructs you. You’ll also want to dodge out of the way of attacks or punch to counter them and keep building your combo. And just like any other Batman game, you can rely on a well-timed Batarang or small explosive to disorientate your enemies to earn a few extra points in your combat scorecard and level up faster.
Leveling up allows you to upgrade your skills, armor, and gadgets – with my favorite being a quick takedown option for knife enemies that have you pull off a brutal finishing blow after dodging their swipes.
There’s also the iconic predator mode stealth sections in which Batman is encouraged to take a more discrete approach – silently taking enemies down by choking them out while they’re not looking or suspending them from perches.
These more puzzle-like combats require a mixture of patience and out-of-the-box thinking to solve them silently, though you can always rely on a quick smokescreen if stealth isn’t your forte.
Once you have mastered your predator and combat skills you can put them to the test in three bonus challenge scenarios respectively. They’re short and sweet but give you a chance to truly flex once you’ve unlocked every upgrade and finished the campaign.
Who is the Rat King?
Speaking of, while I’ll keep things spoiler-lite, know that theArkham Shadownarrative is a treat – even Batman super fans will get caught up in the Cult of the Rat King mystery that will keep you guessing until the credits roll.
I adored the mystery ofArkham Shadow, even as an Arkhamverse and Batman fan I was caught off guard by the narrative’s twists.
One big deviationArkham Shadowtakes from the rest of the series is a decent chunk of your time (I’d say about 15 to 20% of the game) is spent out of the suit. This gives you the chance to interact with members of Gotham City on a more human level, even RP as Bruce Wayne a bit with dialogue choices. This isn’t the Batman Telltale game, your actions won’t impact the story’s outcome at all, though it will change a few interactions and make it feel like you’re able to put your stamp on Batman.
Through its Batman, and non-Batman, encounters,Arkham Shadowdoes well to carve out its take on the series’ allies and Rogues Gallery too. Given the title’s placement betweenOriginsandAsylumdeveloper Camouflaj is somewhat restricted in what it can and can’t do. Jim Gordon, for example, can’t be killed off because we know he survives into future entries.
You wouldn’t notice these constraints while playing, however. The compelling narrative has a believable flow, and Arkham Shadow finds time and space to show us a different side to the likes of Jim Gordon, Harleen Quinzel, Harvey Dent, and others while still making them feel like the characters we love (or love to hate).
While you can get more up close and personal with the Arkhamverse lore in this entry, fans of the series’ collectibles which reward you with bonus side-stories and background info will appreciate the litany of secrets hidden inShadow.
There are Rat King Idols and Broadcasts to destroy, patient tapes to recover, memories of Arkham Origins to recollect, and carvings to decipher. Each is hidden just out of sight, behind a tricky puzzle, or requiring you to come back later once you’ve picked up a gadget inAsylum’s Metroidvania style.
Collectathons can feel tedious, but gathering up every item was a lot of fun with a really solid mix of puzzles relying on uniquely VR gameplay or simple brain teasers – or in some cases, not so simple.
Gathering them all as I did should meanArkham Shadowwill last you between 10 and 15 hours, which is about as long as the campaign ofArkham Asylumwith a side quest or two thrown in.
Should you play Batman: Arkham Shadow?
Play it if…
You’ve always wanted to be BatmanMore so than any game before itArkham Shadowturns you into Gotham’s vigilante that’ll leave you wanting to shout iconic quotes long into the night.
You have a Meta Quest 3If you have a Quest 3 or Quest 3S even if you didn’t get this title for free with your headset you need to play it ASAP.
Don’t play it if
You hate glitchesArkham Shadowis fun but darn glitchy. If you want a smooth experience wait for a few more patches then give it a try.
You get very easily motion sickWith no teleportation movementArkham Shadowis a little inaccessible to VR newcomers and those of you who get easily motion sick. That said, I can struggle with motion sickness in VR too still, but this game’s other comfort controls helped my enjoy hours long play sessions.
Accessibility
Like other VR games,Arkham Shadowrequires a fair amount of movement. You can play it seated using the height calibration setting (though standing is more immersive), but you will need a full range ofarmmovement to engage with the combat and its mobility puzzles.
Additionally, this game can only be played with smooth control stick movement giving it a ‘Moderate’ score on Meta’s comfort scale. Even though I’m a VR veteran at this point I still get motion sickness very easily so this did worry me, however, I found that with the vignette turned to medium I was able to play for hours – literally the whole battery life of my Meta Quest 3 – without feeling sick. Absolute newcomers may want to get a little more used to VR before diving in quite so deeply, but from my experience, the lack of teleportation movement shouldn’t be a major accessibility issue.
How I tested Batman: Arkham Shadow
For this review of Batman: Arkham Shadow I achieved a 100% completion rate – that means I found every collectible and finished the story. I had intended to simply complete the main quest, but I found the experience so gripping I wanted to squeeze every last drop of Batman I could out of this title. I also played on Hard difficulty which provided a decent challenge. If you’ve playedArkhamgames or a few VR action titles before this is the level I’d recommend.
To review it I did try the game on my Meta Quest 3S, but the vast majority of the time I used my Meta Quest 3. It’s the standard headset outfitted with theRazer head strap and facial interfacefor added comfort – something I greatly appreciated during my hours-long play sessions.
Hamish is a Senior Staff Writer for TechRadar and you’ll see his name appearing on articles across nearly every topic on the site from smart home deals to speaker reviews to graphics card news and everything in between. He uses his broad range of knowledge to help explain the latest gadgets and if they’re a must-buy or a fad fueled by hype. Though his specialty is writing about everything going on in the world of virtual reality and augmented reality.
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