Arkham Shadow might be The Meta Quest 3’s best game yet

2016’s Batman: Arkham VR was a 90-minute tech demo for the original PSVR that served two purposes: to create countless videos of people doing silly dances in front of a mirror as Batman, and to get those same people to wondering why they spent $400 on the headset in the first place.

It would be generous to even call it a “game,” yet it was the best-selling PSVR software of the year in Europe. The damage Arkham VR has done to the new medium’s reputation cannot be overstated. Maybe it’s strange to be so hostile towards a game that no one remembers, but it’s one of the most blatant uses of intellectual property I can think of.

Arkham fans were not fans of the Arkham Shadow Reveal

So it’s no surprise that people are hostile towards Arkham Shadow. I was at the Summer Games Fest showcase when the first trailer was shown. When it was revealed that it was a VR game, a dissatisfied rumble, made up of the audience’s collective groans, rippled through the arena. That doesn’t happen with things like this. People are there to fanboy. The guy next to me jumped out of his seat and yelled at the Killer Bean supporter. But when you put the letters “V” and “R” together, especially after the word “Batman,” people get angry.

However, being VR’s bravest little soldier, I eagerly awaited Arkham Shadow. I want a real Arkham game like everyone else, but I also know that Camouflaj, the studio behind Arkham Shadow, knows more than a little about VR superhero games. Iron Man VR is one of my favorite PSVR games and a great example of how a superhero’s powers can be translated into virtual reality controls. If anyone here could do Arkham justice, it’s Camouflaj.

I’m ten hours into Arkham Shadow and so far it has exceeded all expectations. Aesthetically it’s spot on. You initially explore a post-Origins Gotham in the midst of ongoing unrest, and the look and feel of the city is spot on. All familiar Arkham versions of Batman’s supporting characters, such as Alfred, Harvey Dent, Jim Gordon and Barbara, are present and accurately portrayed. The writing is solid, the acting is on point, and the music is so resonant that even though all of the original compositions are by composer Kazuma Jinnouchi, it sounds exactly how I remember the sound of the old Arkham games.

Arkham Shadow is a real Arkham game

However, the gameplay is where Arkham Shadow truly earns its “Arkham” name. It mixes Metroidvania-style exploration, puzzle-solving, close-quarters combat, and stealthy “Predator” encounters in exactly the way you’d expect from an Arkham game. There are also plenty of gadgets to unlock and upgrade, as well as secrets to collect – although this time you’ll be smashing rat statues instead of Riddler trophies.

Predator missions are just as good as ever. Detective Vision (activated by tapping your temple) allows you to survey a room full of bad guys from one vantage point and then plan your attack as you silently and methodically eliminate them one by one. You can do everything here that you can do in a normal Arkham game, including swinging from gargoyle to gargoyle (why do all these rooms have gargoyles?), dropping smoke bombs, spinning around to silently grab and tie up an enemy, and swooping down to kick thugs in the background, hiding in a vent and jumping out to overwhelm them, stunning others with a Batarang, and so on. The techniques you’re familiar with are all here, but now you can physically re-enact Batman’s siege, which is just as cool as it sounds.

What impresses me most is the combat, which perfectly recreates the rhythmic dance of an Arkham brawl in a way I didn’t think possible in VR. You jump around the arena, landing blows on enemies and parrying incoming attacks, just like in the other games, while mixing up your techniques to build up your combo meter and unleash brutal finishing moves. The way Camouflaj translates Arkham’s combat into VR is brilliant in its simplicity and I can’t get enough of it, even when my arms are so sore I can barely type this. It’s so easy to get into the famous Arkham Flow state where you land hit after hit, jumping around enemies, breaking legs and cracking skulls wherever you want.

I’ve played a lot of VR games with great hand-to-hand combat, but never have fighting with bare fists felt so great. Your first hit on an enemy triggers a follow-up combo that you must activate either by hitting from a specific direction or by quickly hitting small targets. Once you’ve knocked down an enemy, you can finish them off by jumping on them and hitting them in the head with both fists. When an enemy appears behind you, all you have to do is extend your arm and you’ll automatically turn towards them and initiate a counter. It all feels fluid, intuitive and – when you feel like punching someone – extremely cathartic.

Arkham Shadow is about as far removed from Arkham VR as you can get. The only concessions it makes concern its scope. It’s not a sprawling open-world game like Arkham City and Arkham Knight, and it’s not as pretty as either of them – but what is a VR game? For all intents and purposes, however, Arkham Shadow is a true Arkham game. I know this won’t convince everyone, but if you’re an Arkham fan and willing to give VR a try, then I am

don’t think you will be disappointed.

Batman: Arkham Shadow

Batman: Arkham Shadow is an all-new game in the superhero action series developed by Camouflaj exclusively for the Meta Quest 3 VR headset.