"Batman: Arkham Shadow": Thrilling punch combos in virtual reality
Finally, another great VR game with lots of potential: In "Batman: Arkham Shadow", you personally box your way through Gotham's underworld.
(Image: Camouflaj / Meta)
"Batman: Arkham Shadow" is set to be the Bat's first major action adventure in VR, with everything that goes with it: exploration, combat, gadgets, puzzles, big boss battles and story sequences. The latter revolve around the sinister Rat King and his fanatical cult. An extensive playthrough at Gamescom raised hopes that the game will transport the motivating fights and combos more than worthily into the virtual reality world. The hand-to-hand punches and combos are as challenging as in VR fitness or rhythm games. Here, however, they are part of a fully-fledged action adventure game that has been in development for three years and will be released exclusively for Quest 3 in October 2024.
When faced with a group of enemies, you have to consider their position with the right timing. At the touch of a button, you can dash towards one of the henchmen and deal a few timely blows wherever the symbols indicate. A few hits on the twelve, a right hook and, in between, you stretch your arm out to the side to fend off a rash colleague outside your field of vision. There is also a visual warning in such moments of surprise. If you react quickly enough, you can keep up the motivating "combo dance" of fists.
In combat, only the timing of the blows plays a role, not the speed at which the VR controllers move. "Everyone plays VR a little differently," Director Ryan Payton ("Metal Gear Solid 4") explained to us in Cologne, "some people punch quickly, others slowly. Boxing players use different angles. (...) So we have to support a lot of different inputs for one action."
With cape, Batarang and a lot of physical effort
In between, you can explore the catacombs to discover small key puzzles and hidden ledges. In larger areas full of guards, you can also spread out your arms to glide towards an enemy with your cape or outstretched foot. If you are spotted, you can quickly move from one wall ledge to the next with your Batarang or harpoon until the enemy loses orientation. A silent approach makes the attack much easier. Once a few guards have been cleared out of the way, direct combat also becomes a sensible strategy.
Visually, it is already clear that some members of the studio have been working with the Unity engine since version 3.0 and therefore have a lot of experience. The technology is really impressive for a mobile VR title. Soft real-time shadows, fine fog and "audio ray tracing" capture the Batman flair beautifully. As the game is no longer being released for the weaker Quest 2, the areas are larger and the materials have a much higher resolution, explained Payton.
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However, we would have liked to see more manipulable objects to play around with in the environment. In games like"Half-Life: Alyx", such movable objects give the subconscious the feeling of being in a believable world and not in a game setting. However, too many moving objects in the environment can also distract the player. Payton explained to us that the team deliberately focuses on game-relevant items or hidden collectibles from the well-known Rat Catcher. Other objects can only rarely be moved here.
The Batman adventure, which is around twelve hours long, only remains linear at the beginning. After around 90 minutes, the world opens up, in which you explore Zelda-like dungeons or open obstacles with new gadgets in the "Metroidvania" style. These include, for example, the gel launcher, which uses explosive charges to blow open passageways.
Lessons from "Iron Man VR"
Payton said that the team wanted to avoid filler material like in the PSVR title "Iron Man VR" at all costs this time. When the team learned from the news at the time that "Half-Life: Alyx" was to be twelve hours long, Payton felt under pressure: "I was afraid that we would be compared to it. In a panic, I added more battles to the game and artificially lengthened Iron Man VR. Out of sheer fear, which wasn't a good idea."
(Image: heise online / jpw)
In the quest conversion of "Iron Man VR", the developers later deleted some superfluous encounters. In "Batman: Arkham Shadow" there is also more variety, Payton explained: "We have enemies with knives, with shields, we have stun attacks with the cape and all these other moves that you unlock over the course of the game." The game's balance and pace are based on the popular "Batman: Arkham Asylum" from 2009, but the ratio of fighting, sneaking, puzzles and story is balanced slightly differently to do justice to the special features of the VR medium.
The team also uses a trick to ensure that exploring larger levels does not become tiring. Many transitions between rooms and corridors have 45-degree bends. This means that they are precisely matched to the fast 45-degree turn (snap turn) typical of VR. After "turning" with the right stick, you immediately have the next area in view and can continue straight ahead. The developers are trying to avoid 90-degree turns, as test players felt exhausted much more quickly after the necessary two stick movements.
So far, it looks as if the gameplay tricks are working. Even in our test game, all the game mechanics interlocked surprisingly well. If Camouflaj keeps up the motivation for more than twelve hours this time, we can expect a real Quest 3 highlight in October – unlike the much too short "Batman: Arkham VR" from 2017.
(jpw)
