Batman: Arkham Shadow review

2024 is off to a rough start for Arkhamverse fans. After eight years of waiting for a new game from Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady, fans have been served Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguelive continuation of the service Arkham a universe that was panned by critics and immediately abandoned by players. With how disastrous Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was, many saw the announcement of a virtual reality game Batman: Arkham Shadow like salt in the wound. Although it may not be a traditional home console Batman: Arkham game, I can safely say that fans of the franchise pissed off Suicide Squad they owe it to themselves Batman: Arkham Shadow go.

Set between events Batman: Arkham Origins and Arkham Asylum, Arkham Shadow begins on the 4th of July and will see Batman deal with the threat of the Rat King – a mysterious enemy with a gang of devoted followers who has made several apocalyptic threats to Gotham City. Players must solve the mystery behind the Rat King and save Gotham, all while playing through the eyes of Batman himself.

Arkham Shadow not the first crack at VR Batman: Arkham game, but for a while Arkham VR was more of a technical demo, Arkham Shadow is a full-fledged video game. It's a more than 10-hour experience that will test everything Arkham game box. Some may have dismissed it immediately Arkham Shadow because it's a VR game, but that's a mistake. Arkham Shadow is the real deal and the closest thing we've got to a real novelty Arkham game since 2015 Arkham Knight.

Batman: Arkham Shadow it does a great job of translating the hallmarks of a traditional home console Arkham games into the VR space. My biggest fear going into this was that the game would have no way to do this Arkham franchise is a trademark of the fight against justice, but what is achieved here surpasses all expectations. Shifting to first-person means a completely different perspective Arkhambrutal melee combat, but developer Camouflaj made a leap while maintaining the rhythmic nature of the game Arkham hard fighting franchise. Although instead of pressing buttons to beat bad guys, players have to literally punch them, while various visual cues are implemented to add additional depth to the process.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a true Arkham experience

Yellow indicators pop up to give players some direction as they pound the many enemies they come across Batman: Arkham Shadownot unlike rhythm games or boxing fitness apps. Players are alerted when another enemy is about to attack and have the option to swing their arm in that direction to block the hit. As the game progresses, enemies feature knives and armor that add extra steps to combat, such as dodging knife attacks with a physical dodge and stunning armored enemies with Batman's cape. The combat in this game made me sweat on the higher difficulties; Arkham Shadow combat is fun and it works like a real workout.

Because of how iconic ArkhamThe fight is, I think the most important thing was to do justice Arkham Shadow to achieve and it speaks volumes that he succeeds in this endeavour. But there is much more to it Arkham games than fighting. Atmosphere is another key ingredient and thankfully so Arkham Shadow delivers there too. Arkham Shadow is Arkham game through and through, with a dark, moody setting, impressive attention to detail, and clever references to the larger Arkham universe. Simply put, Arkham Shadow has the vibes fans expect from an Arkham game.

When surveying Arkham ShadowIn the game world, players have a lot more to do than beat up bad guys. Detective Vision is used to investigate crime scenes, as in the main games, where players examine objects and look for clues. Detective Vision is also useful for Predator sections where stealth is preferred over direct hand-to-hand combat. Players can easily swing from one perch to another and hunt down each guard in the room one by one in a manner that looks exactly like the Rocksteady games.

Arkham Shadow is a perfect translation of it Arkham gameplay into virtual reality. Fans will be happy to know that this applies to his story as well. The Arkham the games have always earned high praise for their gripping narratives and shocking twists Arkham Shadow supplies. The game is full of surprising revelations and offers an interesting turnkey story Batman characters. I don't want to go into details because I think Arkham fans should really experience this story for themselves, but rest assured that it's a story that lives up to the other games in the franchise.

That being said, the game is not without its flaws. There are some major drawbacks that prevent it from reaching the same heights as Arkham Asylum and Arkham Citythough the good news is that some of the game's bigger issues will hopefully be fixed through patches.

Forget Rats – Batman: Arkham Shadow has a bug issue

Batman: Arkham Shadow is a buggy game. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to restart a checkpoint due to a progression error that made it impossible to continue. Story events wouldn't trigger, Batman's hand wouldn't clench into a fist, doors wouldn't open, and all sorts of other issues frequently cropped up during my playthrough. In a few particularly awkward instances, Batman has gotten stuck in walls. The sheer number of bugs would be absolutely damning in other games, but Arkham ShadowWith frequent checkpoints, players can reload their last save to fix problems and lose virtually no progress. These issues are still frustrating, but they're less of a nuisance due to how easily they can be fixed.

Arkham ShadowIt's bugs will almost certainly be fixed in future updates and at that point it will become an even better game. One problem that won't be solved, however, is excessive backtracking. The vast majority of Batman: Arkham Shadow takes place in Blackgate Prison, with lots of repetitive gameplay sections and repeated realities players have to go through. In one area, players are basically repeating the same Predator takedown multiple times, but with slightly more and better armed guards, and it's getting boring. There are also some long story sections where players stand and listen to character conversations, which isn't boring as the writing and performances are great, but can be tiring for a standing VR game like this. I praise Arkham Shadow for offering players a full-length experience, but at the same time, I think its pacing would benefit from things being slowed down a bit.

Along with the full size story Arkham Shadow it also has interesting side content to try out in the form of combat challenges, optional puzzles and hidden collectibles. Just like the other one Arkham games, Arkham Shadow rewards players who stray from the beaten path. Combine that with an upgrade system that constantly expands Batman's combat capabilities and Arkham Shadow is easily one of the deeper VR games I've played.

Still some hardcore Arkham fans may remain unconvinced. The fact that Arkham Shadow is exclusive to Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets can match them more skeptical. However, I think Arkham Shadow it's definitely worth picking up a Quest 3 or 3S headset for die-hard fans of the franchise, if of course they plan to try other VR apps and games. Batman: Arkham Shadow is legitimately great Arkham a game that mostly lives up to the high bar set by the Rocksteady trilogy. A few patches will go a long way Arkham Shadow even better, but even now it's an easy recommendation for Quest 3 and 3S owners.

Batman: Arkham Shadow is now available for the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets. Game Rant was supplied with the game and a Quest 3 headset for review.