Batman Arkham Shadow review – a masterclass in immersion that makes you feel like a part of Gotham

There’s a moment a couple of hours into Batman Arkham Shadow when the prologue ends abruptly and the main game kicks off. It’s here where the experience turns from what seems like a traditional, straight forward and fairly linear Batman game in the style of Rocksteady’s Arkham series into something else entirely. It took me a little while to put my finger on it, but as I wandered freely around the interior of Blackgate penitentiary, listening to prisoners’ conversations as I tried to find some contraband to bribe a guard with, it clicked. This is a Batman Arkham game in every possible way, but it oozes some absolutely delicious Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay vibes, too.

Original Xbox heads will know that (whisper it) Escape from Butcher Bay was one of the best games on the system. With its light immersive-sim elements, muscular combat, exploration and character interaction, it made you feel immersed in Riddick’s world as he attempted to, you guessed it, escape from Butcher Bay prison. Batman doesn’t really have that problem, of course. He’s Batman, so he’s got a bunch of gadgets to help him out when it comes to a spot of escapology. But without risking too much of a story spoiler, you’ll spend the main bulk of Batman Arkham Shadow exploring the inner workings of Blackgate in the daytime as a prisoner of sorts, while at night you’ll revisit the prison as Batman in order to reach all those secretive places that are out of bounds for Blackgate’s genpop.

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It’s an engaging narrative conceit from developer Camouflaj, who seems to have learned a lot from its fun but flawed Iron Man VR game. While Iron Man VR had separate levels with repetitive mission structures, here you feel like an integral part of the world because there’s no interruption to the flow of the story. You don’t load in and out of scenarios, or back out to a hub between missions; you’re constantly out and about, exploring these wonderful, chunky, brooding and faintly Metroidvania-style sections of Blackgate. Occasionally you’ll also hop along to a hastily constructed temporary Batcave built in some hidden ruins beneath the prison – where you can suit up and discuss your plans with Alfred – but most of the time you’ll be heading back to your cell at the end of a hard day’s detecting (and punching, obvs) and have a nice sleep to kickstart a new cycle.

But let’s back up a bit and start from the very beginning. Batman Arkham Shadow is a VR game that’s exclusive to the Quest 3 and Quest 3S and, as an official entry into the Arkham series, it bridges the gap between Batman Arkham Oranges and Batman Arkham Asylum. You don’t need to have played either for it to make sense, though, and to be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve played them that I’ve forgotten most of what happens. For hardcore fans of the series, however, there are Easter eggs and references galore. The returning voice actors also add a level of familiarity and gravitas to the proceedings, while a surprising newcomer in the form of Elijah Wood provides some top notch voice work, too.

It’s not just the vocal work that helps to ground this particular incarnation of the Arkhamverse, though. It’s the VR-ness of it all as well. The fact that you’re able to look these characters in the eyes as they deliver their lines, sometimes seamlessly handing over or taking objects from them at the same time, brings them to life in a very believable way. You’re not just a floating camera above Batman anymore, watching the action play out on a screen. This time you’re there, wearing the cowl, and watching your own Batman-shaped shadow grow larger and darker below you as you glide from a gargoyle towards an unsuspecting enemy. You’re in among the grime and decay of Gotham’s underworld (literally, when you’re in the sewer prologue) and thanks to some great hand and finger physics, you can touch the walls and surfaces of this fictional world as if they were really there beside you.

Putting on a VR headset brings Gotham and Blackgate to life in ways that just aren’t possible in the comics, movies or any previous Batman game, save for maybe Batman Arkham VR, of course. But whereas Arkham VR was a static affair, Shadow lets you live and breathe in this world, moving around inside it freely for a good 12 hours or so, depending on your tolerance for collectible hunting (and let’s face it, with a whopping 135 collectibles in total, you’re certainly not short on things to find here). Some collectibles are hidden behind fun puzzles that involve either exploration, climbing, a bit of brain power, or a combination of all three, which makes hoovering them all up a fun challenge – both physically and mentally. Plus, when taken together with the rather basic challenge modes, it does all add to Shadow’s overall longevity for those who really want to immerse themselves in its deepest nooks and crannies.

Now, speaking of movement, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the wealth of comfort settings here, which include options such as the standard click or smooth turn controls, plus a host of customisable vignette settings. The only comfort option that’s not present is ‘teleport to move’, probably because I suspect this method of locomotion would actively work the fluidity of Shadow’s combat mechanics. Rather, this is very much a ‘smooth move’ experience, and thankfully optional effects such as speed lines and a nice smooth frame rate help to reduce any potential issues there. For what it’s worth, I played with all the comfort settings turned off aside from the speed lines (which are on by default) and I didn’t have a single whiff of tummy troubles. While Shadow is probably best played standing, I played through the game completely seated (because I’m lazy) and it worked absolutely fine. A quick height calibration at the start was all I needed to feel like the Bat for the rest of my playtime.

Shadow makes the most of the Quest 3’s extra horsepower, too, as there are moments during the first few levels where you’re given a gorgeous glimpse of Gotham that feel like they just wouldn’t be possible on previous Quest headsets without some serious cutbacks. They’re a visual triumph, though I will say that these spectacular views are a bit of a cruel tease. The distant fireworks and neon lights atop towering buildings speak of a large city to explore, but actually, Gotham is quite a small area compared to the rest of the game, and the majority of your time will be spent within the gloomy confines of Blackgate prison, a place that lacks a lot of the vibrancy seen from Gotham’s rooftops.

When I first got a glimpse of Shadow earlier in the year, developer Camouflaj was keen to impress upon me the three pillars of what makes a good Arkham game: in-depth combat, stealth-based predator gameplay, and a detective mode that makes you feel like you’re actually solving crimes. These targets have all been hit, although some work better than others. The face-to-face combat is a particular high point, with the signature rhythm-action style punching of Rocksteady’s games translating perfectly into VR with some on screen prompts that allow you to hit, block and dodge with ease. Pulling off a string of combos and triggering a finisher move feels effortlessly cool in practice, and the fights themselves are nicely spread out, too, so you’ll rarely feel physically tired. The boss fights, however, can go on for quite a while as they consist of that classic, three stage setup and it’s easy to feel fatigued from these, especially if you biff them right near the end (like I did) as you then have to redo the whole multi-stage fight right from the beginning again.

Taking a stealthier approach and stalking your foes from the shadows feels great, too. Zipping from gargoyle to gargoyle using Batman’s trusty grapple hook is fast and fluid (and not at all vomit-inducing), and surveying your prey from the rafters adds a nice, slow, Hitman-style strategic contrast to all the bone crunching, close-range combat. Detective mode, however, continues to be Batman’s biggest weakness – though Shadows does at least bring a welcome tactile flourish to proceedings here, as you’ll need to tap the side of your headset to bring it up. It’s still an effective way to search the world for hidden routes and collectibles, but the physical act of combing through areas for clues remains a bit of a pace killer for me.

It’s certainly not as interactive as the true VR greats, such as Half-Life Alyx, for example, and while there are a few items you can pick up and fiddle with (Rat King manifestos or darts that seem to disappear behind walls when you throw them to name a couple), the thrust of your relationship with the world is mostly limited to punching people in the face and sliding open vent covers. All fine in and of itself, but it can’t help but feel like a step down after Alyx let you rifle through drawers or draw rude pictures on windows with a felt tip pen.

Performance-wise, Shadow ran as smooth as silk on my Quest 3 for the first half of the game or so, but more issues started to ramp up the further I progressed. Towards the end, it was fairly common to see graphical stutters, enemies popping into existence in front of me and there was even a strange moment where my Batman model fell halfway through the floor and then pogoed around on its torso until I reloaded the checkpoint. Thankfully, checkpoints are very generous, so no real harm was done regarding my progress. More frustrating, though, were the times when characters’ voice lines would trigger too early, leading to moments of utter confusion and aggravation as I wandered around trying to find things the game told me I was supposed to be seeing, but hadn’t found yet.

It’s possible that some of these glitches and performance issues might have occurred through my own making – I was wearing my Quest 3 for multiple three-hour-long sessions while playing this for review, all while recording footage through it as well, which may well have contributed to some of the Bat bugs I spotted. However, a lot of these visual oddities also seemed to occur more frequently when there were big groups of enemies to fight, so if these are game problems rather than hardware ones, here’s hoping that Camouflaj will patch them up in the near future.

With a little extra polish, Batman Arkham Shadow could be absolute perfection. Despite some of the limitations in interactivity and the jarring bugs in the later stages of the game, this is easily one of the best VR games I’ve played to date, and by far the best native Quest game I’ve ever played. The fact that it looks so good and (mostly) runs so well on this portable headset without needing a powerful PC attached is no mean feat, and I applaud Camouflaj for what it’s been able to achieve here. It’s a glimpse at a wonderful future ahead of us VR enthusiasts, and the fact it’s being bundled in with the Quest 3 and 3S makes this a fantastic introduction to what this headset is capable of. Sure, that exclusivity will no doubt annoy long-term Bat fans, as this really is a fantastic addition to the Arkham series as a whole. Given this is a pure VR game, we’ll likely never see a flat version of it appear on other VR platforms, and the chances of a PS VR2 port currently feel lower than those of Bruce Wayne ever seeing his parents alive again (too soon?). Still, if you’re Batman mad and want a taste of what the Quest 3 can do, there’s really no better starter game than this.

A copy of Batman Arkham Shadow was provided for review by Oculus Studios.