Batman: Arkham VR

Being Batman in Akrham VR is a great way to more intimately experience Rocksteady's universe and to search for clues in this brief mystery. However, the world and characters around you are largely rigid and unresponsive to your actions, which leaves a lot on the table for a game about a character known as much for his brawn as he is for his brains.

The compact nature of the game's arc means its narrative rhythm feels a little off and things clatter to an end well before you expect - or want - them to. [Christmas 2016, p.120]

As an “interactive experience” Batman Arkham VR offers some great visuals and full immersion inside the world of the Dark Knight, but we can’t overlook the fact that it is an extremely short game with little to no replay value.

Batman: Arkham VR is an interesting and well made adventure. The whole thing may be too short and suffers from some technical issues but getting to know this story directly from Batman's perspective is an extraordinary feeling. We may know the mechanics and atmosphere but the VR really makes it worth your while.

Despite its criminally short playtime, Rocksteady’s venture into making you the Bat in Batman: Arkham VR is one of the must-have experiences for your PlayStation VR setup.

Batman: Arkham VR is a stunning experience. One that comes to an end way too quickly and without any kind of replayability.

Ultimately, if you don’t mind paying for what could be only an hour of gameplay to experience the excellent story and compelling characters of Rocksteady’s Arkham games, except this time in virtual reality, then Arkham VR will probably be perfect for you and for showing off your new kit to friends and family.

Nothing proves both the brilliance and failure of these early experimental stages of virtual reality gaming more than the new Batman game.

How much would you pay to be Batman for an hour? If your answer sits somewhere in the region of £15.99/$19.99, then Batman: Arkham VR is a virtual no-brainer. With the exception of the finicky motion tracking and brief running time, this is an exceptional short story that eloquently demonstrates many of the advantages of virtual reality.

Batman: Arkham VR is barely a game. Of all the launch titles for PlayStation VR, it's likely to be the least mechanically driven, but that doesn't mean it has no value. While playing it, I was totally enveloped in the world, and in those moments the shallow mechanics didn't matter to me. I appreciate that this is a very subjective emotional response based on my lifelong obsession with the character, but it's also a glimpse into one of the greatest promises of VR: Its ability to transport us into alien worlds and blur the lines between what is real and what isn't. To give us the opportunity to sideline our real selves and absolutely inhabit characters we've dreamed of being since childhood.

Playing Arkham VR is too much of a passive gaming experience, even though it's immersive.

In the end, the Batman: Arkham VR experience is worth it more for the very hard core fans because it’s such a short romp and others may feel a little robbed.

Incredibly interesting approach for the Batman Arkham saga, but only one hour of gameplay is insufficient to create a deep experience.

As many other nowadays VR games, Batman Arkham VR makes us dream of the greatness to come, or what it could have been. It's a first step to look at puzzles from another angle, although it's too easy, it doesn't take advantage of its own ideas ant it is an expensive game when you think about the price-length ratio.

Rocksteady has done a good job making us feel like Batman. As an experience it is quite good, but it's really pricey for the content it offers.

Arkham VR constantly walks the line between proof-of-concept and full game. It's legit in that it does feel like a real Arkham joint (Rocksteady was involved to boot) and not an outsourced addendum, but you can't actually move around -- instead, it feels more like an "escape the room" simulator, but if you couldn't actively walk around and investigate the environment.

A moderately interactive tour of familiar locations and themes (like the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents). It’s not bad, but sometimes the illusion bursts (objects you throw bounce off an invisible cage you’re in) and it’s a short, one time experience. [13/2016, p.77]

The real bright note though is a tightly constructed story that makes the slightly under two-hour experience worth going through, but left me wanting so much more.

You can't come up with a more intriguing VR premise than "Batman simulator," and developer Rocksteady has done their best to make it work. But despite how cool it is to simply exist in Gotham, the limited interactions and dumbed-down puzzles make the experience feel much less confident than it should be.

Everything about Batman Arkham VR is about putting you in the shoes of Batman. So, it’s unfortunate that those shoes don’t ever move. And for a character with endless depth such as Batman and Bruce Wayne, Batman Arkham VR seriously lacks the depth of a game that represents the first time gamers get to experience being Batman.

The best tech demo so far for PlayStation VR, but with some better storytelling it could also have been a good game in its own right.

Batman: Arkham VR isn’t a terrible VR experience — it even manages to deliver a satisfying twist ending to the short narrative — but it’s a far cry from the type of game fans want or expect. What was shipped here is little more than a tech demo, or a museum of objects and features that are never fully realized. Just as each scene from the game starts to feel like its picking up some steam, it’s over and you’re onto the next vignette of content. Die hard Batman fans will find enough fan service to warrant a purchase, but if you’re looking for an actual game featuring the Dark Knight in VR, then you’re better off waiting a while longer.