Batman: Arkham VR System Requirements

Genre: Adventure, Virtual Reality
Developer: Rocksteady Studios Ltd
Year: 2017

In this fairly short VR adventure, the player gets to experience what it’s like to be the Batman. The game starts with young Bruce witnessing his parents getting killed in front of him and then fast forwards to the time he’s become Batman. Your sidekick, Robin, has gone missing and in order to find and rescue him you’ll have to follow the clues, visit some of the known areas from Batman franchise, such as Bruce’s mansion, bat cave, Arkham asylum and other parts of Gotham city, including the morgue. Some of the familiar villains appear in this game, namely Penguin and Joker, that Batman gets to interact with closely.

The VR headset is used to look around at any direction. Looking back can be done by turning your head, but the game also has a shortcut button that instantly turns 180 degrees so you end up facing what’s behind for easier exploration. Movement is done by jumping to predefined spots rather than directly walking, and for longer distances Batman uses his grappling hook to move. Even though Batman’s vehicles are present, the player doesn’t get to drive them, nor even experience what’s it like being inside. Instead, the game is more oriented on CSI part of exploration than on action. Batman does have his bat-shaped boomerangs, but rather than for taking down the enemies, it is used to reach distant areas to trigger some button or take down the plate revealing a level which can pulled with your grappling hook.

In his left hand the Batman uses a scanner that can help him in his investigation, and in his right hand the grappling hook. When playing with Move controllers, each controller simulates one hand, otherwise the gamepad analogue sticks are used to move a hand or rotate the wrist to examine the item you’re holding. At the end of the game, a bonus Riddler mini-game unlocks which contains 30 riddles scattered around the areas of the game. Finding and solving them further unlocks characters and vehicles.