“Batman: Arkham Shadows”: Exciting punch combinations in virtual reality

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“Batman: Arkham Shadows” is set to be the Bat’s first major action-adventure in VR, including everything: exploration, combat, gadgets, puzzles, big boss battles and story sequences. The latter revolve around the sinister Rat King and his fanatical cult. The extensive playthrough at Gamescom fueled the hope that the game would be able to carry inspiring battles and combinations into the world of virtual reality. Individual punches and combos are just as demanding as in VR fitness or rhythm games. Here, however, they are part of a complete action-adventure that has been in development for three years and will be released exclusively for Quest 3 in October 2024.

If you’re faced with a crowd of opponents, you have to take note of their position at the right time. At the press of a button, you lunge towards one of the henchmen and hit him with a few timed punches wherever the symbols indicate it. A few strikes up to twelve, a right hook and in between you stretch your hand to the side to hide the hurried colleague from sight. Even in such moments of surprise, there is a visual warning. If you react quickly, the inspiring “combo dance” of your fists will continue.

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In battle, only the timing of the blows matters, 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 attack faster, other boxing players use different angles (…) so we have to support a lot of different inputs for an action.”

With a cape, batarang and a lot of physical effort

In between, we go on an exploration tour in the catacombs to discover small key puzzles and hidden nooks. In large areas filled with guards, you can also spread your arms to move towards the opponent with your cape or outstretched leg. If you are discovered, move quickly from one wall to the other using your batarang or harpoon until your opponent loses his orientation. The silent approach makes the attack much easier. Once a few guards are out of the way, direct combat becomes a sensible strategy.

It’s already clear that some studio members have been working with the Unity engine since version 3.0 and have plenty of experience. For a mobile VR title, the technology is really impressive. Soft real-time shadows, fine fog and “audio ray tracing” capture the Batman flair beautifully. Since the game is no longer released for the weaker Quest 2, the areas are larger and the content is significantly higher resolution, Payton explained.

However, we would have liked more manipulable objects to play with in the environment. In games like “Half-Life: Alyx”, such moving objects give the subconscious a feeling of being in a believable world, not in a game setting. Too many moving objects in the environment can also distract the player’s attention. Payton explained to us that the team deliberately focuses on game-relevant things or hidden collectibles from the famous Rat Catcher. Other objects can be moved here only occasionally.

The media also determines the free time of many people

The approximately twelve-hour-long Batman adventure remains linear only at the beginning. After about 90 minutes, the world opens up in which you can explore Zelda-like dungeons or break open obstacles with new gadgets in the “Metroidvania” style. This includes, for example, the gel launcher, which blasts clear routes with explosive charges.

Lessons from “Iron Man VR”

Payton said the team definitely wanted to avoid supplemental content like the PSVR title “Iron Man VR” this time around. When the team learned from the news that “Half-Life: Alyx” would be twelve hours long, Payton felt pressured: “I was afraid we would be compared to that. In panic, I added more battles to the game and artificially extended Iron Man VR just out of fear, which was not a good idea.”

The developers later removed some unnecessary encounters in “Iron Man VR’s” quest implementation. There’s also more variety in Batman: Arkham Shadows, Payton explained to us: “We have enemies with knives, with shields, we have stun attacks with capes and all these other moves that you unlock as you progress through the game.” The game’s balance and pace are based on 2009’s popular “Batman: Arkham Asylum.” However, the relationship between fighting, stealth, puzzles and story has been balanced slightly differently to do justice to the special characteristics of the VR medium.

By the way, the team uses a trick so that exploring large levels does not become tiring. Many transitions between rooms and hallways here have a 45-degree turn. This means that they correspond to the fast 45-degree rotation (snap turn) typical of VR. After “turning” with the right stick, you immediately become visible to the next area and can move straight ahead. The developers try to avoid 90-degree turns because test players felt tired very quickly after the required two stick movements.

So far it looks like the gameplay tricks are working. In our test game, all game mechanics match surprisingly well. If Camouflage maintains motivation for more than twelve hours this time, we can expect a real Quest 3 highlight in October – unlike the much shorter “Batman: Arkham VR” of 2017.

(JPW)