Batman: Arkham VR Review: A Short, Focused Detective Experiment
Batman: Arkham VR asks players to stand still and look closely, and that is the whole idea.
Rocksteady Studios built its reputation on brawls and gliding. Batman: Arkham VR removes both. Released worldwide on October 11, 2016, for PlayStation 4 and on April 25, 2017, for Windows VR headsets, the game puts players behind the cowl rather than above the action. It is a short, narrow experiment that mostly works.
Trailer, via IGDBcom.
The Batcave and the Utility Belt
You play from a first-person perspective through the eyes of Batman, voiced by Kevin Conroy. Movement is limited to teleporting to preset locations, sometimes by grapnel gun. You cannot walk freely. Three gadgets define the work: the throwable batarang, the grapnel gun, and the forensic scanner, which examines evidence and recreates crime scenes.
Nightwing in a Central Gotham Alley
The story takes place between Batman: Arkham City and Batman: Arkham Knight. Alfred, voiced by Hugh Fraser, tells Batman that Nightwing and Robin have disappeared. Batman finds Nightwing — Dick Grayson — beaten to death in a Central Gotham alleyway, his jaw, arm, and ribs broken and his neck snapped. The investigation runs through the Penguin’s Iceberg Lounge, a Gotham morgue, and sewers beneath Founders Island.
Mark Hamill’s Joker Returns as a Hallucination
The Joker, voiced by Mark Hamill, appears as a hallucination after his death in Arkham City. Wally Wingert’s Riddler adds 30 optional challenges and concealed items after the story ends. Ian Redford’s Penguin and Steven Blum’s Killer Croc are among the cast, alongside Tom Austen’s Robin.
No Combat, and That Is the Point
Dropping combat is the smartest call here. The earlier Arkham games buried their detective fantasy under combo meters. Arkham VR makes the scanner the entire game, and the morgue and crime-scene work lands because you have to lean in and look.
A Short Night in Gotham
The problem is length. The main story runs short, and the puzzles stay simple. The Riddler challenges and batarang target practice extend the clock but not the depth.
Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill in a Headset
Conroy and Hamill remain the definitive voices of these characters. Hearing them through a headset is the strongest argument the game makes for itself.
What Arkham VR Gets Right
This is a brief game that understands its subject better than its larger siblings. It is thin, and it ends fast. The detective work is the part worth keeping.
KEY FACTS
– Release: October 11, 2016 (PlayStation 4); April 25, 2017 (Windows VR headsets)
– Developer: Rocksteady Studios
– Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
– Platforms: PlayStation VR, PC, SteamVR, Oculus Rift
– Critic aggregate: 7.3/10 (IGDB, 14 outlets)
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