I am vengeance. I am the night. I am … flailing my arms around in my living room. But not really—really, I'm Batman. At the very least, thanks to VR game Batman: Arkham Shadow, I'm the closest it's possible to get to becoming Gotham City's dark defender, short of experiencing intense childhood trauma cushioned only by inheriting billions of dollars with which to fund a one-man war on crime.
Arkham Shadow isn't just a “great game for VR” though, with all the caveats that clause typically implies—it's a masterclass in superhero gaming in general, and possibly the Quest VR headset’s first serious system seller.
I Am the Knight
Developed by Camouflaj and published by Oculus Studios, and exclusive to Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, Arkham Shadow is rooted in the same "Arkhamverse" continuity established by developer Rocksteady Studios in 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum. Taking place early on in Batman's career—specifically set shortly after the events of 2013's Batman: Arkham Origin—it sees the Caped Crusader facing off against a brand-new threat, the Rat King, a cult leader sowing discord in Gotham.
There's a tendency for VR games to be seen as gimmicks—forgettable spin-offs of better-known franchises. Indeed, the last attempt at Batman Arkham VR was exactly that—little more than a vaguely interactive movie. That's not the case here though. Arkham Shadow is an ambitious, full-length outing (expect 10 to 15 hours playtime) with a satisfyingly layered and twisting narrative. It has time and space to flesh out its world, giving players a chance to spend as much time out of the Batsuit as in it, with Batman undercover in Blackgate Prison in his "Matches Malone" persona for much of the game.
It boasts an expansive cast of allies and enemies to encounter (some of whom, given Shadow's placing as a prequel, have yet to take their place in Batman's rogues gallery), and even packs in a bit of star power in the voice acting—Roger Craig Smith returns to voice Bruce Wayne/Batman with gravel-voiced menace, while Elijah Wood takes on the role of a pre-Scarecrow Jonathan Crane. There's nothing gimmicky about this.
It's all bolstered by robust gameplay mechanics that truly make you feel as though you're Batman, like never before. Camouflaj has masterfully adapted every pillar of what made the conventional Arkham games great—stealth, combat, investigations—into an immersive, first-person VR experience.
Little touches such as activating Detective Mode—a visual filter highlighting clues in the environment—by raising a controller to the side of your head, soon makes you feel like you're actually wearing the infamous cowl, while stealth play is a real delight. Skulking through the shadows and taking out the Rat King's acolytes, sneaking out from an air vent to take down a grunt or hoisting them up high to dangle helplessly from a perch, it's easy to feel like the very urban legend Batman cultivates for himself.
When stealth isn't an option, melee combat creates the same wonderful flow state as the original Arkham games. You'll directly pummel foes one-on-one, switching between uppercuts, jabs, thrusts, twin-fisted slams and more to break through defenses, then weave seamlessly into real-time blocks and counters as you juggle groups of enemies.
An alert to the side of your vision indicates incoming blows—flick an arm to the side and you'll intercept the off-screen attack, instantly pulling your attention to the next foe, while sweeping your arm without squeezing the Quest controller's triggers brings your cape up for a deflecting blow. All the while, you're building up charge for devastating finishers that land with punishing gravity. That you’re doing it all with your own fists, rather than tapping buttons on a controller, makes you feel like an unstoppable badass.
Throw in the ability to start off an encounter with a brutal glide-kick or a well-aimed Batarang, or to disorient enemies with smoke bombs, and it's enough to make you think you really could take on a dozen masked assailants in real life. You can't, so don't try, but fights here offer just enough exertion that it feels like a workout—a body combat class the game throws in every so often, making for a play experience that’s only possible in VR.
Virtually Unbeatable
That’s the magic of Arkham Shadow—it brilliantly balances an experience console and PC gamers expect with the immersive elements that are unique to VR. While there are plenty of other great games in VR already—Asgard’s Wrath II, The Room VR, and of course Beat Saber, to name just a few—they’re all preaching to the converted, the comparative few who’ve already gotten on board with virtual reality gaming. Batman, arguably the world’s most popular superhero, brings that ever-elusive crossover appeal though. With the promise of an untold story in one of his most popular settings, this has the potential to attract new players, bringing them into the VR ecosystem.
Sure, to an extent, Camouflaj is just playing the hits here, remixing the best bits of Rocksteady's original Arkham games for VR—there’s even a host of collectibles to hunt down, scattered around Gotham by the Rat Cultists in the same manner that Riddler Trophies were in earlier games, often requiring a puzzle be solved or new bit of Bat-tech be acquired to reach. There’s comfort in that familiarity though, making it easier for players to make the VR transition.
Arkham Shadow is technologically limited in places by the very same hardware that allows its uniqueness though. This take on Gotham doesn't look bad by any measure, but the Quest headsets aren't on par with the visual fidelity PS5 or Xbox Series X can manage, and the open worlds of the core Arkham entries are gone. That also works in its favor for bridging the gap to VR gaming though; the game's largely guided environments are still incredibly immersive but hard to get lost or disoriented in.
Yet by simply delivering a single-player, story-led adventure that looks, plays, and most importantly feels like the Arkham games players already love, Camouflaj has crafted an experience that could conceivably be a breakthrough moment for VR gaming.
Single-Player Savior
The strengths of Batman: Arkham Shadow should also serve as a reminder to Bat-owner Warner Bros Discovery—specifically its WB Games division—of where its own strengths really lie. This is a single-player game, exclusive to a hardware platform that remains fairly niche, but it still feels more focused, polished, and simply confident in itself than Warner’s bigger budget, mass-market releases. Chiefly, it’s a stark contrast to the other recent outing in the Arkhamverse, the failed live service game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The shooter probably seemed a good idea on paper. It takes a popular team of supervillains from the comics, one that the Arkham games had been teasing a version of for years, and uses them to chart the next major chapter of the shared universe, all developed by original Arkhamverse studio Rocksteady. Unfortunately, the end product’s indistinct mechanics for its cast—Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Shark, and Deadshot all reduced to interchangeable shooter drones—and stagnant, grind-heavy missions intended to be played on repeat for incrementally better loot resulted in a flop.
Player numbers on Steam stagnated at around 600 (console numbers are less transparent), only seeing a surge around Black Friday when the game was discounted by 95 percent—the closest a digital release can have to an “all-stock-must-go” blowout. Unsurprisingly, what was meant to be a forever game, constantly updated with new playable characters (and cosmetics to buy via microtransactions, of course), will now be cancelled in January 2025.
The writing was on the wall as far back as May 2024, though, when parent company WBD announced it was taking a $200 million loss on the game. Then, at the start of November, it announced a further $100 million loss on MultiVersus, the publisher’s Super Smash Bros–style crossover brawler that launched as a free-to-play effort but was littered with virtual currencies, paid season passes, and a majority of its characters locked behind a grind-or-paywall. That's a staggering combined sum to lose on live service gambles, and it has real-world repercussions, with Rocksteady forced to lay off staff.
Hopefully lessons will be learned. If not, WBD—and anyone else who’s forgotten what a great superhero game looks like—only needs to pop a Quest headset on and boot up Batman: Arkham Shadow for a reminder.
