It seems as though lots of people have jumped on the VR train this Christmas, with a Meta Quest 3 or a PSVR 2 lurking under the festive tree, ready to help you escape from the remaining leftovers and a visit from Auntie Maureen. It’s the perfect time too, as the VR scene has seen some amazing games appear in the last twelve months, with the latest hardware allowing developers to really push experiences further than ever before. At the head of the pack has been a steady flow of games from beloved series, and our game of the year manages to capture the feel of the original games in an awe-inspiring way.
Being Batman in VR has felt amazing before, but where Batman Arkham VR let us inhabit the hero in his guise as a detective, Arkham Shadow fully translates the experience of being a master of martial arts as well. If you’ve ever played any of Rocksteady’s Arkham games, Arkham Shadow is that, but in virtual reality. You are Batman, and from the earliest moments where you catch sight of the pointy-eared shadow of his iconic headpiece, Arkham Shadow lets you embody him in a way that’s simply never been possible before.
The key part here is the combat, which uses the same measured and clear approach as the other Arkham games to give you the awareness to attack and counter several enemies at the same time. It works seamlessly and feels incredibly powerful, letting you flow from punch to punch, grabbing enemies and knocking-in their heads. If you’ve ever wanted to be Batman, this is it.
It’s helped by the fantastic visuals, which feel absolutely in keeping with the rest of the Arkham-verse. They let you feel as though you’re truly in Gotham while you explore its dank and gloomy buildings, and even with a generous eleven-hour campaign, you won’t want it to end.
Metro Awakening VR – Runner-up
Metro Awakening grabs a hold of you right from the first minute, the prologue immersing you immediately within the dark tunnels and rooms of the post-apocalyptic Moscow Metro system, wandering through a station camp that’s packed full of small details, has NPCs chattering away, and some superb lighting and graphics.
Vertigo Games has done a great job of adapting the main Metro series to VR, the simple acts of needing to hurriedly pull on a gas mask, change its filters, or to flip on a head lamp adding to the feeling that you really are within this world. And then there’s all the tension and fear that you feel when trying to sneak past enemies, creeping around in the dark and craning your neck to spot where they are, and the eternal fear that you’re going to run out of ammo, given the limited resources of this world.
Easily one of the best VR games of this year, Metro Awakening is another example of just how far VR gaming has come.
– Tuffcub
Vendetta Forever – Runner-up
You know when the action movie hero is grabbing weapons as they run out of ammo to continue their ongoing killing spree? That’s Vendetta Forever. In fact, you grab a gun out of the air, teleporting to its position to traverse the level and, most importantly, get out of the way of the hail of gunfire that’s on its way. It’s fast, a little frantic, and a lot of fun.
It’s more than that though, Vendetta Forever plays around a lot with the premise, whether recreating the lobby scene from the Matrix, Roadhousing a bunch of people in a bar, or the amazingly cool Daredevil-style levels, where you can only see sounds. It’s a creative, fast, fun, and frankly just incredibly cool at all times.
– Gareth C
Do you have a fancy hat that you pop on ever now and then? Which games have really drawn you into their worlds this year?
