When BATMAN: ARKHAM VR was announced at E3 2016 I was skeptical. I'm still not 100-percent sold on this Virtual Reality craze. I think in a few years time when developers and Third Party support for it increases, as well as a more reasonable retail price, it'll be all the rage. Until then, it's just for the early adopters, as the games seem to be little more than demos for now.
Two things stood out for BATMAN: ARKHAM VR though. Firstly, Rocksteady were making it and their attention to detail and care taken on these games is a huge part of their success. Secondly, I love the crime scene sections of the Arkham games and the opportunity to do those in first-person blew my mind.
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to try out the Playstation VR at EGX, the UK's largest video game expo. Playstation was in attendance and amongst the VR games they had to play was BATMAN: ARKHAM VR. There was no other game I wanted to play.
Ushered into a VR booth I was met with a representative from Playstation. Oddly enough, the same man who had instructed me in the use of the VR headset just one year earlier. I was told we were only going to be playing the 'Become the Batman' demo which maybe lasted 5-10 minutes, depending on how long it took you to figure stuff out. I was told I was being thrown in with no instruction on how to play and after having the headset and special Batman headphones placed on me, I began.
I found myself on the roof of Gotham City Police Department. I know this as when the instructor told me to look behind me to check the headset was working, I saw the full size Bat-signal. An interesting note, my friend who was playing it in the booth next to me didn't do this, but was instead told to look over the edge of the building. I'm glad I didn't do this due to fear of heights, but afterward comparing our experiences, it made me realise the Golden Rule of VR — look everywhere.
After the 'Become the Batman' mode was selected the game began in earnest. I found myself standing in an opulent house at a grand piano, disembodied hands floating in front of me representing the Playstation move controllers I was flailing around. It's a bit of an odd experience at first, essentially playing as a point-of-view Rayman but it's how VR manages hand movement. I was immediately drawn to grabbing at the family photo that stood on top of the piano, but resisted my puerile urge to fling it across the room as it was obviously a picture of a young Bruce Wayne and his parents. I was instead amazed at the level of detail the hands had, covered as they were in bruises and grazes from previous nights escapades, I'm sure. Alfred approached me from the right (remember, listen in and look around) but for the life of me I cannot recall what he said. I was too busy absorbing my surroundings. To my left there was a red phone, akin to the one Commissioner Gordon used to contact Batman in the 60s TV show, but to my eternal shame I didn't interact with it. Alfred caught my attention handing me a key before walking off. The exchange lasted a few seconds but I knew exactly what to do. Unlocking the piano keys cover and flipping it open I started mashing the keys. Thankfully you didn't seem to have to play anything in particular and suddenly the floor opened up and I descended into a sort of suit-up chamber.
It's here I donned the Batsuit, pointing and clicking to move the suit over my body, slipping my hands into the gauntlets and ending with placing the cowl over my head. For a few seconds, everything went dark and then I found myself looking at Batman in the mirror. My friend later told me it's here he did the funky chicken dance. I unfortunately tried to adjusted the headphones as they were a bit loose on my head so my VR Batman reached up to the side of his head before the arm glitched and started spasming all over the place, somewhat breaking the illusion.
But then came the weapons and gadgets testing. Firstly, flinging Batarangs at moving targets, which thankfully hone in so I didn't need to have perfect accuracy. Then I tested the point-and-shoot grapple gun before placing it on to my utility belt, a process I'm ashamed to say took me way to long to figure out. Then the crime scene scanner needed calibrating, offering a hint at the real part of the game that I wanted to dive into. Thankfully, placing that on my utility belt only took a fraction of the time.
A huge lever switch rose up in front of me which I pulled, sending me down into the Bat Cave proper. Waterfalls, bats (funnily enough) and giant penny aside, I stood in awe as its wonder opened up in front of me. The music served to strike wonder into me, too. As I came to rest on a small platform, a Bat computer console popped up in front of me, but all I cared about was the Joker playing card resting in front of the keyboard. I tried grabbing for it, but that's when the demo ended and the headset was lifted off my head, transporting from the Bat cave back to the convention floor to the Birmingham NEC.
Meeting up with my friend afterwards, we both agreed it was a highlight of the day. He had even pre-ordered the game along with the VR.
Now I still can't say that I feel the price for the VR system isn't a little expensive, but if BATMAN: ARKHAM VR is any indication of the level of immersion, then I'm sure to buy into the VR revolution.... after a little overtime.
Written by Nick Whitney -- Click here to read Nick's posts
[Writer Note: These photos are of my friend and used with his permission. We both went into different booths one after another and I thought I'd be able to snap pics of him if he went after me. Luckily, he was enterprising enough to ask the guy in his booth to take these pics. God bless him. Also, his sweet Playstation jersey from Insert Coin Clothing.]
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