Batman: Arkham VR is quite a short game. You step into the Batsuit for just a little over an hour. In that span of time, it can be quite a frightening experience. But it's definitely worth playing if you're an early adopter of PlayStation VR.
Giving this game a $20 price tag, Warner Bros. is not exactly trying to sneak one by anybody here. It's a bite-sized Bat-sperience to be sure, a series of brief VR vignettes strung together into a short murder-mystery storyline. You'll explore a dozen small environments full of VR surprises that seem to be mostly built around the idea that you haven't done many other VR demos before. And you probably haven't, so that's OK.
The teams behind the core console Arkham games are behind this one, and they bring their signature dark and grimy, yet playful and surprising take on Gotham City to bear here as well. Of course, if you're like me, you might find that the city you're so familiar with at arm's length becomes truly scary when it's surrounding you on all sides.
Here's the technical rundown: You need a PlayStation VR (on sale October 13) and two PlayStation Move motion controllers. You can choose to play the game seated or standing, although it recommends that you stand up so that you can turn around 360 degrees. (You can use controller buttons to spin Batman if you do choose to sit.) Of course, the way the game is set up, there's usually nothing of interest behind you. (Good thing, because the PlayStation Move controllers become invisible to the camera as soon as they're behind your body.)
After a brief dalliance in Wayne Manor, you suit up and enter the Batcave. There's a bunch of junk to play around with in here so you can mess around with your three tools: the Grapnel Gun, a grappling hook fired with a trigger, the ubiquitous Batarang, and the, uh, I forget what it's called. The investigation gun? Anyway, it's a handheld tool that lets you solve crimes by pointing it at things. Useful!
These three items are on your virtual utility belt, and you use them by reaching down and pulling them off the belt. The Crime-Solving Gun is on your left hip, the grappling hook on your right, and the Batarangs are on your crotch. Dear reader: I rarely make these sorts of guarantees in a piece of gaming criticism, but I will tell you now with one hundred percent certainty that at some point while playing Batman Arkham VR, perhaps multiple times, you will punch yourself directly in the reproductive organs.
