Batman: Arkham Shadow is a relatively new game in the Arkham series because of the release date being on October 21, 2024. The game is exclusively available on the Quest 3 or Quest 3s, allowing players such as myself to fight for the people of Gotham in virtual reality. The age rating is rated teen because of a few factors. Players will encounter frequent language, violence, and mild blood when playing the game. I specifically picked this game due to the fact that this was the very first game I have acquired on my virtual reality headset, and I saw this as a perfect opportunity to tell you my personal thoughts.

The game takes place in the dark streets of Gotham where an unidentified “Rat King” rises with disastrous intentions, threatening people with “the day of wrath.” It is Batman’s goal to successfully stop the Rat King in his tracks and cease the day of wrath before it causes chaos. However, the journey will not be effortless with the followers of the Rat King constantly attempting to stand in Batman’s way while he searches for clues.

The combat system is exceedingly entertaining to play through. The player has the ability to use gadgets they have unlocked when progressing through the game to perform intriguing attacks. The game also successfully introduces players with the combat system in a simple yet effective tutorial, so that they understand the basics of how the system works. However, all enemies the player encounters are not identical to one another. Enemies range from armed with a weapon or protected from shields. This forces the player to perform certain actions to successfully take down the enemy, an effective way to keep the combat system entertaining due to its variety. Once players reach a certain point in the game, they have unlocked combat challenges to test their skills. The combat challenges have four rounds each, each getting more and more difficult as the player progresses. The game has also added endless combat. As the name suggests, players can fight enemies for as long as possible.

However, the game isn’t always about fighting. Players will occasionally encounter enemies with only weaponry, forcing the player to lurk in the shadows to silently defeat all of the enemies. This requires thinking and strategy, so that players don’t get immediately defeated. These are my favorite encounters in the game, since there are a variety of silent take downs players can do while simultaneously planning how to not get caught. When coming across enemies with weaponry, the game presents them with a tutorial, so that players understand how to keep silent. Comparatively to combat, armed enemies also have variety. These enemies range from jammers who disable the player from utilizing detective vision to snipers who take away a large amount of health if shot. Much like combat, players can also use their gadgets to their advantage to disarm, distract, or even take down enemies. However, predator challenges only have one round instead of three. In this round, players have to do certain tasks. Every challenge has different tasks, so that the challenges don’t get repetitive and underwhelming. With the addition of endless combat, the game has also added endless predator. In this challenge, players can attempt to beat their high scores or even as a way to practice how to surprise attack enemies.

Gadgets are beneficial in the journey of ending the Rat King’s reign. Players are forced to use these gadgets in order to progress through the game or use them to their advantage when encountering enemies. Gadgets can also be used to discover hidden areas for any collectibles or secrets, giving players the incentive to explore their surroundings for any possible secrets. There are also certain areas where players cannot access the first time they come across it because it needs a gadget the player has not obtained yet. Once the player obtains the gadget, it gives them the incentive to go back and check for any secrets or collectibles.

What really stands out compared to other games are the bosses. All of the bosses have their own unique attacks that the player has to get used to, forcing the player to try more than once to figure out how their moves work. The game also doesn’t tell the player how to defeat the bosses, forcing players to figure it out for themselves. However, main encounters like these get more complicated with the new addition of new game+. New game+ makes the bosses unpredictable in what move they would use next, building a new layer of intensity and keeping players prepared for anything as well as significantly increasing the difficulty of the game.

All of that being said, I would have liked to see more puzzles to find more secrets or collectibles. There are some puzzles I encountered, but very few. Another flaw I would like to mention is that I would occasionally get stuck in certain areas, so I have no choice but to reload the last checkpoint to get out. While using detective vision, it can be a bit tedious since I had to stand at a certain angle to scan evidence, and I personally think that the game should allow players to scan it at all angles. I would also like to mention that there should have been more tutorials when players first encountered different enemies. The game did tell the player how to counter them, but I think that a tutorial would make players get used to how they work. There should also be a way to replay bosses whenever I want. The infinite predator challenge was also very broken at times where the enemies would always know where I was, even if I was hidden away from them, but I’m sure it’s just a bug that the developers are going to fix in the future update. The endless combat could be better too. I wish the challenge would make the enemies attack faster with every round I completed because it got boring quickly from how slow the enemies attacked.

Other than that, I really did enjoy this game. It really helped me get used to the virtual reality world for being the first game I played on the headset. I loved how many plot twists the game had, and the amount of tensions in the characters. The voice acting was incredible, and it really made me feel as if the characters were real people. The scenery in the game also perfectly resembles how dark Gotham can be. I loved how all the gadgets worked and how unique they were from one another. Even if I may not be the biggest fan of superheroes, this game somehow still allows me to enjoy it to its fullest. I would definitely recommend this game if you are the appropriate age. If you plan on getting a virtual reality headset, both the quest 3 and 3s come with the game if you are interested, but be quick because it is only available for a limited time.

Are you planning to pick up Batman: Arkham Shadow? Tell us in the comments!