After years of waiting, VR adaptations of iconic video game franchises are at a turning point with the release of Batman: Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening.
While it has been over a decade since the Oculus Rift seriously kicked off VR gaming as a worthwhile subsect of this medium, it has taken a while for it to hit console and PC gaming’s AAA quality level. If a flatscreen game or series got adapted for VR, it was with a short and simple tech demo-like release or a VR conversion of an older game beholden to the design constraints of a classic. This still yielded some good results, but it meant VR gaming lacked an identity within hardcore gaming franchises and was relegated to novelty spinoff status.
Within the last month, Batman: Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening both released, indicating that something has changed. These full-fledged AAA VR experiences aren’t just novelty VR conversions of beloved console franchises, but worthwhile games of their own. If VR gaming is going to continue to stay relevant, it needs more games like Batman and Metro.
The best kind of VR adaptation
To see how far VR gaming has come, we simply need to compare 2016’s Batman: Arkham VR to 2024’s Batman: Arkham Shadow. Although Arkham VR was developed by Rocksteady and featured some cool moments, it could be beaten in just a couple of hours and did not match the game flow of titles like Arkham City or Arkham Knight. A game like that certainly had its place in the early days of VR, but in 2024, expectations are much higher.
Thankfully, Arkham Shadow delivered. It is still much more linear than Arkham Knight, but from a gameplay and narrative perspective, it does a significantly better job at matching the heights of Rocksteady’s trilogy. Combat is emphasized and still has a rhythmic quality to it, stealth and detective mode segments are peppered throughout, and it delivers a compelling Batman narrative about teaching the Caped Crusader empathy.
Then there’s Vertigo Games’ Metro Awakening. The developers could have gone the route of remaking a game like Metro 2033 for VR or adding a VR mode to 4A Games’ Metro Exodus. We’ve seen many developers go down that route when making VR entries of flatscreen franchises. These can be great, like Resident Evil 4’s Meta Quest release, but they come off as one-note distractions and are not the true way to play these classic games.
Instead, Metro Awakening is a distinct entry in the Metro series, a prequel revealing the backstory of Khan. It translates the cramped tunnels and survival shooter mechanics of the flatscreen Metro games to VR, and both work well within the tech medium with very few changes. Like Arkham Shadow, it also supports a console-quality narrative worthy of Dmitry Glukhovsky’s franchise. These are two of the best VR games I’ve ever played, and they both do the same things right while bringing a flatscreen gaming franchise to VR.
More than a novelty
Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening work well because they feel like equals to their counterparts. Too often, VR games either feel too simple in how they play, don’t feature quality narratives, and fail to live up to the standards of console gaming. Metro and Batman not only buck all of those trends, but do so while faithfully adapting well-known gaming IP to VR. If VR is going to evolve as a gaming medium, it needs to not only establish breakout new franchises like Asgard’s Wrath, but demonstrate how beloved, existing franchises can make a full transition to virtual reality.
Half-Life Alyx showed us all of these things in 2020. You can find success in VR by using a fantastic flatscreen game as a base, homing in on the parts that could immerse the players in a VR experience, and delivering a complete narrative experience with it. Game development takes time, so it took other VR developers a while to catch up, but games like Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening indicate that we’ve turned a corner for VR games; the quality bar has been raised and it’s not all too far off from traditional gaming anymore.
At this point, VR is very unlikely to replace console, PC, or mobile gaming as the primary way to play. Flatscreen gaming is simply more convenient and less straining on the body. That doesn’t mean it should be relegated to safe tech demos or unambitious modes and remasters. VR can be home to AAA-quality games, including ones that can stand toe-to-toe with their console counterparts. I hope Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening are more than just a moment for VR gaming; I hope they serve as a reminder of a standard that all developers and franchises entering the VR space should meet.
Batman: Arkham Shadow and Metro Awakening are both available on Meta Quest 3. Metro Awakening is also available through PC VR and PlayStation VR2.
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