Batman: Arkham Shadow is the latest entry in the Arkham franchise, this time as a VR exclusive for the Meta Quest 3. The release comes from Camouflaj Studios, the developer behind the well-received Iron Man: VR, and will be much more in-depth than 2016's Arkham VR. Screen Rant recently attended a special preview of the game at Meta, which featured a demo of the game's first chapter and a comprehensive overview from three of the developers: Head of Studio and Game Director Ryan Payton, Design Director Ryan Darcey, and Director of Production Matt Walker.

Throughout the preview, the trio emphasized how important cultivating a feeling of authenticity was during the design process, with the end goal of creating an immersive VR experience that truly lets players feel like Batman while maintaining the overall integrity of the already-established universe. The team studied all the past franchise releases during development, but Shadow particularly draws a lot of its inspiration from Arkham: Asylum. Despite a few stuttering hiccups, the demo showed off an impressively engaging take on the Dark Knight doling out justice.

Batman: Arkham Shadow's Story

Continuing Origins & Introducing A New Villain

Batman: Arkham Shadow takes place much earlier in the timeline than previous entries in the franchise, beginning only six months after the events of Origins. Just like the aforementioned prequel, Shadow aims to continue providing more character backstory, like Batman's developing friendship with Commissioner Gordon and the motivations behind future villains. Though the game draws heavily from existing lore, it's also not shy about incorporating its own original ideas, the largest of which is arguably introducing a brand-new villain: The Rat King.

The chapter began on the 4th of July, where Rat King ers had begun rioting on the streets of Gotham. The hands-on time focused much more on gameplay than it did storyline, though it did offer some environmental storytelling as Batman traversed the city's sewers, freeing police hostages and stopping gunrunners as he made his way to the rooftops to meet with Gordon. The pipes and alcoves were littered with Rat King propaganda, with scrawled writings about a rat-led revolution and recordings playing to followers about how they'd been misled and need to fight back scattered throughout.

The overarching plot will largely deal with Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent working to stop The Day of Wrath led by the Rat King, though there are several other narrative surprises waiting for players, like the first in-game appearance of the villain Lock-Up. Walker also teased a "big, big twist" in the game, though he obviously didn't elaborate further. Arkham Shadow's cast is particularly impressive: Roger Craig Smith returns to the role of Batman alongside other heavy hitters like Tara Strong, Troy Baker, Mark Rolston, and Khary Payton are all onboard to help tell the story.

Combat & Investigation In Arkham Shadow

Punching Baddies & Going Predator Mode

Combat in Arkham Shadow is fast-paced and fluid, with a focus on combos and counters, and flows in a way that makes the fighting sequences fly by. The game makes it easy to automatically target different enemies based on where the player is looking, followed by glowing yellow prompts on screen that show the player what to do. Some of these commands are directional, and if the punch doesn't come from the specific angle required, Batman will break away from the enemy and have to begin attacking again.

This did get a bit frustrating sometimes when I felt like I had followed the order shown, but that could easily be attributed to a blend of a skill issue on my part and the fact it's an early build. These commands will be interspersed between other fun moves like punches thrown as Batman is diving from above and slamming enemies against the ground. Incoming attacks will be shown with a warning in the player's peripheral vision, and can be countered by swinging an arm to the side the hit is coming from, staggering the enemy.

Both combat and predator sequences will receive a score after completion, with players earning more for things like combos or never being seen.

Much of how players investigate with Detective Vision and stalk criminals during predator sequences will feel familiar to Arkham veterans. Detective Vision will highlight enemies and other useful clues, helping both with plotting plans of attack for rooms full of baddies and investigating crime scenes, though the demo didn't feature the latter. Predator sequences rely heavily on the grappling hook and smoke bombs to keep covert, and the medium makes Batman's silent take-downs even more satisfying; perhaps it's a concerning thing to say that choking enemies unconscious is more fun in VR, but it's true.

One major change is that the Batarang is now singular - instead of being able to endlessly throw them at enemies like ninja stars, it's now mainly used for puzzles, like activating switches from far away. Both combat and predator sequences will receive a score after completion, with players earning more for things like combos or never being seen. These points will level Batman, unlocking Wayne Tech points that can be spent on upgrades in four different skill tree categories: combat, Batsuit, predator, and gadgets.

The Overall VR Feel Of Arkham Shadow

Finally, VR That Doesn't Make Me Nauseated

In all my experience with VR, I've walked away at least vaguely nauseated almost every time, so it was incredibly impressive that Batman Arkham: Shadow elicited none at all despite its large amounts of movement. The game doesn't utilize teleportation, instead allowing for free walking with the left analog stick, and the overall perspective of where Batman is looking can be adjusted with the other. The only real time I felt disoriented at all was in a few ladder climbing sequences where the animation got a bit fast and choppy, but it was otherwise smooth sailing through the sewers.

Visuals are even more important for a VR game than a flat screen one, and Arkham Shadow has done a good job of creating an engaging, immersive world with its graphics. The various ways players can traverse add to this immersion even more, like flying across gaps with the Batcape or climbing through vent systems. Though most of the sewers I scoured were - rightfully so - quite sad and dingy, there was a scene at the end of the demo looking out over Gotham as fireworks were set off in the distance that was particularly stunning and helped showcase more visual potential.

Final Thoughts On Batman: Arkham Shadow

An Interesting Usage Of A Still Underexplored Tech

The chance to be immersed in the role of Batman in VR is a really fun opportunity, particularly because of the style of hero he is. Batman is all about blending in with his surroundings and having heightened senses, and it's much easier to feel authentically a part of that with a headset. Because the game's physical movement mechanics allow players to be more active participants, getting their heart rates up fighting baddies, it also grants a larger sense of accomplishment - I didn't just defeat them by pushing buttons, I did so with my own fists.

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for the game's potential popularity is its Meta Quest 3 exclusivity, which undeniably ruffled some feathers upon announcement, but developers emphasized how a single-console focus has allowed for more perfecting of the experience than a wider release would. Despite the few aforementioned physical hiccups, the overall gameplay really does succeed in making the player truly feel more like the Dark Knight than perhaps ever before. Players will be able to step into the shadows as the Caped Crusader themselves when Batman: Arkham Shadow releases this fall.

Screen Rant attended a special event for the purpose of this preview.