DEVELOPER: Twisted PIxel Games

PUBLISHER: Oculus Studios

REVIEWED ON: Meta Quest 3S from early access.

Thanks in no small part to Camouflaj’s dual efforts of Marvel’s Iron Man VR and last year’s incredible Batman: Arkham Shadow, the virtual reality space has proven that it’s just as capable at producing top-tier comic book games as traditional flat screen experiences. Fellow Oculus Studio alum Twisted Pixel Games, who broke out during the 7th console generation with ‘Splosion Man, have thrown their hat into the superhero ring with Marvel’s Deadpool VR, the first non-pinball starring role for the character since High Moon Studios’ Deadpool that was originally released in 2013. Like Arkham Shadow, it’s also a Meta Quest 3/3S exclusive.

While there’s plenty of katana inflected carnage to be had, not to mention buckets of shell bullet casings to be unloaded, Marvel’s Deadpool VR feels like a throwback to middle-of-the-road licensed games. There’s still enjoyment to be had here, but even with its star-studded cast and admittedly excellent set-pieces, Marvel’s Deadpool VR struggles with inconsistent pacing caused by infrequent, not to mention long, non-interactive cinematics. Your mileage may also vary depending on your tolerance for the Merc with a Mouth’s, well, mouth.

Pulled mid-mission into the realm of intergalactic entertainment producer, Mojo, Deadpool is tasked with acquiring a new cast of potential stars for Mojo’s programming. Aided by the six-arm portal creating champion, Spiral, and motivated by the followers it will draw to his social media, Deadpool sets out to capture some of the deadliest beings in existence that will push even his own rapid regenerative abilities to their limit.

In all the best ways, Marvel’s Deadpool VR feels like the true sequel to the fan favorite Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions from developer Beenox, even down to meeting and interacting with Deadpool variants from across the multiverse. The framework exists mostly as a narrative tool that allows the player to hop between a ninja stronghold, the far reaches of outer space and a demon infested Las Vegas hotel. One of the highlights of Marvel’s Deadpool VR is wondering just exactly where the adventure will take you to next and what characters from the Marvel pantheon will cross your path when you get there.

Revealed in the debut trailer this past summer, Deadpool is voiced by none other than Neil Patrick Harris – who funnily enough also played the primary Spider-Man in Shattered Dimensions – and Harris certainly has plenty of comedic chops to pick up the role from the likes of longtime Deadpool performs such as Nolan North and Ryan Reynolds. Of course, it helps that he has plenty of talented performers to bounce off of, including John Leguizamo as Mojo and Jeffrey Combs as his hapless assistant Major Domo who serves as a vendor to upgrade your instruments of destruction. There’s far more star power at play, including 2 performers in particular who will assuredly make DC Comics multimedia die-hards gasp, and others whose name you’ll see in the credits and say “wait, that was them?!!”.

via Marvel Entertainment YouTube

With multiple writers to its credit, including Joe Kelly who has a history writing Deadpool for Marvel, there’s bound to be some jokes in Marvel’s Deadpool VR that will being a smile to your face. More often that not though, you’ll be on the side of character’s like Spiral who want nothing more than for Deadpool’s endless barrage of pop-culture references and quips to stop, especially as you find yourself locked in a lengthy cinematic where you do little more than stand around. Props to whoever snuck in Jeff Minter and Rez references, however.

Played from a first-person perspective, Marvel’s Deadpool VR is not dissimilar to the character’s debut interactive title as mostly you’ll find yourself hacking or shooting waves of enemies broken up with some lite platforming. In VR, that’s accomplished by reaching to your sides to grab your firearms, or reaching behind your back to draw your swords. When it works, Marvel’s Deadpool VR‘s rhythm will turn you into the conductor of a symphony of destruction as you unload clips of ammo, slice bad guys in two, hurl your blades at a distant foe and jump kick someone from across a room to perform a DOOM (2016) style glory kill.

Starting out, you have a basic set of swords and pistols but these can be exchanged and upgraded with currency won from battle. If you prefer close quarters combat, you can swap in a set of shotguns and pair them with swords that reflect enemy bullets. When your top-tier arsenal is paired with grenades you pluck from your left wrist that can create deadly electric traps or helpful mini-turrets, there’s sure to be a loadout that suits most players. Some of the best weapons are ones that are temporarily borrowed from enemies, like a powerful bow and arrow that you actually have to pull to fire or a melee weapon that has a buzzsaw at the end.

The caveat is that when it works, because sadly Marvel’s Deadpool VR lacks the precision of something like Batman: Arkham Shadow. Too often I reached down to draw my guns, only to see one or both hands making finger guns because the action failed to register. Early on you get a grappling hook that you can use to move to vertical points or pull enemies towards you mid-combo for some stylish moves. Good luck reliably pulling it from your back, however, as the chances of your regular gun coming up are much higher. Twisted Pixel must’ve realized this too, as during scripted sequences in boss fights, you’re given ample time to pick up whatever tool is requested from you.

When played on the normal difficulty, Marvel’s Deadpool VR offers little in the way of challenge too. Once I settled on my preferred weapons, which included a pair of laser sighted pistols, there was rarely a need to pull out my swords because it was much easier to juke back and forth picking off enemies from a distance. Metal Gear Rising this is not, though you can cleave enemies in half with your blades, but the melee combat is very unfulfilling. You’ll clip through enemies mid-combo, and hits lack that extra layer of feedback or weight to the point where you just feel like you’re waving your arms about. This game has a mechanic similar to that of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy where you can equip a temporary power-up like Gambit’s cards of Star-Lord’s guns while an ill-fitting, but often hilarious, pop song plays. It’s easy to forget you even have this in your toolbox as you rarely feel the need to take it out.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR toys with the idea of platforming, even making a Prince of Persia reference as you run across a wall. These skills are rarely used in the main game and are mainly relegated to bonus challenges from rooms you have to access while returning to previously completed levels with other Deadpool variants. Largely you’re just moving in a straight line before stopping for a brief combat encounter or extended period of dialogue. It’s disappointing because with the combination of your grapnel gun and parkour skills, there was an opportunity to have Deadpool do more than just walk about somewhat empty environments with little in the way of interactivity.

There’s plenty of one-off set-pieces to be found here, and it’s in them that Marvel’s Deadpool VR truly shines. Without spoiling anything, these can be anything from getting level exclusive weapons or on-rails vehicle segments. One in particular made me utter the word “Sick!” out loud as it happened in the second hunt. They occur just infrequently enough as to not make Marvel’s Deadpool VR a collection of mini-games and intrigue you enough to keep going as long as the battery in your headset lasts. It’s difficult to discuss the boss encounters without giving them away, but after the first couple that don’t really impress, Twisted Pixel gets more creative with them deeper into the campaign so don’t let the opening duels sour you.

There are a few puzzles, but they’re mostly just simple VR staples like sliding knobs and pressing buttons. This is a single-player only game, but there’s between mission arena challenges where you play variations of capture the flag and basketball that could make for fun multiplayer diversions if the hardware and budget allowed it post-launch.

Deadpool jokes at one point at being stuck with him for 8-10 hours, which is a good estimate about how long it will take you to roll credits. There’s lots of costumes to unlock, comics to hunt down – though most are found in plain sight – and as already mentioned, replaying levels with other characters opens up new challenges. For all its problems, Marvel’s Deadpool VR is an entertaining if flawed game, but unless you’re a huge Deadpool lover, going through it 4 more times with a non-NPH voiced character probably won’t sound that appetizing.

Build with the Unreal Engine, Marvel’s Deadpool VR is at least a very colorful game with a lot environmental variety due to how its narrative is structured. Whereas many Marvel games lately skewed more towards realism, Marvel’s Deadpool VR thankfully leans more towards the stylized, comic book look and it’s all the better for it. Though it’s in first-person, so you don’t really get to see your alternate outfits, it’s grotesquely cool to see your arms grow back in real time a la the X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition.

Though no crashes were experienced in my playthrough, there was one annoying bug encountered where an event trigger failed to flip during the first hunt. This lead me to throwing kunai at ninjas until I was too tired to go on. Upon reloading from a checkpoint, everything worked as it should and this will probably get addressed in a patch. For how much he won’t stop talking, Twisted Pixel could’ve perhaps done with Deadpool explaining what to do sometimes. You can hit the Y button to bring up tutorials, but in the middle of a firefight, you’re pretty vulnerable. When I first got the grapnel gun, I dropped it and didn’t know how to recover it. It wasn’t until after a long, frustrating fight with enemies picking me off from a cat walk that the game clearly explained it was behind my back the whole time.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR won’t wow you in the same way that a title like Batman: Arkham Shadow did, and if that game didn’t convince you to pick up at least a Meta Quest 3S, this one won’t either. If you’re in the ecosystem, however, and are looking for a new comic book action game, Marvel’s Deadpool VR is worth a look in spite of its flaws. The combat is far from nuanced, but there’s enough variety to keep you from ever getting bored and a few one-off moments are things that will stick with you after you experience them. Perhaps like other licensed games that scored in the 6.5-7 range, Marvel’s Deadpool VR will gain admiration as the years pass. Deadpool’s head is a hard thing to stay in for an extended period of time, and too often you’ll miss the stoic, brooding silence of the Dark Knight or want to spend time in the shoes of a cameo character.

via Marvel Entertainment YouTube

Marvel’s Deadpool VR is an exclusive to the Meta Quest 3 family of devices and launches November 18th.