Marvel’s Iron Man VR represents another concerted effort by the power of comics to bring their characters to games in a meaningful way. After the huge success of Marvel’s Spider-Man, this PlayStation VR exclusive had a lot to accomplish. The end result is a very impressive action title that goes the distance to literally put you in the place of the titular superhero.
With a PS Move controller in each hand and headphones attached to your head, you feel ready, and Iron Man fits nicely into the VR mold. If you hold down the triggers, the suit’s thrusters fire, and you’ll be propelled from wherever you point your palms. To fly forward, for example, you hold the controllers by your side, palms back; To fly, raise your arms in front of you, palms down. It is an instantly intuitive movement system, and between the positions of your hands and the direction you are looking, you will fly through the sky and feel invincible.
Cracking checks don’t end there either. Holding the Move controls in a vertical position will allow you to target and fire the Iron Man repulsors, it’s as simple as that. A little later in the game, you will unlock auxiliary weapons, mounted on the suit’s forearms. To use these in place of the repulsors, simply point with the motion wands pointed forward. It’s something to toggle between your suit’s movement, repulsors, and special weapons, but it’s a brilliantly fluid system that’s a lot of fun to use.
The good thing too, because you will do it a lot. Most in-game missions see you set up for combat encounters against armies of reused attack drones from Stark Industries. A mysterious new enemy, Ghost, has stolen Tony’s old technology and is using it against him. Fortunately, you are Iron Man and you are more than capable of destroying different types of enemies. Most are up in the air with you, but they all use different skills to test you.
In addition to the mentioned weapons at your disposal, you can hit the baddies by hitting a button and throwing a real swing, which is never satisfying. A ground pound is done in a similar way and is ideal against those pesky tank robots. Finally, you’ll gain access to Unibeam, a powerful laser blast that can pierce through your enemies like butter. It takes a while to load, but it’s useful when you’re overwhelmed.
All of this serves to make you feel like Iron Man, and it’s where the game really sings. Developer Camouflaj has put a lot of effort into making the game as intuitive and enjoyable as possible, and it shows. The levels are mostly huge, giving you ample space to freely fly around and explore the game’s systems. However, the downside to these open environments are frequent and long loading screens, which can interrupt the campaign flow.
As we mentioned earlier, Ghost is one of the villains in the game and the story begins. She destroys Tony’s private jet, injuring Pepper Potts in the process. Tony employs both his current artificial intelligence partner Friday and his former partner Gunsmith to locate this ethereal enemy. The writing favors jokes over drama, but the narrative throws in some neat twists and turns, presenting new threats and taking the time to slow things down. In fact, playing Iron Man means becoming Tony Stark, and there are many moments throughout the campaign that leave you unarmored.
Between missions, you’ll often be at his Malibu home, where you can teleport to various locations and interact with a handful of things. Distractions like a pull-up bar and a basketball arcade game give you a chance to cool off before tackling the next big goal. There’s even a wall dedicated to trophies; It will be populated by the trinkets you have unlocked as you earn them, which is a nice touch. However, the main attraction in this space is playing with the costume.
Using the points earned from completing missions, you can create numerous upgrades to armor systems and weapons. Whether you are installing a propeller mod to increase your top speed or equipping new types of auxiliary weapons, there is just the right amount to play. Weapons range from a shotgun blast to a cluster bomb, and offer ways to deal with different situations. You can equip two of these special powers, one on each arm, to be prepared for anything. You also have access to two charging slots, which means you can create an Iron Man build duo, one focused on speed and the other on power, for example.
We mentioned this because of the game’s optional flight and combat challenges. As you play, you will unlock enemy races and gauntlets to test your skills. Completing them gives you more points to put on the stick, so it’s worth exploring. Beware, however; These challenges are difficult. There are times set by the developer that at first seem impossible to beat. With practice, and the correct updates installed, they are feasible, but difficult.
You can also repeat missions if you also lack points. Each ends with a results screen and a score of five that determines how many points you earn, so it’s worth revisiting the levels if you think you can improve.
It’s a robust game, then, and it has a decent runtime for a PSVR title. As impressive as it is, there are some technical drawbacks. In addition to all the burden, hectic fights can cause some frame rate issues, which is a no-no in VR. That said, we never experience motion sickness during our playtime. Motion tracking is generally good, but we did have some issues sometimes. Our advice for the best experience would be to play standing, if you can. It’s a shame the experience hasn’t been a bit smoother, especially when it comes to loading, but the action makes up for all the waiting.
conclusion
Marvel’s Iron Man VR fulfills the mission of making you feel like the armored avenger. Putting aside a few technical drawbacks, this is a well-rounded virtual reality title that leverages technology to immerse yourself in the world of Tony Stark. Win the day with fantastic controls and engaging combat, and optional challenges will keep you busy once the story is over. If you don’t mind waiting on the loading screens, this is a completely enjoyable PSVR experience.
