It has been about a year and some change since I jumped into the VR world via the PSVR. Using that technology is a chore at times, as there are plenty of wires and hookups to go around. It’s a lovely device, a welcomed addition to the PS4/5 (PS5 if you have the camera adapter) because it works so well, but it’s a pain when you unhook one thing from it and have to figure out what is missing days later. I know, I know…not real-world problems.
Anyway, why that is relevant to the review of Iron Man VR is that I have purposely shied away from VR experiences because of the wire trauma that comes with the PSVR. I had heard that Iron Man VR was something fun and special, but had never tried it out due to the technology. Eric Layman enjoyed his experience back in 2020 but cited some limitations with the hardware. It was understandable given the first version of Sony’s tech seemed to hold back on complete technology investment with the experience until they gauged interest from the audience. Honestly, a smart move considering the cost of the HTC VIVE and Oculus with a VR-capable PC and how well those VR solutions didn’t sell. All of that was expensive when it first launched. PSVR made the choice easy but certainly came with its own caveats.
My point is this, Iron Man VR was destined to improve with the technology. As soon as Meta found a way to deliver a piece of hardware independent of a $1500+ PC while delivering a high-end VR experience with it, well, then the possibilities of a game like Iron Man VR began to expand. So, here we are now with the Meta Quest 2 version of Iron Man VR. It delivers a better look, more comfort, and a wireless world, and brings the idea of becoming Iron Man closer to reality. Even if it is virtual.
Let’s get into it.
Tony’s sins have caught up to him
While I have always imagined VR experiences to be short in stature, mainly because VR fatigue is an honest-to-God real thing, the good folks at Camouflaj have given reason to stay locked into the virtual world. The story behind Iron Man VR feels like a story right out of the MCU. And that is never a bad thing.
You play Tony Stark, who is being hunted and haunted by a villain named ‘The Ghost’, someone you should be familiar with if you have seen the second Ant-Man movie. Much like the plot in that film, the Ghost is hunting down Tony Stark and making his life hell for the sins of his past. While Stark is trying to get out of the weapons business, the past drags behind him like Jacob Marley pulling chains and money boxes from A Christmas Carol. No matter how much he wants to be good, Ghost wants Stark to answer for the crimes they believe he has committed, which include murder and devastation. Quite the pair, right? As Stark proceeds in the story, he finds himself constantly hunted by Ghost, challenged with his own technology, and every step of the way they are trying to make Tony remember why he is still a bad person, at least in their view.
As stories go, I’m impressed with how attached I was to the narrative. Again, usually, VR experiences are short and almost experimental in nature, but this time around it was a fully thought-through narrative that wants you to get into a meaningful story about the darker side of Tony Stark’s arms-dealing life. It feels real, and urgent at times, and keeps the player hooked on the VR journey. This is one of the few games that I have found myself enjoying and wanting more of the game, rather than thinking, “when can I take a break from this”. Having a powerful story that brings you into the physical experience of becoming Iron Man helps to keep the player engaged. It kept me engaged throughout the process.
Of course, any good story has a few elements that make it good. The writing is superb. It’s on par with any good graphic novel that Marvel has put out there. If Ant-Man hadn’t introduced Ghost to the world in the movie theater, then this would have been a worthy first story for me to dig into and enjoy. It’s a great narrative that was treated well in the writing process.
To bring that writing to life, Iron Man VR had to have the right actors to see it through. Josh Keaton killed it as Tony Stark. He captured the fast-witted bar of comedy that Robert Downey Jr. established in the MCU. He carried over a bit of his own flair and sold Stark to the world through his efforts. Jennifer Hale as Pepper Potts was superb as well, as was the supporting cast that followed along with Keaton, including the villain Ghost played by Chantelle Barry. The actors help to sell the story and they all seemed to buy into their roles, which played into the quality of the narrative production. They made the story stand out.
Anyhow, bravo to Camouflaj for making the journey meaningful from writing to acting. It has been a while since I have thoroughly enjoyed a VR experience like this, and Iron Man VR gave me some faith that it’s possible to have a long journey in the VR world led by an intriguing narrative.
Get in the suit and GO!
Now, story aside, the real reason people want this game is to experience what it is to be like Iron Man. I can tell you that Iron Man VR didn’t disappoint in the category of VR experience. The story helped establish those Iron Man moments that would only be possible in VR, such as saving Pepper Potts from a damaged plane or fighting drones on a Helicarrier, where you could explore flying around and being the hero that Tony Stark has mostly been. Selling that experience seemed to be a priority for Camouflaj in taking on this task, and they pull off those moments of gameplay design perfectly.
Those moments are driven by the gameplay controls and the accuracy that comes with Meta Quest 2. To be quite honest, I didn’t expect much out of the Meta Quest 2 when it came to comfort, response, and controls, but Iron Man VR proved that the hardware was more than capable. Flying around as Iron Man was nearly 1:1 responsive, where you shift and move your palms and arms like Iron Man out of the MCU to fly and move in the direction that you want. It was incredibly intuitive and smooth going with Iron Man movements, which made me giddy and geeked out at times. I had never imagined that someone would capture the perceived movement of Iron Man so well in a game, but Camouflaj seemed to perfect it. When I flew as Iron Man, I had a helluva time with the game, even though it did cause me a little bit of motion sickness (it happens when you get older). Anyway, controlling Iron Man and flying around to get into the game and become engaged with the environment was absolutely brilliant.
To help put some girth in that flying ability, the game also features upgrades to the suit. You can earn points through missions in the game that will allow you to add/subtract weapons/abilities to the Iron Man suit. While it doesn’t go into some gigantic skills tree or offer up some deep upgrade options, it’s enough to make this more than just a simple simulator. If the story doesn’t help with that, the additional upgrades make the game a bit deeper while also creating a hefty amount of motivation to keep playing side missions and main quests. When a game motivates you to keep going through upgrades and skills, you know you can hook your players and keep them.
As for the weapon controls in the game, they’re mostly good. You have quite a selection of weapons to choose from when it comes to bringing the boom to enemies in the game. They can range from repulsors in the hands to missiles in the forearms, and even a giant chest repulsor coming from the arc reactor in the middle of the suit. There are plenty of good ways to take out enemies and the Meta Quest 2 controllers make it simple and smooth. You have a decent variety to choose from in the game.
Staying with weapons, the only issue I had with Iron Man VR is how motion reactive it was to switch between weapons. I moved my forearms in a twisting fashion to switch between repulsors and missiles when I first began the game. I never quite got comfortable with this method of switching back and forth. Sometimes there were too many things going on during a fight to remember to lift Iron man with a repulsor while switching over to missiles to dispose of an enemy. There is a 90% chance this is a Nathan Stevens issue, but a 10% buffer that maybe I didn’t lock in on this part of the controls as solidly as I should have locked into them. Switching between arm weapons was mostly a chore for me, but nothing insurmountable to ruin the game for me. There are other neat weapons to use, such as punching the hell out of enemies, and simple repulsors. For the most part, when everything was kicking in the right direction and selection, I was firing weapons as easily as I was trying to fly.
That brings about another point about Iron Man VR and that is having to balance out flying and firing. While it was a juggling act at the beginning of the game, I quickly understood that using an arm to float and an arm to fire was something I could pull off. There were run short stints where I would just fall and shoot, and it was high-sensation valued fun. Anyway, I know what you’re thinking, “No shit, Sherlock. Why would this be complicated?”, and you wouldn’t be wrong in that train of thought. Iron Man VR brings some perceived reality to becoming a superhero, where you didn’t know you had to worry about such things until you had to worry about such things. Virtual Reality is supposed to bring you some experience that you didn’t know you were going to go through and having to balance flying and firing is one of those experiences. For example, there is a stage where you visit Stark Towers in China, and you must navigate buildings while chasing enemies and firing at them. If you don’t balance these two gameplay elements quickly, you will find yourself in a blowing-up-predicament. It’s a complicated juggling act at first but as you keep playing the game and get used to the controls, you start to make the balance of flying and firing something that is second nature. That’s where you want to be in a game like this, where the controls and this balancing act you’re going through don’t get in the way of the experience. It actually enhances the experience, and at times makes you feel a bit positive about your flying and firing skills. This was tricky, but a cool way to get into the narrative and the virtual reality of becoming Iron Man.
If you have come for the experience of becoming and acting like Iron Man, then you have it with Iron Man VR. It’s a lot more work than you might expect, but the effort is worth it and only enhances the VR experience.
The right hardware at a low cost
Getting back to a previous comment, one of the big reasons why all the above positives of the game work are because of Meta Quest 2. Not having to be wired to a machine, such as the PS4 or PS5, or an expensive PC, helps keep you in the moment. Wireless wandering in a VR headset gives you a feeling of freedom and space, something that is desperately needed to sell the Iron Man dream. To make things even cooler, the Meta Quest 2 delivers some solid mid-range graphics, super comfortable controls, and audio that is supreme in its 3D spatial surround capabilities.
For a headset that is only $349.99 and still brings the same quality VR experience that is a notch above the PSVR, you have to appreciate what it can deliver. To put this in perspective, the PSVR with the system included costs around $500+ USD. If you go the PC route, you’re talking about $799 (headset) and at least a PC that starts around $1000. If you can get that same experience without having to buy additional hardware, why wouldn’t you? The wireless capabilities were good enough to sell me on the VR hardware.
Iron Man VR is better than its predecessor. It works well within the confines of the Meta Quest 2 and brings a better quality to the experience. Again, the wireless option for this game, if you have the right amount of space for it in your homestead, means so much to enhance the Iron Man experience in VR. The Meta Quest 2 was the right choice for a wider audience to experience this game.
More thoughts about the game
One fun part of the game that I found expanded the experience was the mini-games and things you could discover within the game. Starting with the former, if Camouflaj made a Tony Stark basketball game, I think I would play it forever. There is a mini-basketball game within Iron Man VR that allows you to play over and over again. The movement of the game and how accurate it feels to shoot an actual basketball is debatable, but it’s a cool little mini-game that expands the VR experience just a bit. You will run into small moments like this throughout the adventure.
In the same vein, there are tiny moments of VR fun that work well with the hardware to bring you closer to a VR world. For example, there is a part of the helicarrier mission where you find a phone and can pick it up to listen to a S.H.I.E.L.D. conversation. While the folks at Camouflaj could have gone as far as just picking up the receiver and listening in on the conversation, they put in further detail about the audio just coming in on the side you have the receiver on. If you are a righty, you’ll naturally put the receiver to your right ear and hear audio only in your right ear. Same with left. Using the hardware to work and make a deeper VR experience says a lot about the developer and attention to detail. This wasn’t a game they took lightly and moments like this make it more realistic in function. There are plenty of good moments that are intended to keep you in the world (don’t miss arm day in the game). Moments that aren’t just mini-games. Those moments are proper.
Anyway, let’s wrap this rambling up.
Conclusion
The Meta Quest 2 release of Iron Man VR shows that Camouflaj is expanding and enhancing the VR experience as the hardware capabilities improve. The game feels like what you would expect from an Iron Man experience and without all the wires to gum up the perceived reality it’s trying to deliver. The game works better, feels better, and looks better than its previous release. You shouldn’t pass it up.
9.5/10
