Marvel’s Deadpool VR is a game that I wasn’t too sure about. Outside of the confidence afforded by the virtue of it being an exclusive on the Meta Quest platform, Marvel’s Deadpool VR could have gone either way. Still, thankfully, after 10 hours give or take, I can say with confidence that Deadpool’s latest VR outing is a worthwhile one for Quest owners.
Co-developed by Twisted Pixel Games and Oculus Studios, the former of which developed one of my favourite early Xbox 360 titles, Splosion Man. Marvel’s Deadpool VR seemingly chose the ideal studio to work on a game based on such a volatile character. Of course, with a character as irreverent and abrasive as the foul-mouthed merc, it would make sense then that the character could only be brought to life by an actor with the charisma to sell it, which makes Neil Patrick Harris as Wade Wilson a solid choice for the game.
Although nowhere near as great as his portrayal of Spider-Man, in games like Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and the 2003 animated program, NHP does a solid job as Deadpool, outside of a few lines here and there, feeling a bit flat and phoned-in compared to how the larger-than-life character is generally portrayed.
“Marvel’s Deadpool VR never outstayed its welcome in terms of its banter and general narrative beats.”
The writing itself in Marvel’s Deadpool VR matches the tone of the source material while also featuring a healthy amount of nerdy videogame references and self-deprecating one-liners that poke fun at the developers themselves, which feels wholly fitting for a Deadpool videogame. Ultimately, despite not every joke landing and perhaps a few too many repeating lines of dialogue, Marvel’s Deadpool VR never outstayed its welcome in terms of its banter and general narrative beats.
Speaking of not outstaying its welcome, the gameplay itself in Marvel’s Deadpool VR features enough gameplay variances and unique stage gimmicks that I found myself never feeling bored or tired of the otherwise fairly standard loop of clearing rooms of bad guys, solving puzzles and making your way towards the end-level boss.
Taking a step back to talk about the setup, Marvel’s Deadpool VR sees the titular anti-hero roped into an interdimensional gameshow hosted by Mojo, a character just as unhinged as Deadpool himself. As a contestant/slave for the titular ruler of Mojoworld, players are tasked with recruiting other contestants for Mojo, which takes the form of both iconic and more obscure deep cuts from Marvel’s rogue gallery of super villains.
Super villains include the likes of Mephisto, Lady Deathstrike, Ultimo (who definitely is not Ultron), among others, that make up the bulk of the game. Levels in Marvel’s Deadpool VR consist of tracking down said super villains in the hopes of coaxing them into returning to Mojoworld as contestants. Naturally, each encounter results in some tension that usually boils down to having to kick a bunch of ass and forcing your target to concede.
The game offers five distinct levels, capped off with a boss encounter in each. When you’re not recruiting super villains, the game throws additional Mojoworld arena gauntlet challenges as intermissions between the larger action stages. Mojoworld gauntlets typically consist of three rounds, in which the player must compete against other Deadpool variants in arena-shooter-styled gauntlets. These challenges include everything from capturing territories to an oversized game of pinball, where the player must guide the ball towards enemies to garner points.
Unfortunately, most of these Mojoworld challenges can feel tacked on, almost as if the developers wanted to initially include some form of online multiplayer mode, only to end up as simple single-player challenges to pad out the game. At the very least, these challenge levels do help spice things up and act as decent distractions from the main stages. In terms of accessibility, Marvel’s Deadpool VR offers several difficulty options, including a Kidpool mode, which rounds off some of the rougher edges of the game, making it appropriate for children.
“As Deadpool, players have access to a plethora of weapons, although many of them do mechanically feel very similar.”
As Deadpool, players have access to a plethora of weapons, although many of them do mechanically feel very similar, the game does a good job of keeping things fresh by adding on augments that spice things up or at the very least, give more utility. Weapons include different styles of katanas and blades, varying grenade types, pistols and shotguns, in addition to unique melee weapons and machine guns that appear exclusively during a mission from enemy drops and vending machines.
Wade also has access to a grapple gun, reminiscent of Bulletstorm, which gives the player the ability to wrangle in enemies and swing around levels, ala the Dark Knight. Finally, in terms of weapons, players can unlock several special power-ups based on iconic Marvel characters, which, based on your score, give Deadpool access to ultra-strong attacks for a short burst. These power-ups include everything from playing cards inspired by Gambit to Thor’s Mjölnir and Star-Lord’s blaster.
Outside of some performance issues, particularly during the latter half of Marvel’s Deadpool VR, which hopefully can be ironed out in time for launch, Deadpool’s debut VR title is a stylish game. Taking full advantage of the Quest 3 hardware, Marvel’s Deadpool VR features a slick comic book aesthetic that perfectly captures the essence of the source material.
Ultimately, Marvel’s Deadpool VR isn’t breaking new ground, but more importantly, the game offers players a solid VR experience based on the contentious anti-hero that doesn’t feel like a cash grab, earning it its right to say maximum effort.
Marvel’s Deadpool VR is available now exclusively on Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S hardware.
