Marvel’s Iron Man VR Review: a pretty good surprise in the end?

(Sony Interactive Entertainment)

Marvel’s Iron Man VR has undeniable good ideas that make it a pretty solid game, in any case, much more than most of the demos and simple virtual reality experiences that mostly populate the current catalog.

After Astro Bot and Blood & Truth, Sony is, therefore, proving its ability to provide “entire” titles for its PlayStation VR, including this one which, in this case, turns out to be responsible for wriggling fan-service for all Tony fans. Stark: after several hours of involvement, the gameplay is immersive and the sensations rather satisfying.

Nevertheless, the adventure also suffers from many flaws such as a fragile writing, sometimes almost boring because of Stark himself; numerous loading times and all the more interminable. When such a headset greedily envelops our heads; a sawtooth graphic creation with certain weak environments or confrontations has difficulty reinventing themselves.

But, again and again to counterbalance, the irrefutable pleasure of playing with the futuristic computers of the billionaire in real time, of visiting the mythical helicarrier of SHIELD or of blasting his enemies while spinning in front of the front of a villa dreamed of always does an obvious little something emotional.

A software far from perfect, therefore, but which should suit players in search of new blood and super-heroic pleasures, not without some obvious mistakes. The irrefutable pleasure of playing with the billionaire’s futuristic computers in real time, visiting the legendary SHIELD helicarrier or blasting enemies while spinning in front of the front of a long-dreamed villa makes a little emotional something obvious.

A software far from perfect, therefore, but which should suit players in search of new blood and super-heroic pleasures, not without some obvious mistakes.

Now that the technology of virtual reality is starting to take hold and that Sony has sold more PS VR than anyone on the market, more and more budget is allocated for various and varied projects that do not hesitate out of the nails.

Sony Japan had already put the package with its formidable Astro Bot before the London branch bet big on a thunderous Blood & Truth. Quickly countered at Valve at the beginning of the year by a Half-Life Alyx which, for some time yet, risks good to hold the first step of the podium.

On the other hand, on the (very fruitful) side of the superheroes, it’s a bit of dead calm. and there is a shortfall. With its partnership with Marvel after Spider-Man, Sony is doing it again by having the exclusivity of Iron Man, the most connected superhero who is entitled to his big adventure on PS4 or, what do we say, in PS VR.

Here is a childhood dream come true: to slip into the skin of a billionaire, twirl between the buildings and enjoy his sensational hut in Malibu without restriction. A real dream life?

The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most beloved character, Iron-Man, aka good ol ‘Tony Stark, is a sure bet. Funny, well-built, intelligent and beautiful as a god, the hero played by Robert Downey Jr. has become, alongside a few other Avengers, a true icon of pop-culture and a walking marketing weapon.

However, reprising his role without the famous American interpreter is a risky bet as the public is hooked on it: Square Enix will try his hand at exercising with his Marvel’s Avengers next September and, before that, Sony has commissioned Camouflaj for Marvel’s Iron Man VR, an unprecedented adventure of the man of metal with a new vision of the protagonist.

At the origin of the nice Republic released in 2013, the Camouflaj studio had already mastered virtual reality by making it compatible with the Occulus Quest. As much to say that with Marvel’s Iron Man VR, the stakes are high. ‘so much bigger since Sony made it one of its big exclusives alongside The Last of Us Part.

II and Ghost of Tsushima: here we are in the shoes of a Tony Stark with new features, first when he started testing his first armor, then five years later… when the going gets tough. In its goodwill to clean up the planet, Stark Industries has stopped selling weapons. The problem is that these – ultra-sophisticated drones – obviously ended up in the hands of the Phantom, a supervillain (already seen in Ant-Man 2) raised against Tony Stark and desperate to make him pay.

Twelve chapters then follow, alternating phases of action and narration/investigation; a breathtaking adventure that we will mainly remember… for its fan service.

If the story and its twists are, on paper, rather honest – and it must be emphasized – it is rather the writing and the dialogues that are damn perfectible. Starting with the character of Tony Stark himself: The billionaire has apparently eaten a spoiled clown and his regular punchlines cause uncontrolled facepalms.

In a VR game, it is clearly the sensations that prevail the most and as much to say that with the capacities of Iron Man, there is something to do: we have there a guy who flies, who dodges, who shoots, who investigates and who hack his armor with a bunch of sophisticated computers in a house out of your wildest dreams. Yes, all of this is possible in video games and Camouflaj was keen to apply himself to each of his points.

How to explain this certain thrill during the first test of the armor, unfolding all around your feverish body before finally approaching the mythical ATH of this futuristic helmet? This is a real pleasure, no doubt, quickly joined by other mechanics faithful to Iron Man.

Thus, we will raise the palms of our hands to fire with our blasters; we will aim with our wrists to launch our missiles; we will strike the ground with our relentless metal fist or bring together all our power artificial heart for an ultimate burst of energy.

Flight is also a primary gameplay mechanic that will require some trepidation, reacting to the tilt of the hands and the squeeze of the triggers.

In any case, he is sure of one thing: Marvel’s Iron Man VR cannot be tamed like that and it will take several hours before assimilating the cogs to move and fight properly. In general, the developers have been able to correctly transcribe the main gestures of the superhero on the PS Move. The buttons of these do not turn out to be optimal for certain gestures and maybe, sometimes, confused. In the end, it is especially the flight that will be the most difficult to handle.

Here, Approaching right-angled bends at full speed promises to be particularly complicated – it is the same for all precise and fast movements – while loops and other antics of the kind are impossible for obvious ergonomic reasons.

In short, playing Iron Man is exhilarating but not necessarily accessible. Rather solid gameplay, far from being easily digestible nevertheless, but caught up with other sequences more posed quite pleasant.

Thus, between two action missions in which it will be asked to face dozens of drones – moreover, we regret to face only this kind of very generic enemies (or almost).

Tony Stark will return to his base, will investigate certain places or go to visit well-known figures. This is how the adventure is structured: airy action sequences of narrative sequences, ideal for resting your brain and nerves quickly put to the test. It is thus possible to visit Tony Stark’s hut and do some ancillary activities – basketball throwing, hitting a bag, making a shaker, and improving your equipment.

Thanks to the improvement points obtained during missions or optional aerobatic courses – there are some for all the places you visit – it will be possible to upgrade your armor and equip this or that part with a specific item.

Two sets of armor are thus available to adapt to situations. Everything will be done from the hub: it is the same for studying your enemies using holographic planes or choosing your missions on a huge virtual globe.

It sounds silly to say but juggling these different “menus” in real time, by hand as Tony Stark would do on the big screen exactly, has a little jubilant side. It’s still neat, virtual reality.

On the other hand, other small points come to mar the experience. The first is clearly a certain repetitiveness during the fights which do not manage to renew themselves sufficiently.
Every once in a while, we get a minor objective to dilute the gunfights – remove a generator, unlock a door, etc. – but the clashes often last too long, especially since the bestiary lacks a lot of charisma.
A problem which is not resolved by certain choppy staging which weighs down the action. Many fades to black are present as soon as a scene is scripted, and this for nonetheless minor gestures: we then have the feeling of finding ourselves on unspectacular rails when their Hollywood potential is clearly not to be proven. The plane scene at the start,

This goes hand in hand with numerous and interminable loading times and an often sawtooth technique, relying on scenery with minimal modeling, which is also found for some lambdas enemies.
While they are often very smooth, the indoor environments (and therefore narrative) are clearly still the most compelling, leaving some outdoor arenas years behind schedule.
Of course, we know that making a game in virtual reality requires certain concessions – moreover, the PlayStation VR is starting to show its age – and certain places like the SHIELD heliport provide some inevitable fan chills … but the whole remains uneven.

In any case, we cannot blame Marvel’s Iron Man VR for not being generous since it requires between 7 and 10 hours of play to be completed,.The lifespan varies according to the level of difficulty and your willingness to do, for example, all the optional aerobatic courses or the additional level unlocked at the end.

A game more complete than we thought when we launched it the first time – not necessarily varied, however, be careful – but which tends to prove the growing credibility of VR titles in the video game landscape.