Generally speaking, games based on superhero franchises are, at best, a mixed bag. They rarely garner the successful praises from fans that many movies do. Sony has had a long track record of hits and misses, with its many Spider-Man games as well, but more than a few managed to raise some bars for the genre.
In early spring of 2020, PSN announced that an Iron Man VR PlayStation exclusive was soon to be released. A month later, both it and The Last of Us Part II were removed from the PlayStation Store, and refunds were given. At that point, both were also indicated to be delayed indefinitely. Summer is here now, and each has now seen their way to being released. While The Last of Us Part II has mostly received good reviews, Iron Man VR is left in the all-too-familiar territory of being a mixed experience.
- Collider: “Marvel’s VR Game Truly Makes You Feel Like a Bad**s Superhero.” One of the few that give an overall positive review.
- Engadget: “‘Iron Man VR’ has moments of brilliance, but shows the limits of PSVR.” Another mostly positive review, but it does point out a couple of things that pop up on other sites. Gameplay mechanics are clunky, and also, many bland, repetitive fights.
- IGN: “Marvel’s Iron Man VR is not the next Marvel’s Spider-Man, and it’s not a system-selling killer app for the PSVR. But despite falling short of those admittedly high bars, it’s still a fun time.” Here’s another decidedly mixed, but mostly positive, review. They also have some gameplay videos worth a look if interested.
- Ars Technica: “A sad, painful end to the PS4’s PlayStation VR era.” Citing a plethora of control issues, they go into lengthy descriptions of the cons of the game’s mechanics. They also state a seemingly never-ending amount of loading screens and narrative sequences.
- The Verge: “Iron Man VR is a tinfoil version of a truly great Iron Man game.” Yet another review that mentions load times, repetitive battles, and poor control design.
Iron Man VR is currently available on the PlayStation Store for $39.99.