Author Note: Towards the end of writing this review I got the news that the developer, Twisted Pixel, was shut down along with a few other of Meta’s VR developers. My heart goes out to them, they have created some of the best recent VR games I have played. While this doesn’t change my feelings or my score, I do want to say that if this review got you interested in the game I still would suggest playing it. Despite how you might feel about Meta shutting them down, play it for the hardworking people who made the game and show support for them on social media or in any way that you can.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR was certainly not something I was expecting to see announced, but after what Meta and Camouflaj did with Batman: Arkham Shadow, I got excited for another high budget superhero VR game. Plus, Deadpool certainly lends better to a VR game than I thought an Arkham game would. Swords, guns, ridiculous moments, the IP is built for a good VR experience. Twisted Pixel Games takes the reins for this one, and they are no slouches when it comes to VR games and working with Oculus/Meta. Were they able to capture the ridiculous chaotic nature of the “Merc with the Mouth”?

Twisted Pixel found an interesting way to integrate the arcade action ideas of gaining rank and extra cash by doing awesome combos and using a variety of weapons into the story theme. Instead of just getting a breakdown of your action and awarded a grade, it is presented through the story with Mojo’s TV show. Mojo is the main big bad in Marvel’s Deadpool VR and if you never heard of him, don’t feel bad. Unless you were an avid X-Men fan, Mojo didn’t really blow up like other X-Men villains. That being said, he does present a fun scenario for a game, since that is what he is all about.

Yikes, just let me sign the contract and start the missions so I can stop looking at this nasty blob of veiny crap.

Mojo recruits (kidnaps) Deadpool and offers an opportunity of fame and lots of money, or live in constant torture and suffering. Without many options that don’t lead to the rest of eternity getting slowly flayed, Deadpool signs… Logan. Now that your soul, or whatever is left of it, is Mojo’s, you’re tasked with doing the same thing that happened to you. “Recruit” the various super beings that Mojo wants and then your contract is complete. Sounds simple enough. However, this is a game show, so you will be required to entertain Mojo’s audiences.

Supervised by Mojo’s head champion, the six-armed sorceress Spiral, and upgraded by Mojo’s right hand man, Major Domo, Deadpool uses the central production ship to teleport around the world, space, and hell, to find his marks. The general mission layout is doing a larger main mission to bag a super for the show. This involves a lengthier mission with larger battles and boss fights. Then in-between these missions you will participate in the Mojo Games live on TV.

Winning rounds of the Mojo Games not only unlocks new weapons, but also playable Deadpools.

These offer a nice change of pace from the story missions. These are typically a 1v3 (sometimes 2v3) arena setting competitive matches that are various rounds of three different game modes. Some of these are ones you’ve likely seen before like capture the flag, or something similar to Halo‘s OddBall, but instead of a skull you have to hold Headpool while he talks shit to you. Don’t worry, the combatant’s you fight are just AI enemies and it’s not an actual online match or anything.

The main missions are where you will be spending most of your time and this is where Marvel’s Deadpool VR shines nicely, despite some hiccups here and there. The cast of Marvel villains you will be going after are a decent set, but mostly the B-side of the tape. Heading to Japan to fight Lady Deathstrike, going to Vegas to fight Mephesto, space to fight Ultimo, Russia for Omega Red. There is plenty of variety through the levels and each have their own special enemies to keep things fresh.

Time to trim those nails.

I really enjoyed all the levels because they all offered something a bit different. Each new enemy for the levels provide a special weapon to pick up. This does help increase the variety for the combat since for the most part the base weapons themselves don’t have much variety. You of course have your trusty swords and guns, as well as a grapple gun, and grenade. Then there are special weapon lockers where you can get a shotgun, machinegun, and some machine pistols to dual wield, as well as four special weapons during a timed “Big Money” event. However, during the levels you can pick up some of the enemies weapons. For example, in the Lady Deathstrike level you can pick up one of the bows as well as the higher level samurai’s special katanas.

Deadpool’s base gear can be upgraded by Major Domo back at the base. Each new weapon comes with its own different use and set of skins to outfit it with. The Ten Incher V-06 sword is sort of like Ivy’s sword from Soulcalibur and extends the sword’s reach. Another one sword variant will continue spinning in place when thrown to continue hitting enemies until recalled. There are hand cannons that can shoot through enemies to hit multiple enemies, as well as very powerful but slow explosive round pistols. There is a decent set of weapons to swap between, but you can only change before the missions.

Shhhhh you had me at hello.

So I’ve established that there is a good variety of weapons, but how is the general gameplay and combat? When things are rockin’ and rollin’, it’s really chaotic and a ton of fun and it really is as involved as you want to make it. You want to be boring and just strafe around shooting? Sure it’ll be boring. But why not wall run around guys, throw your sword through their stomach, jump kick their face, jump off them and hail gunfire down on them. Cut their friends arm off, grab said friends arm, and slap him around with it a bit and then finish him off with a nice round house kick to the face? Hell, you can even use your own severed arms as weapons if you get them chopped off. Have a little fun, but not too much fun…

My combat issues mostly come from the sword combat, due to it feeling a bit floaty. It’s a little laggy with swinging, which makes it feel unwieldly at times. Trying to do cool blocks and one-on-one sword fights and flourishes with the swords can be a bit disappointing. It’s better to be played a bit fast with single swipes and throwing the swords around.

The beauty of Marvel’s Deadpool VR is that the premise of Mojo’s tv show encourages flashy combat to increase your stats and viewership. This increases your ranking and earned money which means you get to buy more of your upgrades. I think it is a really cool way to integrate the story into that classic arcade style combat ranking system. To top it off, when you have done enough awesome flashy stuff, you can then activate the “Big Money” meter. This is a timed event where you get to use one of the four special weapons that are not only super powerful, but will earn you a ton of cash. The four weapons you can unlock are Gambits cards, Thor’s Hammer, Hawkeyes bow, and Peter Quill’s Element Guns.

Thor’s? Hammer? Eh, close enough!

While overall I did have a lot of fun with Marvel’s Deadpool VR I do have a couple of gripes with it. First of all, some of the level designs can feel a bit “been there, done that” feeling. For instance, the level with Lady Deathstrike, it honestly felt like I was playing a level in Shadow Warrior. Hell, even the humor and weapon selection is similar in that game. The Ultimo level you’re just stuck on a ship and that’s just kind of boring. There are some interesting parts, especially with the ending section, but throughout, the level design feels boring.

However, one of the best parts of the game and honestly one of the best gaming moments I’ve had in a while is doing the Mephisto mission. The entire level is set in his Hotel Inferno featured in Las Vegas, which is just perfect. From start to finish this is a great level, with fantastic cameo parts from from Ghost Rider, to an awesome final boss fight that takes you through hell. I truly think it’s the best part of the game.

Mephisto has a demon infested hotel in Vegas? Fitting.

My other major gripe about this game is how often it will stop you from playing to talk to you. Holy crap, you’d think this was a visual novel at times with how long you’ll be just standing there waiting for dialogue to end. I know he is the Merc with the Mouth, but for Cap’s tight ass’s sake, lets get things moving. Some off it is the game needing to load the next part of the level, the other is exposition, but regardless there is too much time just standing around making finger guns and trying to pick characters noses as they talk.

This does make doing multiple playthroughs a bit more of a chore, which is a shame because there is a genuinely cool reason to do multiple playthroughs. Like I mentioned above, as you compete in the Mojo Games you unlock additional playable Deadpools. This includes Lady Deadpool, Golden Age Deadpool, and The Deadpool Kid. All of which are separately voice acted with completely unique dialogue, as well as their own set of swords and guns to use. Each level will also have challenge levels to complete that are only accessible if you’re playing as that specific Deadpool.

Complete these challenge rooms for further customization rewards.

Since I’m already addressing all the Deadpools, lets talk about Marvel’s Deadpool VR’s sound design and voice acting. First of all, Neil Patrick Harris is fantastic as Deadpool, he really nails the fast talking quick wit sarcastic nature of it all. At time it feels like Barney Stinson doing a Ryan Reynolds Deadpool impression, and that isn’t a bad thing. He hits the delivery about 90% of the time which is amazing considering the amount of one-liners, jokes, and references this game will throw at you. We’ve got some Louis C.K. jokes in there (take a guess), Tom Cruise, Beetle Juice, Damn Daniel, Jeff Bazos, Carrot Top, Colin Jost (you can guess how he comes up), and so many more. There are also some fun 4th wall breaking moments like him asking the player to clap his hands for him but not too hard because the controllers are expensive.

Besides Neil, the other voice actors for the other Deadpools do a good job as well. I didn’t replay all the levels with them, but from what I did play they do a good job with their banter and line delivery. It feels different enough from the regular Deadpool delivery and written jokes that it wouldn’t feel old just from hearing the same stuff at least. Sound design is well done as well from general sound effects from the levels and weapons. The variety of guns all have their own unique sound effects from the lighter faster pistols to the heavier hand cannons. The only thing kind of lacking are the swords, as they all sound similar.

Soundtrack is great, from the start you get Kickstart My Heart from Mötley Crüe. What a way to open a freaking game. There is also Tell it to My Heart by Taylor Dayne when you Activate Big Money mode bashing enemies. It’s a fantastic moment when that kicks in. The other soundtracks by Christopher and Gil Young are well made and add to the atmosphere.

I’m going to shoot you into that hole and you’re going to guide yourself through and destroy the Deathstar… I mean the defense grid.

The visuals are cel-shaded to capture that comic book style, and for the most part, it looks really great doing that. The character models of the main cast all look good and when you’re franticly fighting it looks fine. However, there are plenty of times where things looks a bit muddy with textures and things will pop in quite often. Especially in some of the outside levels like the Russian Omega Red level riding around in the tank. Environmental details will pop in right next to you at times and it can be distracting. It for the most part looks good, but it can be a bit of a mixed bag.

Performance was pretty solid until there was a lot going on up close. The only time I was able to get the game to slow down was when there was a lot of combat, fire, and I was going crazy up close with sword combat. Mephisto’s level had a few areas where the frame rate would slow because there was a lot of fire. Besides those specific situations, it held up really well and didn’t cause any discomfort or issues.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR was not a game I was expecting, but it is a game I’m glad I got to experience. It is a truly fun experience not only from its gameplay, but also from its genuinely funny comedy. It captures Deadpool extremely well, and in some cases, better than the movies because it can just do things that movies can’t do. With the added immersion of VR, it makes all these silly antics even better. It does suffer from some pacing issues, and the sword combat could use some refining. However, this is definitely worth the pick up if you’re looking for a fun and funny action game to slice through.

Marvel’s Deadpool VR is available now on Meta Quest 3 and 3S.

Reviewed on Meta Quest 3.

A copy of Marvel’s Deadpool VR was provided by the publisher.