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Enemies getting new attacks on harder difficulties. I went into a Silent Hill 2 run on hard mode and quickly discovered to my surprise that the starter enemies who spent the entirety of normal difficulty shambling slowly and vomiting in an arc were now charging me headfirst and vomiting in a direct line straight at my position. As you can imagine it has completely changed how I engage with them. I'm looking forward to seeing what tricks the other enemies have up their sleeves now.

Batman: Arkham Shadow Hot damn, this game rocks. Before I go any further I will address the elephant in the room. A lot of people are upset that this game is VR exclusive but I have two things to say to that: 1) This game, while still huge for a VR title, is smaller in scope than a mainline Arkham game. If this were a flatscreen title it'd be nothing special, but as a VR experience it's amazing. 2) Meta funded this game. If not for that, it wouldn't exist. That's just how it is. This has all the staples of the Arkham series you would want, that being combat, predator sequences, and clever puzzles to solve for collectibles. I don't really like to use the cliche "it makes you FEEL like Batman" but they implemented the controls in such an immersive and engaging way that it's hard to think of a more appropriate phrase. Knocking out guards from behind is done by yanking them back with your arms and then wrestling with them from side to side until they pass out. Gliding with your cape is done by grabbing the cape at both sides and spreading your arms. Knife slashes are dodged by ducking and weaving. It all just feels so natural and right. The real star, however, has got to be the hand-to-hand combat. If you wondered how Arkham's iconic combat system could be translated into VR, I'm here to tell you that they passed the test with flying colors. Batman will lunge toward whatever enemy you're facing when you punch forward, and then combos are performed by a blend of jabbing at targets and swinging either your left or right fist, depending on which direction the arrow is pointing. You can also grab people when prompted to perform finishers or jump on them while they're on the ground and punch the crap out of them to knock them out. In a way it's kind of like a rhythm game, except you're being attacked on all sides the whole time. Even when you're being attacked offscreen, I never felt like I was taking cheap hits because the game very clearly warns you which direction you're being attacked from and gives you the means to do a side counter to stop them. Enemies can and will attack you in huge groups and taking them down is a balance of getting in your hits where you can while also defending yourself from the sucker punches other goons will try to get in while you're focusing on the guy directly in front of you. You can, of course, also use your gadgets during fights like any other Arkham game and they also throw special enemies at you like shield or stun baton users that require specific maneuvers to take down. It doesn't feel dumbed down at all and I dare say it might be the most fun I've ever had with the Arkham combat system. Just be forewarned that it's extremely strenuous and unless you're already jacked you will probably end up sore as hell after punching criminals for several hours. The story takes place after Origins and took me a little over 15 hours to beat without getting all the collectibles, and I have to say it kept me invested to the end. Unlike Arkham Knight, where it was insultingly obvious who the Arkham Knight was from the beginning, I really had no idea who the Rat King was until the climax. There are some big reveals here, as well as appearances from villains who have never been in an Arkham game before. This was far from a throwaway plot or "good for a VR game." I don't really have much to criticize. I did run into a few game breaking bugs but it worked fine after I reloaded the checkpoint. The game is fairly generous with them too so I never lost more than a minute or two of progress. It looks really good inside the headset as well. $49.99 might feel steep for a VR title to some people, but I absolutely feel like I got my money's worth, especially considering I haven't even done the challenge maps yet and the devs already promised to add more for free. This is the Quest 3's killer app, full stop.