Marvel's Deadpool VR Review

Deadpool used to be a bit of a niche character — well-loved by fans, and selling enough comics to keep an ongoing monthly title, but generally unknown outside of the X-Men sphere. Now that he’s had three major motion pictures, he’s finally getting his second-ever videogame! Yes, in 34 years he’s only had two games, plus appearances in most of the games which feature other characters from the Marvel Universe.

Marvel's Deadpool VR is a first-person action shooter, but that’s only describing it at a very basic level. After the tutorial, it sees Wade “Deadpool” Wilson being tasked by the supervillain Mojo to take out various other supervillains. Well, not so much take out as convince to go to Mojoworld. Violently.

Deadpool has two pistols and two swords, all of which you can throw at enemies and they will either bounce back or you can just grab them off of your hips/shoulders again.

You can also pick up weapons from lockers or take them from fallen enemies, and while they have limited ammunition you can actually reload them by throwing them at an enemy. They’ll bounce back towards you — even if you’re moving — fully reloaded and ready to use some more! The regular guns also need reloading, but while you can yeet them at your foes to do so, Deadpool reloads automatically.

Deadpool also finds what amounts to a grappling gun, which allows you to zoom up to certain glowing points, and can be utilised in combat. Oh, and grenades, did I mention those? Those are on his left arm, the grapple on his lower back, guns on his hips, and swords on each shoulder.

Since Mojo TV is all about ratings, the more bombastic your fights, the more money you earn. It also fills up a gauge which lets you get limited-time weapons, such as exploding playing cards, which in turn boosts your earnings! Use the cash to unlock new characters, costumes, weapons, and weapon cosmetics.

The highlight of Deadpool VR is the cast, from Neil Patrick Harris as Wade Wilson, to Julia Jones as Spiral, Kelly Hu, Kal Penn, John Leguizamo… I could go on, as they are all fantastic. Great performances all around, solid directing, and I’m honestly so glad that I didn’t know everyone who’s in the game beforehand. Lots of “Oh, that’s them from that thing!” going on.

Neil Patrick Harris has a storied career, but perhaps his most famous role is Barney Stinson. That character was an overactive, horny ne'er-do-well — but what if he was pansexual too? Well, that’s Deadpool. It’s good representation to have a queer actor playing a queer character.

Once you’ve finished a level as part of the story, you can replay it whenever you like. What’s more, you’ll remember that I said you can buy characters. They have their own lines, too! Sure, the characters they’re speaking to still say the same things, but it’s still fun.

Unfortunately, replaying levels is going to be a nightmare for speedrunners. You can’t skip people talking. Cutscenes are skippable, but you have to wait for every eyeroll as you’re going along. The third level actually starts with Deadpool literally on a pedestrian conveyor having a chat with Spiral via comms, and you cannot do anything which leads into more talking and a little wander around, and it was about 18 minutes before I could get about the business of killing people.

This wouldn’t have been much of an issue — again, great acting — but I’d decided to play that level standing up. The thing about waiting in lines which people hate the most is the fact that you’re standing still. If Hideo Kojima made a VR game, standing to watch those cutscenes would be used as a method of torture. A bit of a warning would have been appreciated, is all I’m saying.

Deadpool VR can be played sitting or standing, but just be warned that your guns are on your hips. So, don’t use a chair with arms, and try to sit on the edge of your sofa if you’re sitting there. All of the weapon positions can be altered, but I moved those guns three times and still had to push into the cushions to try and grab them…

While the majority of the game is clearly made by people familiar with Deadpool and Marvel Comics, I have to say that the alternate costumes are a little disappointing. Not in design, but the descriptions and names are super generic. It’s not Deadpool’s X-Men Costume, or Evil Deadpool, they’re just Deadpool [number], with a description along the lines of “the normal costume with a twist!”

But back to the good stuff, the game has plenty of customisation options for comfort levels, which was great to see. I used snap turning and a slight vignette, and was always perfectly comfortable even while parkouring around the place.

There are collectables in the form of floating comic books. These only unlock covers, and some of them aren’t even the good covers from across Deadpool’s 30 years of comics… But they’re not the only way to unlock things, as when you replay levels as those other characters, you’ll encounter doors which give you access to secret levels! Complete them and you’ll unlock more goodies to look at.

While Deadpool can regenerate (and does if you lose an arm and decide to not use it as a club), he can also die. The checkpoints are generous, but you might want to die anyway as each death gives you a unique animation, as well as letting Wade tell you off.

If death and gore aren’t your cup of tea, then don’t worry there’s a Kidpool mode! It replaces (most) blood with rainbow confetti, and bleeps the swearing. But I quite like the characters cussing each other out.

Deadpool VR is everything that I thought it would be, and as a long-time fan, I had high hopes. Deadpool never shuts up, there’s over-the-top action, cameos, fourth wall breaking, Headpool, regeneration, grenades… This is great.