Point them back and you’ll rocket forward, down and you’ll gain altitude, or sideways and you’ll strafe through the air. Instead of familiar analog controls, pulling the triggers will turn on your hand repulsors and push you away from whatever direction your palms are facing. Every mission is essentially an aerial dog fight with other objectives like defusing bombs or protecting a target thrown in – but Iron Man isn’t a jet, and he doesn’t fly like one. Thankfully, you’re not really here to play as Tony Stark: you’re here to play as Iron Man, and in the superhero department Iron Man VR delivers. The story wasn’t enough to get me emotionally invested in Tony’s journey – especially when serious moments were frequently undercut by his big, dumb shoulders in the corner of my view or his deformed, wobbly arms grasping at props I wanted to interact with but couldn’t.

It’s the antithesis of the phrase “show, don’t tell,” relying on stationary, exposition-heavy conversations, as well as black voids where you just stand there and listen to Tony explain his feelings between only loosely connected missions. While it can be entertaining, the plot here falls flat thanks to both its laughable predictability and the blunt way it’s presented.

Iron Man VR’s story takes place on well-trodden ground as Tony struggles with the ramifications of his past life as a war profiteer, this time while up against the villain Ghost. Iron Man VR’s story falls flat in part because of the blunt way it’s presented. They’re simple gimmicks that help put you in Tony’s shoes, but also aren’t detailed enough to be worth more than a quick glance if this isn’t your first foray into VR (with the exception of that basketball game, which is genuinely fun).

His house is full of cute little interactables like books, edible food, and even a functional arcade basketball game. That means using hand-directed repulsors to nimbly soar through the air while shooting down robotic enemy drones, but it also means walking around his lavish Malibu home and upgrading your suit between the missions of its linear campaign.These moments as Tony are often little more than a vehicle for story exposition and the occasional equipment upgrade, but they’re still a welcome change of pace when you otherwise spend most of your time in the air.

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