Skydance has solidified itself as one of the premiere VR game developers. The studio’s Walking Dead games stand out as some of the best VR titles available, and so expectations have been appropriately high for Skydance’s latest VR game, Behemoth. A gritty action-adventure game set in the dark fantasy world of the Forsaken Lands, Behemoth is yet another great virtual reality game from Skydance and is easily one of the better VR action-adventure games.
In Behemoth, players take on the role of Wren, a hunter from a small village who finds themselves afflicted with the same supernatural rot that has taken over the Forsaken Lands. Ending the affliction means killing gargantuan beasts, the titular behemoths, all while gathering gear, fighting human enemies, and solving puzzles.
The behemoths are the big selling point of Behemoth, and they do not disappoint. The immense size of these creatures can not be understated, and battling them is absolutely thrilling. Behemoth delivers some of the best and most memorable boss fights in all of VR gaming through these jaw-dropping creatures, with each fight topping the one that came before in complexity, challenge, and scale. These fights would have looked incredible on a traditional flat TV or monitor, but seeing these monsters in the context of virtual reality is truly something else.
Behemoth’s Boss Fights Are Its Biggest Draw
The incredible behemoth fights are worth the price of admission alone, though there are a couple of issues that prevent these encounters from reaching their full potential. There’s a great deal of climbing in Behemoth, and usually, it works exactly as intended, but there were times when climbing simply did not work correctly when trying to scale these gigantic creatures. One of the more impressive behemoth fights was also ruined by audio cutting in and out, which was distracting and robbed the moment of its impact. But even with these hiccups, Behemoth‘s boss fights are ones to remember.
There are only a few behemoth fights in the game. In-between, players have to cut through countless hordes of human enemies armed with swords, axes, shields, and bows. Players are able to pick up and use any weapon they come across on their adventures, with the fghts benefiting greatly from the freedom allowed by VR. Players can smash through an enemy’s shield with an axe, stun them with a quick arrow shot to the foot, and then stab them through the head while their guard is down. Having so many weapons at one’s disposal may seem daunting, but players don’t have to worry about fumbling with their inventory in the heat of battle. The key weapons automatically return if tossed aside, and players can even throw their sword and manually recall like it like God of War‘s Leviathan Axe if they want.
Early on, Behemoth grants Wren with a special ability that vastly increases their strength for a short duration of time. If fights ever become too overwhelming, players can trigger this skill to literally cut their opponents in half, lop off their limbs, and even pick them up and throw them. As the game goes on, Wren’s arsenal grows, in turn increasing the options players have in any given combat encounter, ensuring that the fights in Behemoth never get old.
There’s plenty of fighting in Behemoth, but the game shines with its puzzle-solving. Fans of Zelda-style puzzles will have a great time tackling the puzzles in Behemoth, and while many of them may be simplistic compared to traditional console games, being able to take a literal hands-on approach to everything helps them feel fresh. Puzzles help break up the combat encounters and ensure Behemoth keeps a great pace from the start of the game to its end credits. There’s nothing here that will have players pulling their hair out, but there is still enough challenge to the puzzles that players won’t be bored either.
My first playthrough of Behemoth took about 10 hours, but I can see it taking another 5 to 10 hours for 100%.
The final piece of Behemoth‘s core gameplay is its platforming. Behemoth outfits players with a grappling hook that they can use to zip to higher ledges, sometimes using their momentum to fling Wren across long distances to then grapple on to the next point and so on and so forth. Wren’s dash, usually used for dodging enemy attacks, can be used mid-air to zip across gaps, and players can also jump up walls and ledges that they’re physically climbing with their hands. Clever twists to the formula are sprinkled throughout and that, combined with the upgrades players get for Wren’s grappling hook that give it more utility, keeps things interesting.
Behemoth Gives You Bang for Your Buck
Everything in the game is so effective because Behemoth does not overstay its welcome. It gradually gives players more tools, and then presents puzzles and combat encounters that utilize the tools. When Behemoth runs out of ideas, the game ends. That doesn’t mean Behemoth doesn’t have a significant amount of content to journey through. My playthrough took about 10 hours, and I didn’t even come close to seeing everything. There are many places off the beaten path, often with more difficult puzzles and platforming challenges that grant helpful rewards.
Behemoth has collectibles for players to find, but the real exciting rewards are the metals that players use to upgrade their weapons. Keeping true to Behemoth‘s VR immersion, upgrading weapons isn’t done by clicking through a menu. Players have to place their weapon on an anvil, melt down the necessary materials, and then hit the heated weapon with a hammer. Much like Skydance’s other VR games, Behemoth does a great job of keeping players immersed by taking full advantage of VR’s unique capabilities. What would be a mundane task in any other game is instead made engaging and fun.
From a gameplay perspective, it’s hard to find fault with Behemoth beyond the wonky climbing during the behemoth boss fights. The game’s two biggest drawbacks are its story, which is bland and predictable, and its graphical mishaps, which are a little too common. Most of the time, Behemoth looks great, but other times it drops the ball with textures that fail to load and wonky-looking effects.
Behemoth has an Arena mode that’s currently in Beta testing, but we were unable to try it for this review.
It’s not perfect, but that doesn’t stop Behemoth from being one of the best VR games to date. It’s an action-packed adventure that should greatly appeal to fans of games like The Legend of Zelda and God of War, with a healthy balance of gritty combat, satisfying puzzles, and immersive exploration. It’s the latest must-have VR experience and one of the best virtual reality games to release all year.
Reviewed on Meta Quest 3
- Exciting, hard-hitting combat
- Fun puzzles that make great use of VR
- Brilliantly paced from start to finish
- Regularly introduces new mechanics to keep things fresh
- Some of the best boss fights in any game all year
- Unreliable climbing hurts some of the game’s most exciting moments
- Occasional graphical and audio issues
- Story is too predictable
Behemoth is available now for PC, PlayStation VR2, and Meta Quest. Game Rant was provided with a Meta Quest code for this review.