Review of ‘Skydance’s Behemoth’: A Giant Leap in VR Action-Adventure Gaming

Skydance’s Behemoth brilliantly displays the many insights the studio gained through its VR journey, lessons mostly learned from their hit game, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners. While its story might seem like familiar territory for an action-adventure game, Behemoth carves out its own space in the VR landscape with its grand scale and deeply satisfying gameplay.

Details

• Developer: Skydance Games
• Platforms: Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2, coming soon on SteamVR
• Reviewed on: Quest 3
• Release Date: December 5, 2024
• Price: $40

Gameplay

In Behemoth, you inhabit the persona of Wren, a villager cursed and inching towards a monstrous transformation. It’s a curse that seals your fate but also grants you extraordinary powers—speed, strength, and agility, all essential in unraveling the dark forces that brought a kingdom to its knees.

The game feels atmospheric as you wander through forsaken castles and sprawling pathways filled with foes. These adversaries are under an ominous influence, ranging from smaller, mindless minions to towering troll-like giants that wreak havoc.

Behemoth masterfully focuses on melee combat, emphasizing physics over predetermined attack patterns. The fighting mechanics encourage creativity with a straightforward blocking system that adds strategy to your attacks. But don’t just swing wildly—your stamina meter will deplete quickly, and mid-level enemies breathe life into the battlefield with their varied weapons and tactics.

You have an ace up your sleeve with your ability to break through armor in a single swing, although it’s on cooldown more often than not. You’ll need to lean heavily on this power when faced with armored foes later in the game, reassuring you that strategic upgrades are worthwhile. The game’s crafting revolves around enhancing weapons, including a mighty sword, a self-regenerating bow, and an axe capable of shattering armor, using Coloss Alloy from loot.

The weapon upgrade system is efficient, but the potential for a more robust crafting system feels a bit squandered, especially with the many collectable herbs that offer little health boost on-the-go without storage options. It leaves one wondering if there were plans for a deeper crafting mechanic that didn’t make the cut.

The Behemoths and Beyond

Throughout your journey, you’ll encounter environmental puzzles, fascinating mini-bosses, and the colossal Behemoths. Although there are only four of these behemoths to conquer, each clash demands the skills you’ve honed—be it shooting, climbing, or battling. These encounters serve as the peak of gameplay, forcing you to climb and grapple onto looming giants in a climactic test of skill.

The storyline might be predictable, and while enemies fall back on familiar tropes, the game’s nine-hour campaign remains engaging, with purpose behind each encounter and upgrade, urging you to explore without excessive filler.

Immersion

Character interaction in Behemoth is commendable, with a voice-protagonist duo that doesn’t overwhelm the player, allowing ample room to engage with the game in a more organic way, free from constant handholding. Still, one character stands out as overly dramatic, clashing with the otherwise gritty setting.

Behemoth delivers spectacular visuals that excel even on the Quest 3, showcasing textures and aesthetics that rival many PC VR titles. Even with some narrative clichés, the combat and dynamic grapple mechanics come together for a highly satisfying experience.

AI and Level Design

AI can sometimes feel too predictable, particularly in larger arenas where foes spawn repetitively. Still, the sheer scope of the game, from looming Behemoths to smashing through walls, is a thrilling exploration into what VR is capable of.

Comfort

Although a physically demanding game, Behemoth accommodates both seated and standing gameplay well, with robust VR options like smooth and snap turning, and dashing movement. The game’s design even cleverly uses light particle effects as orientation aids to avoid discomfort as you dash through its world.

Overall, Skydance has transformed its prior VR success into a new adventure with Behemoth, delivering an enjoyable, immersive experience that highlights just how far VR has come.