Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City [REVIEW] – Heroes in a VR Half-Shell 

We’ve seen a few iconic franchises make the jump to VR, but I’d be lying if I said that there wasn’t always a collective holding of breath with each release. Tie-in games have a notorious habit of relying purely on nostalgia while forgetting to actually be… well… good games, but thankfully, Cortopia Studios hasn’t fallen into that trap with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City. It delivers a genuinely solid and entertaining brawler, and whilst it isn’t a flawless masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, it absolutely respects the source material and offers fans of the franchise something to smile about. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City kicks off in a post-Shredder New York, and rather than wheeling out the usual suspects of villains right out of the gate, the game introduces us to Mashima, a Foot Clan mystic trying to bring his old boss back from the dead using dark magic. It’s a refreshing narrative choice that gives the campaign a unique flavour, but don’t worry: plenty of familiar faces do show up along the way. It’s also backed up by some top-tier voice acting from franchise veterans and writing that perfectly captures the light-hearted and banter-heavy tone of the classic cartoons, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City getting the vibe just right for long-time fans. 

Visually, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City adopts a striking cel-shaded art style that looks like a comic book brought to life. The turtles themselves look fantastic, and the game runs remarkably smoothly – even when things get utterly chaotic, which you can expect on the regular. The audio is a winner too, with punchy combat sounds and great character dialogue, whilst the soundtrack fits the whimsical yet hectic action. 

One of the best things that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City has going for it is traversal. The game drops you into a semi-open world split between multiple areas, and moving around these spaces feels brilliant. You can scale buildings, leap across rooftops, and double-jump your way over alleyways with an incredibly fluid parkour system, and believe me, when you are bounding high above the streets, you truly feel like a hero in a half-shell. Again, it just shows that the team at Cortopia Studios put a lot of love and care into capturing the tone and essence of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. 

“Traversal is fantastic, the comic-book vibes are immaculate, and the co-op is a joy, but it is dragged down by an empty world and combat that lacks any real challenge.” 

That being said, the game is also a little bit guilty of demonstrating some of the limitations of the Meta Quest 3 headset. Some of the open-world areas are painfully empty, with no civilians, no traffic, and no dynamic events to make New York feel alive. The streets are essentially ghost towns dotted with static pockets of Foot Clan soldiers, and whilst the game tries to keep you busy with a ‘Crime Rating’ system where you respond to radio calls to stop muggings or dismantle enemy tech, these encounters can get incredibly repetitive. It might be a slightly unfair comparison given the scope of each game, but when compared to similar titles such as Spider-Man or the Batman Arkham series, the world itself can just feel a little vacant. 

When it comes to the actual combat, things are also a bit of a mixed bag. The game gives you a robust set of mechanics, including parries, dodges, and a focus meter that you can charge up for extra damage. Each turtle wields their signature weapons too, and they all feel distinct and satisfying – if you have a favourite, you’ll definitely appreciate how accurate it feels to play as them. However, whilst the mechanics of combat are varied and satisfying, the game is so easy that it’s rare that you’ll ever feel a challenge. You can easily brute-force your way through most encounters just by wildly swinging your controllers, and whilst boss encounters do give you something extra to think about, it’s rare that they’ll ever push your skills too much. On one hand, it’s cool to feel like a badass turtle and smashing through foes with ease will definitely feel rewarding for younger players, but for those who like a bit of challenge, it’s easy to feel a little underwhelmed. 

At least Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City keeps things interesting in other ways, particularly with the surprisingly deep progression system back at the sewer lair. As you explore, you hoover up scrap, blueprints, and relics, which can then be used at Donatello’s 3D printer to craft new gear or apply upgrades to improve your capabilities. It is a rewarding loop, and whilst it’ll take a bit of grinding to level up every character, the sense of progress makes it feel worthwhile. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

It’s fair to say that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City can be a bit of a mixed bag then, but it does have one feature that helps it stand out: four-player co-op, which is an absolute blast. Bounding across the rooftops with three friends is chaotic fun, and easily the best way to experience the game. It’s like playing the classic arcade games all over again, but with the added immersion of VR to make things feel even more special… what more could you want? Just bear in mind that enemy numbers don’t scale up for multiplayer, making the already easy combat even easier. But hey, when you get to play as your favourite heroes in a half-shell, it’s hard to complain too much.

Developer: Cortopia Studios 
Publisher: Beyond Frames Entertainment 
Platform(s): Meta Quest 3 (Reviewed), PC VR 
Website: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/experiences/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-empire-city/6635073589916590/