Avengers: Damage Control VR Experience @ The VOID

Shuri smiles on a screen. She’s thanking me for testing out some new technology that she’s been working on, while an AI chides her for skipping over the beginning information. Exasperation fills her body language and tone, building on the character’s disdain of procedure in the face of scientific progression. It’s a perfect character moment — one that works brilliantly as an extension of a well-worn world, setting the stage perfectly for what the Avengers: Damage Control VR Experience would be.

Full disclosure: I’m not someone who plays a lot of video games. It’s not so much a taste thing, such as it is a bit of self preservation. I’m a person that loves exploring worlds, and having the agency to build a story at my own pace — discovering bits of plot while traveling through a land, helping those in need. Something like Avengers: Damage Control was built almost perfectly for my needs: something short and sweet that let the catharsis of exploding robots and helping out humanity mix with an efficient and well told story.

I arrived at our local location of “The Void” (which will always be a fun thing to say), and was quickly oriented. First, I watched the video that features Shuri, as played by Letitia Wright, and received my marching orders: the Damage Control facility was under attack, and our help was needed to keep control. The Avengers would help us with this project — hopefully preventing our probable deaths.

Shortly after, I was outfitted with the VR material required to make everything happen. In short order, the world I knew bled into the world I’ve only watched from afar. Wearing a suit that combined Iron Man tech with Wakandan modifications, myself and my team were placed in the middle of a scrimmage with Ultron — who had returned to nab tech from Damage Control a group that was known for cleaning up after big Marvel events and housing technology that was not suited to get into public hands.

The VR experience was quite wonderful. Not only was there the experience being pumped into my eyes, but there were brilliant touches that allowed the rest of your body to become part of the experience, such as slight temperature changes while walking through a space, and smells.

Avengers: Damage Control
You get to choose your suit colours and shape.

The story itself was a lot of fun. As you push through the adventure, you meet a great deal of the heroes you’ve seen on the big screen. Many talk and somewhat interact with you (there is no call and response, which is perfectly understandable) and for the most part, the voices are the ones you recognize from the movies — the exception being Ultron himself, who is played by Ross Marquand doing a very good James Spader style cadence.

The controls were wonderful and intuitive for someone who is not great at the multitasking style that’s involved with many of these style of games. For the most part, you’re destroying robots with blasters and protecting yourself with shields as you work your way through the Damage Control facility. The threat ramps up, but the game has given you the tools to power up in scale, making this game perfect for kids and adults alike.

Welcome to eternal nothingness, please click to agree.

One of the other things I really enjoyed about the experience as well was how it scaled itself for knowledge levels of the Marvel Universe. It works for a person that hasn’t seen the movies, up to those that know Damage Control from the comics. All the continuity bits are additive for those who might know them, but do not harm the experience for anyone that might not. All in all, it was a wonderful experience, and if you have a chance to check the experience out, I would highly recommend doing so.