TMNT: Empire City Looks Like the Kind of VR Co-op Chaos Turtle Fans Will Love

TMNT: Empire City is starting to look like more than just a fun VR gimmick.

In IGN’s latest preview, the game’s biggest strength seems to be how naturally the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles formula fits into virtual reality. First-person VR already makes rooftop movement, climbing, and close-range brawling feel more physical, but the new hands-on adds something even more important, co-op. And honestly, that sounds like the part that could make this game click with fans.

A TMNT game lives or dies on group chemistry. These characters are not meant to feel lonely. They are loud, messy, chaotic, and at their best when the whole squad is together causing problems for the Foot Clan. According to the preview, that energy comes through pretty well in Empire City, especially once friends jump in together and start messing around between missions.

That includes hanging out in the turtles’ underground base, eating pizza, chugging soda, and basically behaving like overgrown mutant gremlins. In VR, even small interactions apparently become funny fast, especially when your friends are represented as exaggerated turtle avatars with huge shells, floppy mouths, and chunky three-fingered hands. It sounds silly, but that kind of goofiness matters. For a co-op VR game, half the appeal is whether just existing in the same space with your friends feels entertaining. Empire City seems to understand that.

Outside the hideout, players can head into open hub areas around Empire City to pick up quests and side activities. IGN compared parts of the structure to Insomniac’s Spider-Man games, with room to roam and optional tasks scattered around the city. The side content shown so far does not sound revolutionary, but it does sound serviceable in the right way. One mission had players beating up Foot Clan enemies and returning stolen items, while another was a time trial built around collecting floating letters using climbing and jumping mechanics.

That second bit is especially interesting. If traversal already feels good, even simple side activities can become a solid excuse to keep playing, chase better times, and clown around with friends. For Malaysian and wider SEA players, that is probably the biggest selling point here. VR is still a smaller space than traditional console or PC gaming in this region, so a game like this needs to offer more than nostalgia. If the movement is fun and the co-op banter lands, that gives friend groups a real reason to care.

There are also some nice characterful touches in the world design. If a turtle gets knocked out, they retreat into their shell and drop to the ground until a teammate comes over to revive them. Shredder’s headquarters also looms over the city as a giant central skyscraper, which the preview describes like the Foot Clan somehow turned itself into a tech startup. That is exactly the kind of absurd comic-book flavour TMNT should have.

On the combat side, the preview mentions a boss fight against Rocksteady that was tougher than expected. The encounter required teamwork, careful timing, and a bit of resource management, with healing items making the difference between surviving and getting flattened. That is a promising sign. Co-op games get much better when they are not just button-mashing power fantasies all the way through.

The game also includes progression systems tied to collecting scrap during missions and bringing it back to Donnie, who can turn those materials into upgrades and gadgets. Early examples include healing injectables and smoke bombs for escaping dangerous situations or recovering from failed stealth. That sounds like a decent foundation, even if IGN did not get to test most of the upgrade suite yet.

The one notable miss from the preview is skateboarding. IGN specifically called out its absence, and fair enough, that feels like a very TMNT thing to leave on the table, especially in a game with open areas and even Tony Hawk-style time trials. It may not be a dealbreaker, but it is definitely one of those features fans will wish had made the cut.

Overall, TMNT: Empire City seems to be heading in a good direction. It may not be reinventing the co-op action formula, but it appears to understand the core fantasy, being a turtle, rolling with your bros, and beating up bad guys in a world that does not take itself too seriously. If the full release sticks the landing, this could be one of the more charming VR multiplayer games on the radar.

Source: IGN