TMNT: Empire City Is Here. I Played It. Here Are My Thoughts.

I wrote last week that I was unreasonably excited about TMNT: Empire City. I meant it. I grew up on Turtles. The arcade games, the cartoon, the action figures, the pizza obsession that I am pretty sure shaped my actual diet as an adult. When Cortopia Studios announced the first real TMNT VR game with four-player co-op, I put it on my calendar immediately. Today it launched on Quest, Steam VR, and Pico at $24.99, and I have been playing it for a few hours.

So is it the VR game of the year? No. Is it a fun time that captures the feeling of being a Turtle in a way that nothing else has? Absolutely.

Being a Turtle in VR just works

The thing Empire City gets right, the thing that matters most, is the physicality. You look down and you have three green fingers. You pick up Leo's katanas and they have weight. You swing, you block, you land a combo and the hit feedback feels satisfying. Each Turtle has their signature weapon, and the differences are real. The nunchaku feel fast and loose. The bo staff has reach. The sai are aggressive and close-range. I started with Leonardo because of course I did, but switching to Mikey for a few missions reminded me how much I love the feel of nunchaku in VR.

The first-person perspective makes the scale of the world land differently than any flat-screen Turtles game. You are in the sewers. You are climbing up through a manhole onto a New York street. The Foot Clan soldiers tower over you just enough to feel threatening. Shredder's aftermath looms over the story in a way that works better when you are standing in the middle of it.

Co-op is where it shines

I played two hours solo and then jumped into a co-op session with three other players. The difference is night and day. Empire City is a good solo game. It is a great co-op game. Four Turtles moving through a mission together, calling out enemies, coordinating takedowns, accidentally hitting each other with bo staff swings, feels exactly like what a TMNT game should be. Cross-platform play works cleanly. I was on Quest, one friend was on Steam VR, and we connected without issues.

The quickslot items add variety. Shurikens for ranged pokes, smoke bombs for repositioning, and the stealth takedowns are satisfying when you nail the timing. Mid-air attacks and dashes give combat a mobility that keeps it from feeling like you are just standing in one spot swinging.

The rough edges

I want to be honest because I think the devs deserve honest feedback alongside the praise. The combat can feel repetitive in longer solo sessions. The enemy variety in the early chapters is limited, and you start recognizing the same encounter patterns. A couple of missions have quest design that boils down to "go here, clear the room, go to the next room." For a $24.99 game this is not unusual, but it is noticeable.

I also hit a few technical hiccups. One animation glitch during a cutscene, and one moment where an enemy got stuck in geometry. Nothing game-breaking. Nothing that pulled me out of the experience for more than a few seconds. These are the kinds of things that get fixed in the first couple of patches, and Cortopia has been responsive during the pre-launch period, so I expect updates quickly.

The bottom line

TMNT: Empire City is a solid VR brawler that nails the fantasy of being a Turtle. The combat has room to grow, and the mission variety could use more range in later updates, but the foundation is strong. The weapons feel good. The co-op is genuinely fun. The $24.99 price is fair for what you get. And for anyone who grew up loving the Turtles, the first time you look down at your green hands, grab a katana off your back, and hear that classic theme in the background, you will smile. I did.

Cowabunga. For real this time.