Review: Metro Awakening
When I first heard that the Metro series was coming to Virtual Reality and not only that but, it was being developed by Vertigo Games, I had no choice but to be excited that it had been handed to an experienced VR dev team. I have now been exploring and surviving the subways of Moscow Metro, has the move to VR been successful?
Release Date: November 7th 2024
Developer: Vertigo Games
Publisher: Vertigo Games
Price: US $39.99 / CA $52.99 / €39,99 / £34.99
Reviewed On: Meta Quest 3 with Link Cable
* Access Provided For Review *
I Need A Doctor
In Metro Awaking you step into the shoes of Serdar, a doctor who is a survivor of a nuclear Armageddon, as you cling onto existence in the buried subways of the Moscow Metro. In this Metro you are taken on the search for not only the medication your wife desperately needs but, your wife herself. The question is can you survive the darkness, crippling radiation and the threats of the Metro, as your own sanity is pushed to the limits?
Tension And Dread
The gameplay of Metro Awakening does not deter away from what the series offers already, with you making your way through the Metro system with some light puzzling elements at times and not only surviving the Mutants and other factions but, also the conditions caused by the nuclear Armageddon. In order to do this you are going to need to use your wits, conserve ammo where possible and make sure you have been collecting filters for your gas mask along the way – without doing these you are not going to survive very long in the Moscow Metro.
Within the Metro the mutants you are going to come across are the Lurker and the Nosalis. With the Lurkers being smaller and agile, that move in numbers and mutated rat-like creatures. Then the Nosalis being larger and slower but, cause large amount of damage and are mutated from moles. Then a massive warning (which is given when loading the game), during your exploration of the Metro you will also encounter spiders. That will run across your body and jump at you. So, if you suffer from Arachnophobia, you might struggle with some sections of the game.
In order to take out the mutants you are going to need weaponry, with them providing you with some of signature arsenal for the series. With you getting your hands on the pistol, the Kalash, the Shambler and the Helsing – giving you a good mix of weaponry, with some being more useful against Nosalis. Outside of these you will also get access to the standard grenade which can come in useful In more tense situations but, I didn’t find myself using them too often. When it comes to the factions, you can take these out silently by knocking them out, which is the best approach to take to conserve your ammo, and importantly conserve the enemies ammo, to make sure you get the most you can from their gun with ammo being more scarse.
As well as taking out the mutants with your standard weaponry, you will also encounter them when using the carts on the Metro, which will see your using a mounted gun to stop them reaching the cart. If they get close enough they will jump onto the side of the cart and you will need to quickly grab one of your weapons to finish them off.
The final part to make sure you survive in the hunt for the medicine and your wife is, making sure you are stocked up on ammo, medikits and filters for your gas mask. Meaning you will need to be investigating every area and section of Metro and rooms. Especially when it comes to the filters as these are needed in areas full of radiation, with each filter lasting three-minutes that is monitored on your Metro-made Watch, if you run out in a radiated area you will not last long.
Your survival is slightly hindered by your head-mounted flashlight only having limited battery life that drains quite quickly and flickers. You do have a universal charger on your bag, which will see you cranking the handle to charge your flashlight but, if this runs out at a bad time it really does hinder you. For example: it comes in useful for making the Lurkers eyes shine in dark rooms, giving you an indication of the where they are coming from.
When it comes to the light puzzle elements, the solutions are normally very close to the puzzle and easy to locate. Which I think was the best way to handle these, as you really don’t want to get stuck too long in a game that builds the tension and dread as well as they have with the Metro series, with it only being elevated by being in the world in Virtual Reality. Which brings me to the final point, at times Metro Awakening builds that much atmosphere and dread that it could be classed as a full blown horror game, with many times it outshining some full on horror games for the fear factor.
Metro Like Never Before
Vertigo Games really have made the world of Metro come to life in Virtual Reality, taking you through the Moscow Metro by foot and cart. The lighting has been used perfectly, especially when limiting your view point with your head-lamp dispersing the light realistically. The decaying Metro with the carnage of crashed subway trains, bodies at different levels of decomposition, rats and cockroaches scurrying around, really makes you feel like are inside of this nuclear Armageddon the series is known for.
For this review I also played a the first two chapters of the game on both the PlayStation VR2 and Meta Quest 3. Where I feel the PCVR version is the best looking of the three, with the PSVR2 being a little bit more blurred and the Quest 3 of suffering from the mobile chip limitations, I would be more than happy playing it on any of the platforms as they all look great.
To go with these visuals the audio scope of the game really brings not only the location but, the situation you are in to life. Setting the feeling of true tension and dread, that you would be feeling with what you are going through and making you nervous as you move deeper into the Metro. As you explore the Metro the atmosphere is set perfectly, be it the sound of your breathing when you have your gas mask on, the ambiance set by the environmental audio or the sounds of the Lurkers or Nosalis, it all builds up the tense atmosphere. All finished off with great voice acting for every character you encounter in the game.
Comfort
The Verdict
Vertigo Games have done a fantastic job of bringing the Metro franchise to Virtual Reality, with an original origins story from Metro creator Dmitry Glukhovsky. They have captured the true feeling of the Metro games with the feel, atmosphere, tension and dread of the nuclear Armageddon being perfectly re-created in VR. With you getting to hold and manually reload some of the signature weaponry, take on some of the games most recognised mutants and make sure you have everything to survive in the decaying Moscow Metro, which feels much more tense when your are in the actual world. The only thing I wish they had done is, allowed to you leave the Metro an explore the larger world but, this does not spoil the experience – just a wish of someone who likes the Metro series on flatscreen. With having been granted access to every version of the game, one thing I think Vertigo needs Kudos for is, they have used the full potential of every platform to make sure you will not be disappointed never mind which one you play it on.