Best VR game of the year: Metro Awakening review

Metro Awakening immersed me so deeply in its post-apocalyptic world that I saw the destroyed metro tunnels in my dreams for several days in a row. Vertigo Games has managed to make a great spin-off to dilute the anticipation of the next 4A Games adventure. The game's story perfectly complements the Metro world, revealing a very important character for the series and showing factions that appeared only in the books. And the gameplay, taking into account the specifics of VR games, gives you an experience that is hard to forget, especially if you are almost putting on a virtual reality helmet for the first time. So, gg editorial team went down to the Moscow metro to explore its new story, because almost 5 years have passed since Exodus release and we were waiting for the opportunity to kill mutants, bandits and see the paranormality of this destroyed world with our own eyes.

Synopsis.

Metro Awakening is a first-person story-driven adventure created exclusively for VR that combines atmospheric exploration, stealth, and combat. Set in the year 2028, we play as doctor Serdar, who has travelled to the darkest stations of humanity's last refuge to find his wife and the medicine she desperately needs. However, Serdar was clearly not prepared for what awaited him in the subway.

5 reasons to buy Metro Awakening

• Finally, I can go down into the metro tunnels again (I've been waiting for this for 5 years)
• to make sure that everything is still bad in Moscow
• you already have VR and it is simply forbidden to skip such a game with a helmet
• you have always been interested in learning the story of Han, one of the most interesting characters in the series
• the opportunity to get a new experience from games, because even shooting, which you are used to in shooters, feels completely different in VR

1 reason not to buy Metro Awakening

• if you have already spent $300+ on a helmet, there is no reason not to buy the game

Fast forward:

• What I learned after reviewing Metro Awakening
• Plot: cultists, love, and liquid-active subway tunnels
• Gameplay: chaos with monsters, bandits, and vending machines
• The technical side of the Moscow metro
• How Metro Awakening will be remembered
• Five things you need to know about Metro Awakening

What I learned after reviewing Metro Awakening

For me, the Metro series is one of my favourite, so I followed Awakening closely and Vertigo managed to create one of the most exciting experiences for post-apocalypse fans. It's one thing to shoot monsters and experience eerie moments looking at the screen, but it's quite another to put on a helmet and feel like you're in the middle of it all. And thanks to this, the tension and fear in some moments rose to an extremely high level. That's why I can say right away that owners of VR helmets should definitely not miss this, because there are not many cool story-driven VR games that can be avoided.

The plot: cultists, love, and radioactive subway tunnels

It's 2028, 5 years before the events of the first part and the arrival of the Blacks, but life is still in full swing in the subway under Moscow, the last refuge and tomb of civilisation. The survivors are trying their best to make sure they have food and a place to sleep. However, in the aftermath of a nuclear war, this is somewhat difficult to achieve. If you take an extra step in the wrong direction, you'll get radiation and die. Take an extra step in the other direction and you will meet mutants who will tear you to pieces. Or these mutants will come to your station themselves. But besides that, the metro is full of various paranormal phenomena that are difficult to explain.

Yana, the wife of the protagonist Serdar, encountered one of them. She hears the voice of her dead son and cannot do anything about it. Serdar, as a doctor, tried to help her, but there was a small problem. The stalkers who were supposed to deliver the medicine to the station disappeared. So Serdar has no choice but to go looking for the missing group. But then another problem arises, because after a while Jana also disappears, and he doesn't care about the medicine anymore, because he needs to save his wife, because if it is sometimes difficult to find safety at the station, where many people live and there are armed soldiers to protect them, then what kind of protection can we talk about deep in the tunnels, where if there are people, they are only crazy people. And it's a good thing if you meet people, not wild mutants who would love to have lunch with you.

And as it was already known before the release, Serdar is Khan. Khan is an enigmatic and mysterious character from the Metro series of games who appears as a guide and mentor to the protagonist Artem. He is one of those who perceive the dungeons of the Moscow metro not just as a system of tunnels, but as a living organism filled with mysterious powers.

So Awakening will tell us how Serdar became Khan, what the legendary Mongol conqueror has to do with it, and why this hero sees all kinds of mysticism in the metro and knows how to interact with it.

The plot of the game left a pleasant impression, because I have long wanted to learn more about Khan, and here an entire game was dedicated to him. The story also combines tension, fear, action, mysticism, and love. And at the same time, we get to know the Children of the Great Worm sect, which has hardly been represented in games. So, Han's journey left a pleasant impression, and at the end, it puts an emotional end to it and further increases the anticipation for the next game in the series. Just remember this:

The one who has the courage and patience to peer into the darkness all his life will be the first to see a glimmer of light in it

Gameplay: chaos with monsters, bandits and machines

Throughout the 12 chapters, you will travel to different locations, solving simple puzzles like finding a generator to open a door and trying to understand how the subway works. However, the most interesting part is the combat.

You can meet either mutants or humans. With the former, you have only one choice - to shoot back. And if it's just a few mutants, it's not so bad. But when a whole crowd is attacking you, it becomes fun. You start running nervously from one corner of the location to another, trying to reload at the same time. And in VR, this is done just like in real life. Take out an empty magazine, get a new one, install it, move the slide, and only then can you shoot. And in a stressful situation, it's not always possible to do this perfectly.

And remember that you also need to aim like in real life, which helps to immerse yourself in the game, because there is no help in aiming like on a gamepad. If you're slanted, get ready to suffer. However, I really enjoyed this experience because it was something new for me. And if you haven't played much VR before (or never at all), you will definitely get new, sometimes thrilling, sensations from the gameplay.

But with people, you already have a choice - stealth or aggressive assault. To get through quietly, you need to study the enemies' routes, hide in the shadows and approach from behind to stun the bandit with your rifle butt. If you want to distract the enemy, look for a bottle or tin can nearby and throw it. But if you miscalculated somewhere in your plan to be a silent killer, pull out your assault rifle and show who's the king of the subway. By the way, what kind of arsenal does Khan have?

• Pistol - suitable at close range for unarmoured enemies and small mutants
• AK-47 - ideal for any situation, reliable as a Swiss watch
• Shotgun - the number one fear of mutants. In skilful hands, it will put the monsters down in one shot
• Helsing - an analogue of a crossbow, which will help out a lot during a quiet passage

Of course, this is not all the weapons, but we don't want to reveal all the cards. In addition to weapons, the hero also carries a flashlight that needs to be recharged from time to time, first aid kits, a gas mask with filters, and grenades, because sometimes it's more profitable not to waste bullets but to make a good three-pointer and send a couple of bastards to the next world at a time. Just don't accidentally throw that grenade at your feet, because you'll be in trouble.

That's why it's important to search all the nooks and crannies and look at everything carefully so that you have at least a sufficient supply of several types of ammunition, filters, and first aid kits.

In general, the gameplay, like the story, left a pleasant impression because it is constantly dynamic. First you explore the location, then you shoot mutants, then you solve a simple problem after which people are waiting for you, where you can experiment with tactics, and later you will be sent to the scary dark tunnels where spiders crawl (I hate spiders).

And thanks to the fact that it's VR, the game skilfully immerses you in this post-apocalyptic world, where, on the one hand, you're scared and worried that you'll have enough ammo for the next section with enemies, and on the other hand, you want to stay here as long as possible, because when else will you be able to find yourself in the universe you love so much and explore it so realistically?

The technical side of the Moscow metro

I played the game on PlayStation VR 2 and it worked well all the time. There were no fps drops, and bugs could be counted on one hand and usually just ammo that I wanted to pick up, but it fell behind the textures. Still, it's not critical. There was only one serious bug during the entire playthrough, when the game crashed after completing the first chapter. Therefore, I was satisfied with the optimisation, and the problems described above may already be fixed on the release day.

Visuals with attention to detail

Visually, the game looks decent for VR. I really liked how the authors managed to convey the atmosphere of the post-Soviet space by filling the location with various objects, so I wanted to see everything as much as possible. And Vertigo managed to depict the horrific moments especially well.

Audio that can scare you

And if the visuals of the game are just good, then the sounds are worth a special mention. The audio in Awakening can easily scare you or keep you in suspense, because questions start to arise in your head: "Did I hear something? Was it just a rat or is it time to get out the shotgun?". And when the paranormal moments begin in the game, the people who were responsible for the sound had a blast. I was also pleased with the soundtrack. Some of the songs are from the previous games in the series, but there are also new ones that help with immersion.

How Metro Awakening will be remembered

Metro Awakening will be remembered as a game that creates a real holiday for fans of the series. After completing it, you don't want to accept the fact that the game is over, because you would love to run through a couple of tunnels, destroying enemies, while trying to figure out what the subway is really hiding? Vertigo has managed to comprehend this universe well, and the developers have successfully coped with the task of transferring it to virtual reality. Therefore, as we have already mentioned, a fan of the series should definitely not pass by Awakening. And considering the emotions it gave me, Metro Awakening has already become one of the best games of the year for me.

Five things you need to know about Metro Awakening

• Metro Awakening is the fourth game in the series and the first in virtual reality
• The events take place in 2028 - 5 years before the events of the first game and book, so this part is considered a spin-off
• The development was carried out not by Ukrainian 4A Games but by Dutch Vertigo
• The story reveals Han, one of the most mysterious characters in the series
• Metro Awakening is a must-have game for helmet owners

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