Metro Awakening is the horror game I never knew I needed
AND thVRsday
In his weekly column, Android Central Developer Nick Sutrich explores all things VR, from new hardware to new games, upcoming technology, and more.
Metro Awakening is the horror game I never knew I needed. I say that because, firstly, I’m not a fan of the horror genre. I enjoy a horror movie or game every now and then, but those are the exceptions rather than the rule. I’m also not into the Metro series even though I enjoyed the title and the original Metro 2033 release.
But Metro Awakening is something special. It’s a gritty, first-person story – like every other series – that had me hooked from its clever introduction. It’s also the first entry for VR in the series, developed entirely by former VR developer Vertigo Games, the same company behind VR classics like Arizona Sunshine and After Fall .
Despite being from a different developer, Metro Awakening feels very similar to Metro 2033 in all the right ways. As the story unfolds, it takes place mainly in the subway lines under the once great city, where you will find yourself uncovering the horrors created by radioactivity and desperate people. It’s one of the best Meta Quest games I’ve ever played.
Feeling of Vertigo
If you’ve played the Arizona Sunshine or After Fall games, you’ll immediately feel familiar with the mechanics of Metro Awakening. That’s not to say things are the same — the dual-holster system is a new design I’ve never seen — but everything good about the company’s past guns is. remains open for players to experience in Metro Awakening.
The on-body inventory system, where you can rely on grabbing one item every time you find it, makes them feel as good as a hot bar in a widescreen game.
The first time you pull the hammer back and peer into the body of the gun to make sure you still have a bullet in the chamber it’s not just the clutch. Essential for immersion.
This is very important depending on the level of horror the game holds you, as you will be able to make the best decisions because you will not be caught by an unreliable system. The heal is always on your left hip, the gun is always on your right hand, and when it reaches your chest pocket it provides the right ammo or supplement for the weapon you are holding.
That is, as long as you’ve managed to hold on to enough ammo to get you through to the next level. One of Metro Awakening’s biggest strengths is its constant difficulty level, which is directly related to how much ammo you’re given between any given match.
The first time you pull the hammer back and peer into the body of the gun to make sure you still have a bullet in the chamber it’s not just the clutch. Essential for immersion.
Watch First
As I ran away from the giant shifty rat, I grabbed a large sliding door and closed it about three-quarters of the way, blocking the rat’s entry and giving me plenty of space. of blasting you to the people who sting.
Metro Awakening’s combat encounters are mostly about taking a stealthy approach as they aim to blindly shoot unseen enemies like a character in one of Ridley Scott’s Alien movies. Most encounters with people give you the option to be sneaky – which I’d encourage you to use – in order to save as many ammo for the next encounter as possible.
But every meeting – even those that clearly mean that the most insidious method – can be carried out in Rambo style. Enemy weapons can be picked up after they drop, and while the ammo of those weapons is always very limited, it allows skilled players to jump from enemy to enemy and piggyback in creative ways. . Pits and bottles can be brought from one place to another and used to distract enemies, so you can use a sneaky melee attack to take them out.
The ability to do things naturally in VR started helping me during one of my first meetings. As I ran away from the giant shifty rat, I grabbed a large sliding door and closed it about three-quarters of the way, blocking the rat’s entry and giving me plenty of space. of blasting you to the people who sting.
There’s no way to do this in a non-VR game, and it makes the game feel special and bespoke in a way that a widescreen entry couldn’t.
Different types and half-lives
There was never a moment in Metro Awakening’s 12-hour campaign where I felt like I was repeating the same old scenario. Every corridor, airspace, subway tunnel, or other space you pass through feels unique in a way that is often not achieved outside of something as good as Metroid Prime. While this isn’t a Metroidvania by any stretch of the imagination, the variety of locations and compelling story kept me coming back to the game every day.
Metro Awakening has you playing a community doctor whose eccentric wife keeps causing trouble. When he starts hearing the voice of your long-dead son in the steam pipes, you know something bad is about to happen. The rest of the journey will make you wonder if you are sane, prophetic, or perhaps somewhere in between. Either way, you’ll be progressing further than your character’s life has ever been before.
Since many of the parts of the world you’ll explore are radioactive, you’ll have to wear a gas mask at times and keep track of how well its filter is working. Finding and swapping filters will help you explore these areas more, often helping you find survival tools and a few collectibles. If there’s a sequel in the game, it’s for people who like to relive specific events or find the three postcards hidden in each chapter.
Even though I wasn’t a big fan of the horror genre, the macabre scenes that were frequently shown in the game were fascinating in a way I didn’t expect. Similarly, the scary creatures that made me jump and shoot blind were always interesting to encounter, and I always tried to find ways to dispatch them before they got too close.
While I wouldn’t put Metro Awakening in the same general category as a horror game like Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife, there’s no denying the horror value of the game’s story and overall atmosphere. Even if you’re not a fan of horror like I am, I would encourage you to give it a try. The Meta Quest Store has a 2-hour return window, however, and you’ll experience gameplay within the first 30 minutes, not to mention two hours.
If I had to mention one specific comment about the Quest version of the game, it would be that I expected to see the game run at a higher resolution than it does. I used the Quest Games Optimizer to raise the resolution to 130%, and it looked pretty good at times, with no noticeable performance hiccups. Hopefully, Vertigo Games can put something like this together soon.
The VR community has had its share of ups and downs with big releases this year, but this last quarter proved to pack a serious punch that gives me great hope for the future of big VR games. Batman Arkham Shadow remains firmly on top as game of the year, although Metro Awakening is already making me wonder which title will take the crown at the end of the year.
Get the power of the Meta Quest 3 in a more affordable package with the Meta Quest 3S, the new VR headset from Meta. Plus, get Batman Arkham Shadow and three months of Meta Quest Plus when you buy before April 2025.
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