The games in the Metro saga from 4A Games impressed with their personal story and setting, but above all with their technical sophistication. So it’s no surprise that expectations skyrocketed when it was announced that the next installment in the series would be a virtual reality experience. Unlike other Metro games, Metro Awakening is the work of veteran virtual game developer Vertigo Games, so the underground world of post-nuclear war Moscow is in good hands. Or not?
Before the events of Metro 2033, Sedar, a field medic returning from a mission, learns that his wife has run out of anti-anxiety medication. This has already caused problems in the community, so for the greater good and for his wife, Sedar sets out to find more medications outside the safety net, where deadly dangers lurk in many ways.
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Metro Awakening doesn’t hold back too much with the story. Life underground, fighting mutants and waiting for death is a dark affair and is (finally!) visible and noticeable to the player in every moment. The characters try to find hope whenever they can, but the characters’ harsh fate ensures that the game doesn’t leave a good taste. Partly for this reason, Metro Awakening VR feels difficult to experience. It is constantly dark underground and even the few sources of light need to be checked or recharged every few moments in order to see ahead. At the same time, the bright air outside means a crackling Geiger counter and therefore quickly blurred vision and nausea. The balance between cooking alive in daylight or being eaten by monsters in the shadows takes its toll.
The exciting fight for survival is experienced from the hero’s perspective. In cramped environments, you master a variety of challenges directly by teleporting or moving freely with virtual hands. The gameplay is balanced between encountering monsters and solving smaller puzzles, but most of the time is spent wandering through empty corridors and ruined buildings, which is admittedly a bit tiring.
Technically speaking, Metro Awakening is well maintained when jumping into VR. The character’s hands precisely follow the controller’s movements, which is good since they are used to move things in the game. Among other things, the player must turn valves to close them, move the magazine, crank doors and load weapons, including handling the magazines. The actions flow smoothly and there’s plenty to do, but repeating the same things can sometimes be frustrating. In particular, charging the headlamp by fiddling with the charger makes sense, but after a few hours of gaming it’s really annoying to have to do it again every few minutes. In addition to the handling of the weapon, the shooting was also designed to be as authentic as possible. Above all, this means that shooting from the hip is not possible. Unless you aim accurately through the grain or crosshairs, hitting targets, especially smaller ones, is nearly impossible. Even on the easiest difficulty setting, this presents a challenge against a swarm of multi-headed enemies. While I appreciate the realism in games as much as I do in movies, I play games partly for escape and entertainment. Real life, at least in gaming, is slow and ultimately boring.
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The visual aspect of the game is perfect. There are many details that enliven the surroundings and give underground Moscow an atmospheric look. Although lights are cleverly used as part of the gameplay, the world is annoyingly dark. Constantly wandering in the dark and wading through death is harrowing, even if the corpses and monsters you encounter look cool. The animation is well done, making all hand movements look believable. The game runs smoothly on PS VR2 via PlayStation 5 and without any noticeable loading interruptions, but the nausea is self-explanatory after less than an hour of free play. Teleportation, on the other hand, makes it difficult to keep up in combat, so it’s a difficult decision.
The game’s soundscape is sophisticated. The effects are believable and varied to keep the atmosphere lively. The various rattling noises and hissing noises emitted by the ruins of the underworld and the sickeningly believable screeches of the monsters manage to create tension and fear. The soundtrack conveys a real boredom and melancholy caused by the harshness of life, and the characters have a believable Russian rudeness appropriate to the world presented. The music, dark and gentle, is of high quality but minimalistic, keeping the atmosphere heavy and melancholic so that the atmosphere does not become too light.
Metro Awakening VR is a bit of a strange case. The expectations and enthusiasm for the game were high and technically everything is as it should be. The graphics are spectacular, the gameplay is smooth and the world is interesting, but there’s still something wrong. The dark and gloomy gaming experience quickly takes its toll, especially when physical nausea is constantly present. Although you can do many things with virtual hands, the virtual experience feels a bit fake: like playing a normal FPS game with virtual sticks. Additionally, walking through empty hallways and playing in dead environments for too long becomes tiresome. Strangely, the environments didn’t match the gameplay I experienced and the overall experience left me feeling empty.
