Metro Awakening PSVR2 Review
Summary: Another solid PSVR2 title and a fine addition to the Metro series.
3.9
Heirs of a cold war
Metro Awakening is a methodical and immersive FPS that is not only a fantastic VR game but a solid addition to the Metro universe that presents the sheer horror of this claustrophobic and unnerving setting in the most intimate way yet.
Vertigo Games does an incredible job of not only recreating Dmitry Glukhovsky’s depressing Soviet nuclear apocalypse in exacting detail but also making it feel palpable thanks to an impressive level of interactivity as you explore the foreboding tunnels where danger lurks around every corner.
Set before the events of the main Metro series, players step into the well-worn shoes of Serder, a doctor who ventures into the sketchier parts of the Metro to find medicine for his sick wife.
It’s a great setup for a whistlestop tour of the Metro and Serder is a marvelous protagonist thanks to how relatable he is, not only in his abilities, Serder is just an average guy being thrown head-long into the dangers of the Metro, just like the player is, but his motivations are clear and understandable: He simply wants to help his loved one.
The Metro was always an intimidating setting, but in VR it’s terrifying – Dark, foreboding, and claustrophobic in equal measure. You never know when something might smash through a vent and attack, how long your gas mask might hold out for, or if that shadow in the distance is moving or just your mind playing tricks on you.
Supplies are in short supply. Most often you’ll find you only have a handful of bullets and fights are best avoided, but the horrors lurking in the dark are persistent and numerous.
Radiation sickness can wipe you out in seconds if your gasmask fails, mutants will lunge as soon as they spot you, and most strangers you meet aren’t just friends you haven’t met yet. The road is long, and hard, and every win, no matter how small feels like it needs to be earned. The Metro is a miserable, God-forsaken place. But that’s the point. It’s about trying to find that little glimmer of hope when you know the light at the end of the tunnel is a train hurtling toward you.
That’s not to say that Metro Awakening is completely joyless. The settlements despite being ramshackle, have a strange homelyness to them. There’s a warmth and friendliness to many of the survivors, and sitting around a fire listening to war stories, while you hear a guitar in the distance as you drink virtual beer is surprisingly wholesome. Even if the world you find yourself exploring has gone completely to pot.
Serder is also not completely helpless. Thanks to a backpack full of handy gadgets that will be familiar to anyone who has ventured into the Metro before.
You’ve got a hand crank generator that lets you charge up your handy headlamp, door panels, and even the occasional train cart. A gas mask that needs its filters replaced regularly, and a healing syringe that requires new vials after every use.
Though none of the items are new, the processes needed to interact with them is far more laboured than in previous games. You’re not just rapidly pressing a button to charge something, you have to place the electrodes and literally wind the crank, when you’re healing you need to carefully put the syringe together and then stab it into your hand. Even turning on your headlamp requires you to motion towards your head and push a button.
This is even more pronounced in combat. Your arsenal of handmade weapons all need reloading by grabbing a clip, inserting it into the weapon, and then cocking the gun. You also won’t know how many bullets you have unless you keep a mental count. Finally, there’s no aiming reticule, so you best be a good shot unless you want to be mutant chow.
This results in some incredibly tense moments as you fumble with your weapon while the light from your headlamp flickers into nothingness as that moving shadow in the distance turns out to be something awful bearing down on you while you try and shoot the damned thing before it can take a chunk out of you. All you can see is the sights on your pistol and the monster light up by the muzzle flash as it gets closer and closer.
This will only happen once. OK, a half-dozen times. OK, I never learn my lessons and often forget to prepare properly. If I did my journey through Metro Awakening would have been far less fraught but also far less fun.
It’s immersive, scary, and brilliant in a way only top-tier VR can accomplish.
Those interested in the wider weirder lore of Metro, will either be happy or irked if they don’t do VR to find out that series creator Dmitry Glukhovsky is once again on writing duties turning in another gripping narrative with plenty of twists and turns that tie into the wider world of Metro in surprising and interesting ways. Though I don’t want to say how and spoil it.
The presentation is also absolutely top-notch. The Metro is as foreboding as it is alive with rats scurry underfoot, settlements are inhabited by characters who feel like they have their own stories to tell and are making the best of the terrible hand fate dealt them, and the tunnels are well, I don’t want to think about the noises coming from the tunnels.
The use of light and shadow is simply astounding. From the welcoming glow of a campfire to how the beam from your headlamp cascades into the darkness, revealing shadowy figures and bouncing off disused tracks and degrading concrete.
Meanwhile, the character and monster designs are well-realised, grounded, and believable, as mutated animals stalk the abandoned train tracks, burrowing through sheer concrete. Meanwhile, the human survivors have a weariness conveyed by their threadbare clothes, thousand-yard stares, and voice acting that makes even the most jovial characters sound like they’ve seen far too much.
Final Thoughts
Metro Awakening is a solid VR title and a fantastic addition to the Metro series.
As a fan of both the Metro books and games, being immersed in the world so completely was always an exciting prospect, and Vertigo did not disappoint. The Arizona Sunshine dev has created a highly detailed and almost palpable VR version of Glukhovsky’s doomed transit-system-come-fallout-shelter that is as compelling as it is terrifying.
If you’re hankering for more Metro or simply looking for your next PSVR2 fix I can heartily recommend Metro Awakening.
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