Metro Awakening guarantees a heightened atmospheric journey that solely VR can ship. Listed below are our full impressions.
You needn’t look far for post-apocalyptic motion in VR, however there’s one thing significantly thrilling a couple of new Metro recreation. Written by the collection creator, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Awakening takes an intriguing strategy by delivering an origin story set 5 years earlier than Metro 2033. You play as Serdar, a physician making an attempt to outlive throughout the Moscow Metro and shield his spouse.
Metro Awakening – Gameplay Footage
Becoming a member of the discharge date affirmation, I just lately previewed the PSVR 2 model at Gamescom 2024 for a 45-minute demo the place I performed three totally different areas stitched collectively out of sequence.
The primary mission units the tone properly, giving me an concept of who Serdar is whereas introducing the essential mechanics. The second requires discovering a fuel masks earlier than you die from radiation poisoning, later confronting you with a alternative: do you’re taking down each close by enemy or attempt to sneak previous by way of stealth? I really feel tense when sneaking round, and a mistimed transfer scuppered my preliminary plan to bypass these villains quietly.
The place Metro Awakening significantly shines is within the third mission. As an alternative of utilizing immersion breaking visible cues, some intelligent audio design successfully signposts the way in which ahead with out being overly apparent. It is an excellent strategy that performs into VR’s immersive capabilities properly and places you immediately inside this bleak world, which solely heightens Metro’s intense environment.
I’ve all the time appreciated how Metro delivers atmospheric stress by way of exploring miserable areas, even with the constraints of flatscreen platforms. Its narrative concepts are hardly distinctive, however Metro’s supply is efficient; there’s an attention-grabbing world left behind within the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. Whereas this is not a horror recreation, Awakening all the time makes me really feel uneasy.
Within the deathly silence of those corridors, I am extra conscious of the delicate whirring of equipment. You possibly can hear footsteps of different creatures from afar, and I am continuously on the lookout for indicators of hassle. When mutant creatures emerge from holes within the partitions because the music ramps up, I guarantee my gun is all the time prepared. When a spider jumps at me like a face hugger, I didn’t hesitate to shoot my face.
Nice physicality enhances this all. Some design similarities with Arizona Sunshine Remake – which I additionally previewed at Gamescom – had been obvious with the guide reloading and satisfying gunplay. Awakening goes a step additional with stock administration. Grabbing objects from the identical shoulder with a special controller picks up different gadgets. Your proper hand will decide up a gun off your proper shoulder, however your left hand will seize your backpack, the place further weapons are saved.
The backpack system is not a brand new methodology in VR, but it is a extra pure strategy that maintains immersion and holsters a number of essential equipment. Your electrical generator is helpful for powering up doorways to advance, which requires manually rotating a crank and attaching cables by way of movement controls. It additionally fees the torchlight in your head, a vital instrument when exploring these darkish, eerie hallways. In the meantime, your lighter is efficient towards spider webbing.
It is value remembering that previews are rigorously curated slices of an expertise, so I am reserving full judgment till the ultimate launch. Proper now although, I haven’t got any actual criticisms. Vertigo Video games is making a strong effort with Metro Awakening that adapts the flatscreen collection properly with sturdy atmospheric design and good physicality. All the pieces feels proper at residence inside a headset.
Metro Awakening arrives on November 7 on the Meta Quest platform, PlayStation VR2, Steam, and Viveport. Pre-ordering the Deluxe Version on Steam or PSVR 2 additionally unlocks early entry to the complete recreation on November 5.
