‘Metro Awakening’ Is Immersive, Terrifying, and Most Importantly, Great To Play (Review)

My experience in the world of Metro may be minimal. However, Metro Awakening has given me the perfect chance to see what makes the franchise shine. As the first VR entry in its rich and tragic world, it does a fantastic job of transforming the moody, atmospheric setting into something completely new and different. It’s one of the most immersive games I’ve played, VR or not. And it offers plenty of variety to those patient enough to experience the darkness within.

Turns Out That VR Really Is the Easiest Way To immerse yourself in a World

Fresh off the heels of a repeated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 playthrough, I’ve been incredibly entranced by these post-apocalyptic worlds. Sure, it’s one of the most overused tropes in the medium, but getting to roam around these worlds in a way only VR can offer? It’s a much more surreal and exciting experience. The world of Metro Awakening is just as beautiful as its console and PC brethren, even if the scope and scale of the world are drastically “minimal” in comparison. Even with its smaller scope, however, the more intimately designed world is great to explore.

The amount of direct interaction with Sedar was impressive, and the amount of things I had to learn to juggle was daunting, yet exciting. As I spelunked my way through the gritty and disgusting Metro system, I needed to keep my flashlight manually crank-charged, or I could run out of juice in the middle of a fight. Healing required me to place a vial of fluid into a syringe and inject myself. It’s the closest I can get to living there without moving across the world and expecting some sort of Fallout event.

The world of Metro is atmospheric, moody, and just plain glum. One of the most memorable sets had me walking through the ruins of a museum. Doing this while avoiding the radiation and swapping through gas mask canisters was a beautiful, yet devastating moment. Moment-to-moment chatter between Sedar and his comrades helped me relate further to the character, and I was glad to learn more about him, his wife, and the world surrounding them.

‘Metro Awakening’ Grabbed Me by the Throat and Wouldn’t Let Me Go

While I’ve had a small amount of experience with other Metro games, Awakening is technically a prequel. So, it’s a great place to start if you’ve never experienced a proper Metro game before. However, even after playing through bits and pieces of the original trilogy, some parts about Awakening struck me as odd.

At the start of Metro 2033, you find yourself and your team of comrades outside of the Metro system. In fact, all of the games have some sort of semi-linear outdoor progression. Metro Awakening, on the other hand, exclusively takes place within the Metro system. It’s something that didn’t bother me in the long run. But I did find it odd that there was never a chance to step into the world outside. It didn’t fully rip me out of the immersion of the world, however. The detailed and intimate world that Vertigo has created is brought to life before my eyes in many different ways, but some players may scoff at the lack of variety.

Small, tight corridors are going to be where the majority of the action happens. While most of the fighting takes place against the terrifying mutant abominations that have been infected by radiation, combat against human participants is somehow more horrifying.

Enemy AI is smart; sometimes a little too smart for their own good. I would catch myself getting clipped, even if I was hiding in the shadows as the game suggested. While ammo is scarce, weapons feel powerful. A well-placed shot would bring an enemy’s life to an end quickly.

‘metro awakening’ is Visually Beautiful but Technically Rough at Times

It always astounds me to see what teams can do with a stand-alone headset like the Meta Quest 3. Metro Awakening is a beautiful game. It features impressive lighting and a great amount of detail in every facet of its world. However, there were some times when I would run into technical glitches that would bring the experience to a halt.

Though several patches have been dropped since the release of the game, there were still a few small issues I encountered during my playtime. Ladders, in particular, could be a pain to try and traverse. The longer I played, the better I could overcome these technical glitches, but they were obnoxious when I would run into them. Especially in VR, running into these types of game-altering bugs can be much more annoying than in a non-VR experience.

There’s also the issue of pacing. While I didn’t mind the length of the intro, I can see some players getting tired of all of the setup quickly. It does take a while to get turning and burning, to be fair. But, even with the lengthy introduction, it sets up Sedar’s plight well and helps me sympathize with his journey.

All in all, if you’re a fan of Metro and have a VR headset, you can’t go wrong with Metro Awakening. If you’ve been looking for the perfect way to enter the world of Metro, both literally and figuratively, it’s a great stepping stone for first-time fans and series veterans. It may also help you figure out if you’re more afraid of the dark than you initially thought.

Verdict: Highly Recommended

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Metro Awakening is available now on Meta Quest, PSVR 2, and PC. A code was provided by the publisher for the sake of review. Reviewed on Meta Quest 3.