This isn't just another entry in the Metro series; it's a journey that stays with you, a dark and unforgettable descent into a world that feels achingly alive
The Metro series, spanning Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro Exodus, stands as a masterclass in atmospheric storytelling and immersive gameplay. Set in the hauntingly desolate ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow, these games follow Artyom as he navigates a bleak underground world filled with mutated beasts, hostile factions, and the fragile hope of survival. Each title builds upon a gripping narrative, blending horror, survival, and elements of stealth, all wrapped in a world where every bullet counts and danger lurks around every corner.
Metro Awakening is a groundbreaking new entry in the Metro series, pushing the boundaries of immersion with VR. Vertigo Games has done a masterful job in capturing the signature atmosphere, tension, and depth that we, the fans, love, and it elevates the experience even further by pulling you directly into the world of Metro like never before. Blending exploration, stealth, and visceral combat, Metro Awakening delivers the ultimate journey through its haunting dark, claustrophobic tunnels, now felt with unmatched immediacy and realism.
Metro Awakening serves as some sort of prequel to the Metro series, taking us back to the year 2028 where you play as a "new" character, a man named Serdar, a doctor braving the darkness, crippling radiation and deadly threats of the Metro in the search for your wife and the medication she so desperately needs. But being a Metro game, you know that sh*t is going to get weird. And man, does it get weird. Now I can do the extremely simple thing and basically spoil the entire story, but I wouldn't forgive myself if I did that. So I'll try to talk between the lines, trying to not spoil anything for you.
Serdar's, or better say, your courage and sanity will be pushed to the limit as you must learn to walk the line between life and death, the spirit and the material world, and awaken the being you will become... As you journey through the desolate metro tunnels, you'll encounter strange visions, haunting whispers, and surreal phenomena that will challenge your grip on reality.
These glimpses of the supernatural aren't just for scares; they're deeply tied to the mysteries of the Metro world, hinting at forces and entities beyond human understanding. The line between reality and the unknown often blurs, leaving you questioning what's real, what's imagined, and what might be lurking just beyond sight. These moments add an unforgettable layer to the experience, making the journey as psychologically intense as it is thrilling.
Bringing Serdar to life, once again, is the excellent actor Graham McTavish. His voice in Metro Awakening is calm, reassuring, and filled with a sense of purpose that makes you feel like you can trust him. Serdar's the kind of protagonist that makes you feel like you can do anything, and that's no small feat. But at the same time, he's not a superhuman (or maybe he is...), he's just a regular guy that you can relate to, and that's what makes him so great.
His voice trembles with fear when sh*t hits the fan and his breathing becomes heavy as spiders leap from the ceiling to eat your face or a lurker burst out of a bathroom stall to, again, eat your face or when giant mutant moles are charging at you, and you can hear the panic in his voice as he desperately tries to find a way out of the situation. But many other times, especially when he talks with the rest of the supporting cast, which are also excellent, he's reassuring, calm, and the ending of the game kinda hit me like a ton of bricks, very emotional stuff.
That's all I am going to say about the story, as talking more about it would spoil the fun for you. Now onto combat. Like the story, it's absolutely excellent. The first gun you pick up is a pistol and just a couple of bullets. Your first encounter is against one single lurker, imagine like a dog-sized mutated rat with sharp teeth and claws. Let me tell you that when this thing lunged at me, my butt puckered up in ways I didn't know were possible. And the damn thing was fast, like too fast for something in VR and I was having difficulty trying to shoot at it. After a lot of struggling I managed to kill it with my last bullet. That was the moment I knew I was in for a wild ride. Guns feel really good in Metro Awakening, there's a lttle bit of weight to them, they are responsive, the recoil is noticeable and the bullet feedback is satisfying, making you feel like you are actually shooting a real gun.
The magazines or clips for the pistol and AK have cutouts in them, like in the previous Metro games, and you can see how many bullets are left as you shoot them, adding to the immersion. Reloading is also a satisfying experience, very tactile as you have to pull the magazine out, insert a new one and cock it. Later in the game you also get a shotgun, which is a lot of fun not only to use as it's loud and absolutely devastating, but also cause the reloding mechanic is so slick and cool. Apart from these three guns, you also get two other weapons mainly for stealth, but I won't spoil them for you. I have to say though that I didn't use them much during my playthrough cause you really need to be patient and carefully reload/aim them and when you have a bunch of angry giant mole things chasing you or human enemies all equipped with AKs and shotguns, it's not easy to do that.
This next part, it might upset some people. You see, this game doesn't have a full IK body system, like you do in Batman Arkham Shadow for example. Instead, it uses the floating hands system which for some people is a lot less immersive. If you played Vertigo Games' previous games, like the excellent Arizona Sunshine series, you'll know what I am talking about. But, this game also goes a tiny step further (or backwards?) as it also does not have a waist inventory system thing, you know the thing where you can see what guns you have equipped and how much ammo you have left. You get none of that in Metro Awakening and I can already see this as a "negative" point some people might mention, but it's not a big deal cause what you get instead is even more immersive in my opinion.
Sure, when you press the grab button, next to your right waist, the pistol will magically appear in your hand and I get that can be a bit jarring for some people. But, if you put your left hand over the left shoulder, you can pull out a backpack with all your gear dangling from it along with ammo counters and a tiny compass pointing towards the right way. It's a very slick and cool mechanic that makes you feel like you are actually carrying all that gear around with you. With the backpack out, you can pick up the small handcranked generator thingy that charges your flashlight or allows you to open locked doors and jump start small train carts. You also have access to the gas mask, which you can pick up and place on your head to equip it if you want to survive in the radioactive parts of the metro.
The backpack also have a place for the gas filters you need to screw in the mask as they are limited use and where you can also grab the grenades. Oh and I almost forgot, in the backpack there's also the singature bullet shaped lighter which you use to burn the cobwebs blocking different doors. And if you put your right hand over your right shoulder, you can pull out the main gun. But, wait a minute, you might say, aren't there multiple weapons in this game and if they are not on the backpack, where are they or you can just have only one main gun at a time?
Well, I am glad you asked this question because I was wondering the same thing when apart from the AK, I also picked another gun. You see, there's not one backpack, there are two of them. When you have your main gun out, if you place your left hand over the right shoulder, you can pull out a second smaller backpack where you can see the other weapons just dangling there, waiting for you to switch up. I either missed a tutorial box that explained this or the devs kinda forgot to put it in the game. Anyway, that's how you switch guns and use the other gear and I honestly think this whole system is more immersive in VR than seeing your guns stick to your waist in weird angles especially when you are crouching and whatnot.
In the previous Metro games, stealth was a very viable option when dealing with human enemies. Dispatching them one by one with a silenced gun or via throwing knives was a lot of fun. In Metro Awakening, stealth is still a viable option, but not as much as in the previous games. On your hand you have a watch that displays your real current time, which is cool, but it also has a stealth indicator light. If it's on, enemies can see you. If it's off, you can move around unnoticed even when an enemy is looking right at you. You also have a silent takedown move, where you can just go behind a human enemy and hit them in the head with your fist.
Just make sure that they are not wearing a helmet as you'll end up getting shot straight in your face. Unfortuntately, here you don't get the throwing knives or even a knife for that matter, so once you are out of bullets, shells, bolts, whatever, pucker up and be on the lookout for ammo to pick up as you won't last long in the metro. Another feature that is missing from the previous Metro games is the gun customization. In the prior games, you could mix and match parts like barrels, scopes, larger clips, ammo types etc. and create some pretty unique guns with unique capabilities. You cannot do that here. What you get instead are just some cosmetic variations for like the pistol and AK, like you can find a pistol with some engravings, different handle or with a ** REDACTED ** which is awesome and I wish I could have gotten that earlier in the game. But hey, there's always the sequel!
When stealth fails, it's time to go loud. The human enemies are a lot of fun to fight and their AI is fairly competent making engagements really fun and very sweaty at times. They will duck behind cover and try to flank you. They also go down with one headshot, which is always a good thing. As for the mutated beasts, they are a lot of fun to fight too. The lurker, the one that I mentioned earlier, alone is a pain in the ass, imagine when you have to fight against a pack of them.
Then you have the giant moles, which are always fun to fight as they take a lot of hits to go down from the AK to go down and spraying them with bullets, as I mentioned earlier, is extremely satisfying. Alternatively two or three shots from the shotgun will do the trick too. Or if you are in an explody mood, you can just throw a grenade and boom. Then you have the spiders. F*ck these things. They are creepy as heck, especially for someone like me who's not fond of spiders irl, they jump and attach to your head and eat your face. And since they are small, shooting them down is quite challenging. I just want you to understand that this game might not be a walk in the park, especially if you are not used to shooting in VR.
So, the story is fantastic, the combat is very tactile, excellent and extremely satisfying, but the best thing in Metro Awakening, in my opinion, is the atmosphere. The game does a great job at creating a sense of dread and ever growing tension, the kind of tension that makes you feel like you are actually in the Metro, like you are not just playing a game, but actually living in this world. The atmosphere is so immersive that you can feel the cold, you can hear the whispers of the darkness, you can smell the fear and you can taste the despair. More often than not, there's no music playing, just the sound of your own breathing, the echo of your footsteps in these truly dark tunnels and a myriad of other meticulously crafted ambient sounds.
Wood creaks, metal groans, rats scurry, and the occasional echo of distant monster growls will send shivers down your spine. The game does not rely on cheap jump scares like many other horror games, but rather it uses the atmosphere to create tension and dread, making you feel like you are always on edge, always looking over your shoulder. There are a couple of sections in the game, where your flashlight flickers, you are probably out of ammo, the darkness closes in on you and you start seeing things that should not be there... it's a masterclass in atmosphere and I don't think I have felt this scared in a VR game before.
I have prepared a 5 part Shorts/TikTok video series where I show you this tension and dread in action, so make sure to check it out. Don't worry, I made sure the video contains no spoilers. First part is down below with the rest coming soon, so make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel, follow me on TikTok and turn on the post notifications so you don't miss them.
Aesthetically the game looks great on the Quest 3, but I highly advise you run the game at a higher resolution using Quest Games Optimizer to get rid of that grainy look. The texture work itself is not the best, but it's not the worst either. Since most of the time you are navigating in the dark with only a flashlight to guide you, it's not that big of a deal. Vertigo Games did a great job at creating a truly dark and claustrophobic world, one that feels like it's closing in on you and it's not giving you any room to breathe.
The character models, on the other hand, are excellent. They are detailed, expressive with the animations that look smooth and natural and with excellent voice acting, like I mentioned earlier. The same goes for the mutated beasts, they are creepy, move convincingly in the environment and are always out to get you. The game also runs at a solid framerate and it did not crash on me once, which is kinda unheard for a high budget AAA VR title... looking at you, Camouflaj.
In Metro Awakening, Vertigo Games has crafted a haunting, visceral journey that doesn't just continue the series' legacy — it transforms it. The game takes everything fans love about Metro and dials it up to 11, blending masterful atmosphere, brutal combat, and an emotional story into a VR experience that feels strikingly real. From the heart-pounding encounters with mutated horrors to the eerie silence of the tunnels that only breaks with whispered secrets, every moment is saturated with tension and mystery.
It's rare to find a game that pulls you so deeply into its world, but Metro Awakening does exactly that, challenging you to brave its shadows and confront the unknown. This isn't just another entry in the Metro series; it's a journey that stays with you, a dark and unforgettable descent into a world that feels achingly alive. Plus, it has a fully working piano you can play in VR, for some reason, and I absolutely love that. For those daring enough to step into the darkness, the reward is a masterpiece of VR storytelling that defines what's possible in immersive gaming. This is yet another essential VR experience I wholeheartedly recommend. Thanks for reading!
The game was reviewed on a Quest 3 via a promo code provided by the developers. Metro Awakening is available on Meta Quest, PSVR2 and PC.
