Metro Awakening

Metro Awakening is a VR prequel to the Metro series, set before the events of the first game, Metro 2033, following the young doctor Serdar as he searches for his missing wife in the Moscow metro, infested with mutants and factional fighting. Vertigo Games, the studio known for Arizona Sunshine, brought the series' signature atmosphere into VR - a shortage of ammo, manually reloading weapons, wiping fog from masks, and the tense experience of walking through dark tunnels where every sound could mean danger. Like previous entries in the series, it emphasizes moral choices that affect the story's ending, as well as improvised repairs and crafting gear from scavenged materials on the go. The world consists of interconnected metro stations inhabited by factions such as the Order, the Reich, or the Communists, among whom the player must skillfully navigate to survive.

On Meta Quest, Metro Awakening was released on November 7, 2024, as a standalone wireless game with no need to connect to a PC or console. Due to the headset's mobile chip, the graphics were noticeably simplified compared to the other versions - environmental detail and lighting range were reduced so the game would run smoothly on the limited power of the Quest 2 and 3. On the other hand, interaction with both controllers with haptic feedback was preserved, so handling weapons and objects in hand works the same as on more powerful platforms, just in a simpler graphical guise and without needing to connect to any additional hardware. Even so, the game still offers the same complete story campaign as the other versions.

Why play it: For owners of a standalone headset with no need for additional hardware, this is the only way to experience Metro Awakening anywhere in the apartment or beyond. Anyone who prefers the freedom of wireless VR over visual flair will find a full-fledged story-driven horror experience here, just with a more economical graphical presentation that doesn't diminish the gameplay or tension. Even in this lighter form, the game retains the tension and sense of constant scarcity that made the Metro series famous.