The Christmas season will be exciting for fans of dark VR action. Near “Alien: Rogue Invasion”, “Behemoth” And a new “Metro” game for VR glasses, “Batman: Arkham Shadow,” is also in the works. In Vertigo Games’s large-scale linear first-person shooter “Metro Awakening”, writer Dmitry Glukhovsky tells the “origin story” of Doctor Serdar. In his search for his wife, he battles not only nuclear radiation and end-time creatures, but also his own mind, which is plagued by hallucinations.
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In 2028, Moscow’s metro tunnels will become a haven from contaminated surfaces. Underground, Sardar not only finds the remains of gruesome ritual murders, but he also has to contend with wild hallucinations. His mental confusion was also reflected in dim lighting during our first test game with the PlayStation VR 2. We had to repeatedly unscrew the mobile power generator to generate power for the headlamp using the speed control on the crank. Still, it remains so dark that you can hardly see anything in our screenshots.
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Deep black darkness really comes into its own when wearing VR glasses with HDR support. The PSVR2’s OLED display immediately created a pleasantly spooky atmosphere with its excellent black levels – including moments of shock. Appropriately, the process seemed more cool and less action-heavy than previous parts of the series. We often wandered underground for a while and solved small puzzles, before some human guard, hissing spider or aggressive “hidden” mutant surprised us from the darkness.
reload at last second
The most effective method was to silently eliminate unsuspecting opponents, for example with a crossbow or by a blow from behind. This helped in hiding on side paths such as under a train carriage or throwing cans to create a distraction. In the shootout that followed, we took out a shotgun, a pistol or an assault rifle. Healing with limited ammo and energy shots is an enjoyable but not huge challenge. However, we had to deal with some situations a few times as the demo stalled several times.
We particularly liked the easy-to-grip handling and manual reloading of patched-together weapons. Similar to “The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 2”, it builds tension here as you thread the cartridge into the barrel with trembling fingers at the last second. Cocking a crossbow mechanically also requires a careful, detailed backswing movement. Furthermore, the action is broken up by small puzzles that cause Sardar to doubt his sanity. A series of pipes on the roof happily led us in circles, no matter which branch we chose. Only then did we allow ourselves to be guided by a mysterious song coming from the brittle pipes, and it eventually led us to the exit.
In between, we had to repeatedly fit filters into our gas masks so that the radioactivity would not dissipate. Glowing mushrooms indicate intense radiation, while the clock shows when the gas mask filter needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, while infiltrating through the infected tunnels, it became clear that the game is also working for the older Quest 2. Some rough boards, piles of dirt, and roughly textured “lurker” mutants were no longer graphically up to date on PSVR 2. The character animations also looked a bit wooden.
Elsewhere we also found atmospheric, luminous staircases to subway platforms or rooms furnished with attention to detail. At such moments, the scenery is more reminiscent of VR graphic gems like “Resident Evil 4” or “Resident Evil Village.” Similar to Capcom’s VR mode, you can only pick up and examine certain items here. Due to this, sometimes the world seems a little lifeless. Complex talent trees or craft mechanics like “in radius” We have not met him yet. But we won’t give up on that, as the classic shooter action provides a nice contrast to the sometimes overly complex competition.
VR shooter with scary moments
Despite the ups and downs in graphics quality, our first trip through the apocalyptic subway tunnels left us wanting more. In the first 30 minutes, the cool mix of stealth, action and supernatural puzzles hits the right notes and even without VR support feels significantly more atmospheric than its predecessors. If Playion subsidiary studio Vertigo Games (“Arizona Sunshine 2”) manages to maintain tension for several hours, VR users are in for a dark shooter highlight.
“Metro Awakening” will be released on November 7, 2024 for SteamVR, Meta Quest 2 and 3, and PlayStation VR 2. The standard version costs 40 euros. USK 18 cm.
(JPW)
