Summary
Metro Awakening VR delivers some terrifying moments in its deep, thought-provoking story. After a strong start, repetitive levels and pacing issues kill most of its momentum.
As the hours go on, though, the cracks start to appear. The number of interactive props start to dwindle. The pacing positively drops off a cliff.
With a bit more variety, both of these main threads could absolutely work together, but in the end it just makes Awakening a little too predictable. The main tool in your subterranean adventures is your backpack, which you will regularly need to pull from either shoulder in order to access your items and weapons.
The four available guns are great, too. They're wonderfully tactile to reload, as each one has movable slides so you can inspect the interiors and see if there's a bullet in the chamber. They all have a nice punch to them, and holstering and unholstering them from my body was rarely aggravating.
The game is set in a series of locations in the world of New York City. There are three sets of characters, each with their own unique style.
You're mainly locked in a small arena, attacked from all sides, but with the humans there's almost always a little vent to hide in or a box to crouch behind. It felt refreshing to have these (admittedly small) moments of freedom, because otherwise the game is really quite linear and repetitive.
Visually, there's still a lot to admire here, but character models and facial expressions can often feel a little stiff. Overall sense of detail isn't as impressive as something like Batman Arkham Shadow. The dreaded Mura effect from the PSVR 2's OLED screens.
Overall, I did enjoy playing Metro Awakening, but I'm not sure I'd ever go back to it again. Its disappointing back half makes it hard to really recommend, too.
