Metro Awakening is coming to PS VR2

Hi everyone, I’m Samar, Associate Game Director at Vertigo Games. We couldn’t be more excited to reveal our next project, Metro Awakening, during today’s State of Play. We’re proud to say that, with the support of Deep Silver, for the last two and a half years we’ve been working to bring the post-apocalyptic world of Metro to PS VR2 in 2024.

The best video games take us out of our world by putting us in the boots of someone else. They let us experience that world through their eyes.

The Metro series continually strives to achieve this. Inspired by the internationally best-selling novels by Dmitry Glukhovsky, Metro 2033, Metro: Last Light, and Metro Exodus delivered immersive first-person experiences at release. These games put players in the heart of a desperate battle for survival after nuclear Armageddon.

Metro Awakening is an all-new Metro game made exclusively for VR, and powered by the immersive features of PS VR2 and its Sense controllers.

An interior shot of a train carriage, seemingly reappropriated as living quarters, illuminated only be a single lantern left on the floor. A full clothesline stretches across one window, and perched on a seat below is a teddy bear. Cutlery litters the ground, and a human skull, clad in a thick hat, is stationed beside the lantern.

It’s an origins story, set before the events of Metro 2033, that both offers a whole new angle for Metro fans, and a fantastic starting point for seasoned VR players ready to put on the gas mask.

Set in 2028, the all-new story is penned by series creator Dmitry Glukhovsky. You play as Serdar, a doctor searching for his wife amongst the claustrophobic, irradiated metro tunnels of post-apocalyptic Moscow. As Serdar ventures deeper into the Metro his courage and sanity will be tested by the supernatural forces he encounters, and will set in motion the events that lead to his spiritual awakening as something else entirely…

A rickety wooden stairwell leads up to a stage, on which stands a figure, arms outstretched. Their shadow is cast huge against the wall behind them by multiple candles that turn the wall red. In front of the figure is a person prone on a table.

But how does this all feel in VR?

True to the core of the series, Metro Awakening is an intense first-person adventure blending survival, stealth, and combat with a gripping story. This means you’ll get to experience Metro’s heart-pounding FPS gameplay in VR for the first time, fumbling for filters to protect you from radiation, panicking as you frantically charge your flickering headlamp in the dark, and reloading your arsenal by hand as you battle the many threats in the depths of the tunnels. With the addition of adaptive triggers and headset haptics on PS VR2 we were able to add tactile sensations to pulling our weapons’ triggers and getting hit by bullets. It’s nuances like these that push the level of immersion in VR even further on a visceral level.

A dark tunnel stretches into the far distance. Two figures are patrolling along the train tracks in front of the viewer, oblivious to the player crouched in the shadows behind them, one hand bracing the other as they aim a pistol at the retreating patrol’s backs. The player’s hands are gloved, and on wrist of one arm is a timepiece, with a glowing digital face stating 09:37.

We’ll have a lot more on Metro Awakening before it releases later in 2024, and we’re honoured to bring this beloved franchise to PS VR2 for the first time.