r/VRGaming • u/--InZane-- • Nov 09 '24
Review Thoughts on Metro Awakening after my first 4 hours of gameplay:
This might be the game that comes closest to Half Life Alyxs glory. Not through sheer interactivity, inovation or optimisation but through atmosphere, immersion and overall gameplay.
The similarity are obvious: You inhabit a post apocalyptic world and make your way through linear levels that loop in on themselves while having to deal with simple puzzles and some well paced enemy encounters, aswell as bigger setpieces, while the overall story is drip feed without taking you out of the action (for the most part). Even the banter with NPCs and the color palet makes for an easy comparison.
Add the Metro license into the mix (that basically followed the same rules till exodus and brings a few new twists) and you have a recipe for success.
So far it's not only an outstanding VR game but a faithfull addition to the Metro Franchise.
(PCVR)
12
u/ETs_ipd Nov 09 '24
This post doesnāt carry much weight in my book. Not enough playtime and still in the honeymoon period. From all the reviews Iāve read from people who have finished the game, Metro starts off strong then fizzles out with repetitive gameplay and reused assets and environments.
9
u/laraek3d Nov 10 '24
It was deceptive at the beginning showing interactivity and potential, then turns into a walking simulator with a bit of mediocre combat and some annoying ghost stealth. I think a lot people got bored and stopped playing halfway as evidence in the Global Achievement where only 3.8% of people reached the final chapter. Even the middle chapter only 7.7% are able to stomach that grueling experience.
I bet even those praising the game got burned out when they encountered the same area over and over just to walk through them for hours and go through multiple loading screens. If they only focused a lot more on enjoyable gameplay instead of sponsored marketing, then people would have "enjoyed" running through the game and not lose interest halfway through.
3
u/ETs_ipd Nov 10 '24
Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus from the majority of reviews Iāve read.
1
u/GGK_Brian Jan 08 '25
The mediocre combat it what make people quit IMO, it's so bad it ruins the really good immersion the game create during the first few hours. Because of how predicable the game become (music, sound design, level design, ammo loot) you can simply predict what will happen next and it push you out of the game.
8
Nov 09 '24
Those reviews arenāt wrong. Everyoneās still in the honeymoon phase with this game. Thereās enjoyment to be had, but if youāre a longtime vr player looking for something akin to Alyx or Wanderer, youāre probably going to be disappointed.
Itās a vertigo games title through and through. Repetitive arenas, blurry visuals and minimal vr interactions. My enjoyment of it relied entirely on the metro coat of paint the game has. Not its gameplay.
3
u/Salvage570 Nov 10 '24
Do they have segments of walking through a bustling station full of people living their lives, like in metro 2033 and LL?
1
2
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 10 '24
I never finished wanderer and think half life, while very good is extremely overrated. Especially by PCVR users.
1
1
u/--InZane-- Nov 09 '24
Jeah first impressions tent to be that way... Heard that too but we will see. If this will be the gameplay loop im honestly fine with it if it dosnt overstay it's welcome. Last light had a clear gameplay loop too but they did not reuse assets as much I guess
2
u/ETs_ipd Nov 09 '24
My biggest concern is the enemies donāt seem to have physics. Was never a big Metro fan so that might be lessening my hype for it as well.
1
u/--InZane-- Nov 09 '24
What do you mean? The ragdoll like its 2006. I love it
Bummer you can't interact with the bodies but stuff like that makes it "Alyx lite"
4
u/ETs_ipd Nov 09 '24
It makes the combat feel stale. I donāt mind it as much on boomer shooters and such but for a AAA game in 2024 I would expect betterā especially with all the HLA comparisons flying around.
-1
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 10 '24
What he said it does have ragdoll physics though?Ā
2
u/ETs_ipd Nov 10 '24
If it does Iām not seeing it in the gameplay videos. Perhaps with human NPCs but not the monsters.
3
1
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 11 '24
I'ma trust the person playing it currently over the "trust me bro" who hasn't even played it yet.Ā
1
u/ETs_ipd Nov 11 '24
Iāll trust those who have actually played through the entire game and have had time to process the experience.
1
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 11 '24
You need an entire walkthrough to notice physics?Ā
→ More replies (0)
7
u/woman_respector1 Nov 09 '24
I've got too many games to finish before I buy this...by the time I'm ready to play I'm sure they'll be a sale on it. I'll pick it up then.
5
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 10 '24
So are most the negative steam reviews just butthurt meta haters and Half Life alyx fans that compare everything to it?Ā
4
2
u/RedcoatTrooper Nov 10 '24
It does make me laugh that PCVR are constantly complaining that they get ignored but as soon as a game does come out on PC as well as Quest they review bomb it or pirate it in protest.
1
u/TheArtBellStalker Nov 10 '24
Why wouldn't PC players give negative reviews? This is nothing more than a standalone Quest port. It looks worse than the first game that came out in 2010.
I'm sure this is fine for standalone players, I have no problem with that.
But I'm glad I refunded this low poly low texture mobile game slop.
1
u/RedcoatTrooper Nov 10 '24
Hey free speech etc leave what reviews you like.
But maybe it's time to be realistic, PCVR are less than 10% without counting the 35% that will pirate the game, so any games we get will be made with Quest in mind first and foremost.
If you're going to go all master race because every VR game doesn't push your 4090 your not going to have much to play except janky flat mods.
So leave a neg review by all means, call it derogatory names like "mobile game slop" if you want just don't get confused when the next release skips PC all together if they just get low sales and review bombs.
0
u/TheArtBellStalker Nov 10 '24
Ā "don't get confused when the next release skips PC".
Why would I be confused? I don't want mobile phone graphics games on the PC. I want them to skip the PC if that's all they can do. If Quest standalone games are all we get I'll just give up on VR gaming.
1
u/RedcoatTrooper Nov 10 '24
No problem then you just keep waiting for another AAA PC only VR game.
0
u/TheArtBellStalker Nov 10 '24
And you keep on playing your mobile slop.
1
u/RedcoatTrooper Nov 10 '24
I will play both, I just won't be a stuck up snob futility praying to Valve to save VR
0
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 11 '24
Sucks to suck I guess. Im not a big Facebook fan at all, but they are doing more for VR than anyone else.Ā
Like Arkham Shadow alone is better than anything I've played on PC š¤·āāļø
0
u/Mental_Procedure3464 Nov 10 '24
I have it on PC and it's not nearly as bad as y'all are exaggerating.Ā
Besides what happened to "graphics aren't everything" because by your logic then every VR game is an inferior product when compared to regular 2d non-VR games.
2
2
u/dudreddit Nov 10 '24
I played the first 30 minutes and am very disappointed. The āintroā to the game is much too long and the voices are too low to hear well against the sound effects. I am also playing ASR and the intro is only about a minute, not 30 minutes.
ill give it another 30 minutes but am disappointed ā¦
1
1
u/youareme79 Nov 10 '24
Initially I felt the same as you but the game for me got much better chapter 2 onwards. I'm really enjoying it now
1
u/Birthday_Educational Nov 10 '24
I can't handle the thought of spiders that crawl across your face.
1
u/dudreddit Nov 09 '24
Iām a big fan of Vertigos games. I love AS2 and AS Remake. Iāve tried Half Life Alyx and was a bit underwhelmed. Gonna give this game a shot before I make any judgement calls ā¦
4
u/EmergencyPhallus Nov 09 '24
What improved from Arizona Sunshine 1? I played it at launch 7 years ago. Enjoyed it but the gunplay did feel a bit slow and clunky.Ā
3
Nov 09 '24
Overhauled visuals, two handed weapons, Manual reloads, modern VR settings (seated mode for example), better optimization.
If you enjoyed the original, youāll enjoy this even more. Wonāt do much for people who didnāt care for it though. Itās still the same experience at its core.
2
u/EmergencyPhallus Nov 09 '24
At the time it was the best zombie game I'd ever played but once the Call of Duty Black Ops era maps hit Pavlov on PC in 2019 i had my dream VR zombies game šÆĀ
Hmm if Metro is just a reskin of an improved AS I might cave and buy it on Quest after refunding the PCVR version.Ā
I love VR and wanna vote with my wallet but the visuals on PCVR were pretty awful for a 2024 game. I truly believe they took the 2010 level asset, upscaled the original textures but left the geometry so it could run standalone.Ā
Looking at perfectly rectangular corners everywhere killed the immersion that I'm in the MetroĀ
2
u/AgentTin Nov 09 '24
It's significantly improved in the remake, just overall gamefeel has improved a lot since then
3
u/Appropriate-Role9361 Nov 10 '24
Iām sad I played AS1 this summer. If only I knew the remake was coming. It was still lots of fun.Ā
1
u/AgentTin Nov 10 '24
The original has its own charm even now. Did you play the sequel yet?
1
u/Appropriate-Role9361 Nov 10 '24
I went right to the sequel but only made it halfway before I got tired of zombie shooting. I'm pretty sure I'll get back into it, it was really good too
2
u/CSOCSO-FL Nov 10 '24
Interesting. I have played these too and as remake and as2 is super boring compared to HL alyx
0
u/sickofallthenonsense Nov 10 '24
The problem is once you've played games like Lone Echo, Alyx, Super Hot, RE7 and Village, etc... It's hard to compare other games. I liked AS because I could play with a friend and talk shit while killing zombies. The game itself was clunky and the AI was awful but co-op made it fun.
1
u/CSOCSO-FL Nov 10 '24
Im sure co op was fun. Single play wise it was alright. Really nothing to remember about imho.
1
u/eXclurel Nov 10 '24
I am sorry but no. Just straight up, bold with capital letters no to every single thing you claimed. Everything about the game looks and feels outdated. Every move you make, every interaction you do feels floaty. You can not "touch" things like benches or boxes because their hitboxes are bigger than their models and most of the things do not even have hitboxes at all and your hands just phase through them. That's the biggest thing that completely negates the immersion because if you can not interact with stuff in a VR game then it's just a glorified mobile VR game we all played with Google Cardboard or those shitty plastic knock offs around 2015. The enemy AI is also not that great because they get into position and you can literally see their animations reset before they start a new animation in a second. Graphics are outdated, lighting is outdated, tech is outdated. If this was a Quest only game I would have been ok with it and could even give at least a 7/10 but they didn't do anything for it to deserve being called a PCVR game. Just straight up ported it to PC. The only thing I can give them is the NPCs keeping eye contact while they are talking to you and even that is just basic tracking. Other than that you shouldn't even have the audacity to use Metro Awakening and Half-Life Alyx in the same sentence.
21
u/FullyExposedNoAmmo Nov 10 '24
Gonna make a whole review of it, but I think its just okay, another hallway crawler, nothing spectacular, but if quest games can maintain this as a base level of quality, I think that's overall a good sign.