To throw an extra bit of fuel on the fire, developer Vertigo Games released a trailer showing off the first seven minutes of Metro Awakening gameplay, which is headed to all major VR headsets this week.
Coming to PSVR 2, SteamVR and Quest 2/3/Pro on November 7th, the story-driven single-player adventure promises to be one of the biggest VR releases this year. And it certainly looks the part, at least from the new trailer that shows off the game’s early narrative, which is folded into its first combat tutorial.
Wading through your beleaguered but very alive underground community, you make your way down the metro tracks to join an expeditionary force after a recent mutant attack. The fight is brought to you sooner than expected though, giving you a chance to take over a fixed machine gun position and mow down a horde of beasts while balancing the gun’s barrel temp.
With the mutants decimated, a coordinated attack at the South Entrance draws urgent attention, requiring you to clear out the once bustling community of the new threat and blow up the entrance to stem the tide of incoming mutants. Addled from the resultant explosion, you make the difficult decision to shut the community’s internal airlock, condemning two of your fellow metro dwellers to a certain fate. A third-person cutscene concludes the action, as you see yourself slump over in defeat to the screams of your surely doomed comrades.
To be fair, these first “seven minutes” seems to cut out a lot of the stuff you’d expect a first-time player to do, like explore the protagonist Serdar’s room and play with musical instruments, look at your photos and peruse all of the objects on your desk. You’d also expect players to eavesdrop on some of the lively conversations going on as you more completely explore the underground base before the attack that ravages it.
That said, series author Dmitry Glukhovsky’s fingerprints are all over this opening scene, which isn’t a surprise since he’s collaborating with Vertigo Games to create the game’s narrative, which is set before the events of Metro 2033 (2010).
While you’re waiting for the November 7th launch, make sure to check out our hands-on with Metro Awakening from September, which dives deeper into the game’s visual quality on Quest 3S, its immersive mechanics, and realistically snappy weapons.
You can also pre-order on PSVR 2, SteamVR headsets, and Quest 2/3/Pro, priced at $40 for the standard edition, and $50 for the Deluxe Edition, which includes cosmetic items, such as skins, accessories, and more, as well as access to a game’s concept art gallery.