Top up Steam
Metro Awakening: a VR descent into Moscow's dark metro
Metro Awakening is a story-driven VR adventure set in the Metro universe — a prequel to Metro 2033 from Vertigo Games (published by Deep Silver), released on November 7, 2024. You don't watch the hero from the outside — you put on the gas mask yourself, rack the slide with your own hands, pump the pneumatic weapons and shine your flashlight into the tunnel dark. The story follows Serdar, a doctor venturing deep into the metro to find his missing wife, where every bullet and every mask filter counts.
About the game
It plays out in post-apocalyptic Moscow, where survivors shelter from radiation and mutants in metro stations. Serdar isn't a soldier but a doctor, and that shifts the tone: the atmosphere is claustrophobic, resources are scarce, and encounters with nosalises and humans feel dangerous precisely because you do everything by hand in VR. Reloading, building up pressure in your weapon, checking the map and gas mask — these are physical actions, not a single button press.
What you're buying
This is a Steam gift, not a key. After payment our bot adds itself to your friends via your invite link and sends the game as a gift — usually within a couple of minutes. You don't need to accept the friend request, and Steam Guard isn't required; once delivered, the bot removes itself. We need two things from you: your Steam friend invite link and your account region.
Standard vs Deluxe
Two editions are available:
- Standard — the complete VR game: the full story and gameplay.
- Deluxe Edition — the same game plus cosmetics: the “Memories of Polyanka” pack (Nosalis Hide backpack skin, Nosalis Toy charm, The Fallen patch, Nosalis Skeletal glove skin), the “Field Medic” pack (Field Medic Bag backpack skin, Bear Keepsake charm, Medic Badge patch, Healing Hands glove skin), and access to the VR concept-art gallery.
The Deluxe cosmetics are gear decorations; they don't affect the story, length or difficulty. If you only care about the story, Standard misses none of the core content. At launch the Deluxe had a 48-hour early-access promo, but that was a one-time pre-order bonus back at the 2024 release and no longer applies now — judge the edition by its contents, not that promo.
Regions and delivery conditions
The gift is issued across 47 regions. Steam's key rule is simple: your account region must match the gift region, otherwise Steam won't let you accept it. Also, the account must not already own Metro Awakening, because Steam won't accept a gift for a game you already have. These are the most common reasons a gift seems “not to arrive,” so pick the variant for your region carefully.
Do you need a VR headset
Yes, absolutely — Metro Awakening exists only in VR. On Steam it runs through SteamVR with popular headsets: Valve Index, HTC Vive, Meta Quest 2/3 via Link/Air Link and other compatible devices. Without a VR headset you can't run it; there's no flat “regular” version of the game.
How it plays in VR
Awakening's core hook is physicality. To reload the revolver you grab rounds by hand and load them one by one; to make the pneumatic rifle hit harder you have to pump it; you hold and use the flashlight and lighter physically. The gas mask fogs up and needs wiping, and filters run down — creating a constant low-grade tension familiar to series fans but felt anew in first person. The game bets not on an action spectacle but on a slow, atmospheric survival-horror in cramped tunnels.
Performance and comfort
It's a full VR title, so a smooth picture on PC benefits from solid hardware and a modern gaming-grade GPU. The usual VR comfort options are present — snap or smooth turning, teleport or free locomotion, height adjustment — so you can tune things for motion sickness. If you're new to VR, short sessions make sense: the atmosphere is oppressive on its own.
Standard or Deluxe — which to pick
In short: for the story and gameplay, Standard is enough — it's the whole game with nothing cut. Deluxe is for those who want to dress up their gear with backpack and glove skins and browse the VR concept-art gallery. Deluxe unlocks no extra story, levels or weapons, so the choice is purely about cosmetics and supporting the developers.
If you love Metro
Awakening is a standalone chapter of a big series. If you want the classic entries with open spaces and linear levels, check out Metro Exodus and the origins of the series — Metro 2033 and Metro Last Light. Awakening sits chronologically before all of them, so it's a convenient entry point to the universe, especially if you own VR.
💚 Same game — another format
On the same topic we also have: Metro Awakening as a Steam key.