Arktika.1

Arktika.1 is 4A Games' 2017 virtual reality shooter for Oculus Rift with Touch controllers, released Oct 10, 2017, in which a mercenary defends a colony in the frozen ruins of Russia a century after a "silent apocalypse". It is not a Metro game, but it was made by the Metro studio.

Arktika.1 is not part of the Metro story and has no announced link to Metro 2039; it matters here as the other game of 4A Games, the studio making Metro 2039, and as its first in virtual reality. Arktika.1 is a VR shooter for Oculus Rift with Touch controllers, released in Oct 2017 (Metacritic dates it Oct 10, 2017) and published by 4A itself. Almost a century after a "silent apocalypse" and a new ice age, you play a mercenary hired by Citadel Security to defend one of the last colonies in the wastelands of old Russia. It was the first 4A game developed from start to finish in Malta.

Quick facts

Released	Oct 10, 2017 (Metacritic); 4A's announcement Oct 11
Developer and publisher	4A Games
Platform	Oculus Rift with Touch controllers (PC)
Price at launch	$29.99
Length	About 5 to 6 hours (UploadVR's review)
Metacritic	71 (8 critics), user score 8.0 (24 ratings), as of Nov 3, 2026
Movement	Teleporting between set points

Sources: 4A Games, Oct 11, 2017; Metacritic, Nov 3, 2026; UploadVR, Oct 10, 2017.

What is Arktika.1?

4A announced it in Oct 2016 as a "big, atmospheric shooter" designed only for Oculus Touch, and co-founder Andrew Prokhorov called it "a full-blown AAA title". Like Metro, it is set in Russia after a catastrophe, but in a future of its own: only the equator stays warm, and the colony you guard faces raiders, marauders and monsters. You fight from cover with pistol-style weapons, from Magnums and handheld shotguns to laser pistols, and move by teleporting between three or four set points in each area rather than walking freely.

Reception

Metacritic lists a 71 from 8 critics and a user score of 8.0, as of Nov 3, 2026. UploadVR's Jamie Feltham called it an "extremely polished shooter" with tense cover firefights and a longer campaign than most VR shooters of its day, but found the node-based teleporting dated, the missions repetitive and the monsters underused. No sales figure has been published, and no later platform was found.

Arktika.1 and Metro

It shares Metro's studio, its taste for post-apocalyptic Russia and little else: no Metro character, place or creature appears. The VR Metro game is Metro Awakening (2024), made by Vertigo Games rather than 4A. Every Metro game in order is on Metro Games in Order.