Metro 2033 is a horror themed first person shooter from little know Ukrainian developer 4A Games; a splinter group from GSC Game World – the creators of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R Series, and published by THQ. Metro 2033 is based on a Russian novel of the same name by Dmitry Glukhovsky and is set in a post-apocalyptic Moscow where the survivors of a nuclear war have 0retreated into the Moscow subway, or Metro, and each station now functions as an independent city state.
Now if you’re thinking the idea of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R type game set in the Moscow Metro after a nuclear holocaust would be awesome, then you’d be spot on. The premise for Metro 2033 is one of the most unique idea’s for a shooter since S.T.A.L.K.E.R and since it’s set mostly in the Metro tunnels, where the player leads Artyom on a quest to get help for his home station from the threat of a mysterious enemy known as “the Dark Ones”, the game plays perfectly to its role as corridor shooter.
A Game You’ll Want To Like…
Metro 2033 has something going for it which few other B-Grade titles have; from the very start you want to like it, love it even.
You’ll want to like the unique weapons. How long has it been since a shooter gave you something other than regular old weapons, not just in terms of looks, but also functionality? Want a pneumatic gun that fires ball bearings? Metro has one, you even have to pump it to get the air pressure up. Want a double barrel shotgun where both barrels can finally be fired together or separate? Metro has one of those too. Since the end of the world put a little bit of a damper on the supply of brand new military grade gear the denizens of the Metro have had to start crafting new weapons from what they have available. Obviously weapons created after the bombs fell are of lower quality than pre-war guns. The Metro build Bastard SMG, for example, has a wicked recoil and does little damage where as the old faithful workhorse, the Kalashnikov AK-47, is a far more efficient killing machine.
You’ll want to love the unique atmosphere & setting. It’s set in the Metro of post-apocalyptic Moscow where giant rat-mutants, communists & Nazis fight for survival, how much more awesome can a setting be? 4A Games really nailed the atmosphere of the metro. The dilapidated tunnels the player creeps, sneaks & fights through on Artyom’s journey feel suitably dark, dangerous and imposing. Each of the stations captures the feeling of the people living in these make-shift towns, from rural Exhibition, Communist Armory to magnificent Polis, last bastion of humanity. As much as the populated towns convey a sense of life finding a way to continue, the abandoned stations filled with bodies, mutants & poisonous gas convey the constant threat and danger of life in the tunnels.
You’ll even want to love the quirky gameplay mechanics 4A built into the game. How many games have you “pump” a hand held battery charger to keep power to your flash light burning bright, or swapping out a filter on your gasmask? The game sets itself out as a no BS title, there are no weapons statistics projected when purchasing new guns, all the player has to go on is the word of the weapons dealer. Even the game’s currency – pre-war bullets – is left rather open to interpretation. There are 2 types of ammo in the game, regular metro-made ammo and the good stuff, pre-war military grade ammo. However the only indication of which is which that is given is that military grade ammo is “shinier” than regular ammo which is indicated ingame by the on screen icon being a more bright copper than the regular stuff and with a slight golden hue around it. Military grade ammunition has more stopping power than it’s Metro-made counterpart, which has the player facing a conundrum, take down the enemy or save the ammo for that automatic shotgun the player been saving up for.
… But Won’t.
Since Metro has abandoned any form of inventory other than the light, medium and heavy weapons slots, the entire idea of buying weapons is rendered obsolete. Why spend a 100 hard scavenged bullets on a new VSV when the player will be given one by an NPC not 20 minutes later? Similarly, every NPC the player kills drops a weapon of some sort but if the player encounters say the Hellsing arrow rifle and equips it, he has to drop the automatic-shotgun the player had purchased not long before, effectively wasting all the bullets spent on it.
The game also suffers from a great many, many bugs, and this is after an update. The most common one is swapping the air filter of the players gas-mask won’t actually rest the timer on the watch. Although there doesn’t seem to be any real penalty for not changing the airfilter, during one prolonged surface encounter with some Nazi’s I completely forgot to change the filter for more than 20 minuets after it was in the red when I put it on. Getting stuck in the environment, and unkillable enemies do also make an appearance along side idiotic AI that takes cover on the wrong side of cover or will fire completely the opposite direction to where the player is.
The game also features several “stealth” sections, though stealth seems to be the wrong term for it. If the player is discovered the entire population of the level is immediately aware of his/her location. The game also loves to auto-save – the only way of saving progress – as the player is detected meaning when the player dies the reload will be after all the NPC’s know where he/she is. This leads to several very frustrating sections, though luckily these “stealth” sections are not overly common.
Metro 2033 sticks very closely to the plot of the novel and as a result is very linear and makes a lot of use of scripted events. This tends to cause issues due to the game being particularly vague on where to go and how to do it. This is especially annoying in one part where the player will die if he/she does not complete a certain action. The lack of any form of map and only a compass to guide the player further complicates matters, especially if the player should wander off the beaten path.
The plot can be a bit heard to follow at times since Artyom is Gordon Freeman’s Russian cousin, twice removed, and like the bearded one, he does not speak during gameplay leaving the narrative to be moved along buy the supporting cast and the scripted events. The game tries to make it appear that there is danger around every corner and for the most part gets it right, with some of the sections being truly nerve wrecking, however there are many missed opportunities for some truly pants-wetting moments.
Love It or Hate It.
Even with its faults and sometimes sloppy B-grade game design Metro 2033 remains a game the player will want to enjoy. 4A Games has given the game a lot of soul with a detailed and believable game world. It is truly an original experience, and those willing to forgive the game’s failures will enjoy it. Perhaps the newly announced Ranger Pack DLC pack can fix some of these shortcomings and let Metro 2033 be the A-Grade game it was meant to be.
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