Metro 2033 review

[paecmaker]

Metro 2033

”Ever heard about the survival of the fittest? Guess what, we lost.”



Story

In 2013 the world was destroyed by a nuclear war, in moscow 40 000 people rushed down into the metro system and to safety. In this chaos a small boy named Artyom is forced in with the rest of the people into the metro. In 2033 the outside world is inhabitable and populated by dangerous mutants. In the metro the few survivors clump together in the former stations and forming totally different ways of living while fighting both each over and the horrors of the dark tunnels . Artyom, now 20 years old is forced to embark on a dangerous journey to not only save his own station but the entire Metro.

Gameplay.

The gameplay style in Metro 2033 is a post apocalyptic FPS spiced with a survival horror aspect.
I have heard people ask if this is similar to the STALKER games and I have to say a little. The two games feature their own post apocalyptic universe but unlike STALKER Metro 2033 is a very linear and storydriven game with only a few paths to choose from. The fact that Metro 2033 to most parts is set in various subway tunnels and stations contribute to the more linear gameplay. But is it all bad thing? well in metros case I have to say that the linear style works good, the game is based on the book with the same name and follows the storyline pretty much all the time(with a few places that’s not in the book and vice verse).
As I said before the humans are mostly found in various stations across the subway and of course you will visit a few during your travels. These parts are both good and bad according to me. It’s really interesting to listen to the people that live on the stations and how they make it there but I really wanted to be able to interact more with the people on the stations. Normally you can visit like three stores that look almost identical all over the metro and nothing more. People will in some occasions start talking to you but don’t expect Artyom to answer; he only says one word ingame. But he talks between missions during the loading screen which made me wonder why not ingame. This made me really annoyed when someone actually asked a question to Artyom and never got an answer.

The devs have really tried to make an effort to make the game look more physical and real, for example many things are accually in real time and used by Artyom himself, like the mission info, while in most games this pauses the game and turn into another screen in Metro 2033 Artyom is accually holding the mission info block and a candle(to illuminate it if dark) while the game still runs. Other things like no map and a very small hud suits the atmosphere perfectly



Things like that gives the game a feeling that you can’t find in many other games. But unfortunately I have encountered several bugs and problems that also to some degree chrashes that feeling. I have also seen a design fault that forced me to replay an earlier chapter again.
I did mention stores so what do they use as money, cause normal money is worthless in the metro.

They use bullets, or more exact, they use pre war military bullets. These rounds are not made anymore and are pretty rare. This is a good system because it demands you to think, you can either use the metro made “dirty” ammo that’s cheap but not very efficient or use the the “shiny” pre war ammo that is much more efficient but using those is practically shooting money. All around the tunnels you can scavenge bullets and gasmask filters and medpacks from the dead.

This takes us to the weapons, except from the normal invulnerable AK 74 most weapons in the metro are homemade and featuring everything from machineguns and flamethrowers to small ball shooters (?) and revolver shotguns. The weapons in the game are interesting and some are also very powerful. Some of the more interesting are the pneumatic weapons that force you to pump up the air pressure to be able to use them efficiently. Now this is also a thing that destroys the atmosphere in the game a little, some of the most efficient weapons in the metro are the homemade ones, mostly those who shoot other things than bullets.
The gameplay is mostly action inricted but can be stealthy if you want it. For this purpose you can use silenced weapons or throwing knifes. The throwing knifes if aimed right at close range can kill a armed guard in one hit, silently and you can re-use them.


The game puts you up in several situations where stealth can be used, however this is very difficult as one mistake can ruin 30 minutes of gameplay, even more because you can’t save and there are only checkpoints. When stealthing it is very important to look at the ground often, there are things that can give you away everywhere, like broken glass or different alarm systems. There are also many traps that are dangerous if you behave bad.
This is of personal taste but I don’t like it, it’s too unforgetting, the hardness plus checkpoints made me almost stopped playing the game during some missions. When in a firefight however you can’t lean or go prone and the enemy are pretty dangerous. The game also uses a regenerating health system even if it’s very slow. In emergencies you can use the med packs however to go to full health directly. Sometimes the enemies seem to survive too many shots to be accually alive(but nothing that a grenade can’t solve). Other than a few things the fights can be really fun, even if you always have to think of conserving your ammo(so if you can, go as much stealth as possible because the knifes are reusable after been throwed away and so are some weapons too)



For the humans you can do stealth but most of the time when you are facing monsters stealth is out of the question. These are the more action inricted parts(even if you can go in all blasing against humans too) The most common enemy, the nosalis is mostly attacking in swarms without tactics but thankfully most of the times you are not alone. In most missions(except when facing humans) you have atleast one friend, they often have superior weapons and armor wich makes you feel secure. When in a group you feel almost safe even if there are enemies everywhere, but the moment you are alone you will feel small and insecure, no thanks to the almost useless dirty rounds you have to use. This is a good thing but it mostly happens against human opponents while facing the dark tunnels you have often friends. I have noticed this much in the some parts of the game, in some creepy places other characters may say things that almost ruins the feeling and makes me laugh instead.

You will face many characters, both friendly and hostile, but sometimes it goes to fast, likewise with stations. You barerly get feelings for(or against) the characters until another one takes the last ones place. The fact that many of the guys you move with are experienced soldiers they are even calm and jokes in the badest places while almost showing no fear at all, in the book there were some truly creepy places that wasent in the game. Now there are of course some places that are creepy and where you are alone. And not all characters jokes all the time.



The story of the game can also be a little non consistent if you are not listening on ambient calls around the stations, or haven’t read the book.
Sometimes in the metro there is poisonous air that forces you to use the gasmask. The gasmask is really well done and thanks to the limited air supply you can sometimes get panick(good sort of panick) I know that I was playing and looked at the air supply and it was down on red with no more filters, I just started running while Artyom had harder and harder to breath, suddenly I hear some noises from behind and sees several monsters following me(I didn’t survive that time, the air run out and I suffocated) To get more air you have to buy air filters at shops, and DON’T use the gasmask when you won’t have to, it can break.
but even with all the flaws I still like the game, it’s something with the atmosphere.

I have played the game several times on different difficulties to see the difference. On the lowe ones you find lots off ammo and the enemies doesnt do lots of damage but neither does you. On the higher levels you accually do more damage and on the ranger difficulties (special downloadable difficulties) your bullets do lots of damage but so does the enemy bullets, this means that its mostly the human opponents(even if the monsters also do more damage) that are more dangerous and able to kill you in seconds if you are careless. However as ammo is stronger it is also rarer wich means that you have to be extra carefull not to use to much. In the ranger modes the hud is even smaller(but not completely gone) and there is no crosshair. I would say that the game is much funnier in ranger modes than in the normal modes.

Graphics, sound and AI

The graphics are looking mostly good, even if I have seen slow framereate sometimes. The tunnels can sometimes look really creepy and certain “environmental” effects look really gorgeous.
The metro is pretty dark but the hole game is not under ground, sometimes you move up on the surface and it looks like another world. Unlike the metro it is pretty bright topside and full of snow.
Apart from that there are a few graphical effects that also looks nice, like when you wear a gas mask and it gets hurt you see small cracks in it, and if the air filter level is low you see condense, or something building up on the mask. The same when you have no air left, the screen turns blurry and colours start to blend and change while you run until you die.
The sounds in the game are mostly good. The ambient noises from the tunnels can be very creepy sometimes and the monsters sound also very scary. The ambient talk around stations are made very good even if I have heard some repeat. The weapons and explosions sound good even if they aren’t extrodinary.
I have played the game on English(maybe will try again with Russian speak and English text just to make it more “real”)

The AI of the enemy aren’t so spectacular, they shoot and throw grenades and take cover most of the time while other times they just stand there and waiting to get shot.
The mutants got for obvious reasons not so much tactic, they mostly just swarm the place(there are a few exceptions however).


Overwiev
Metro 2033 is a FPS with parts of survival horror and RPG gameplay. It features a post apocalyptic Moscow where the survivors live in the metro stations. The overall atmosphere of the game is pretty creepy and features both monsters and other strange events. The gameplay consist of a mix of action and stealth gameplay even if its very unforgiving. The game use checkpoints so you cant choose where to save. The main sort of “money” are special bullets that are pretty rare in the metro and better than the other bullets used by the people, you can find bullets and equipment near dead bodies and killed enemies as well as in boxes and lockers around in the metro.
The game have many characters and is very story driven so its not an open sandbox game.
The graphics are mostly well done and can sometimes even look really nice, the sounds are also mostly disturbing in a good way. And even if the AI mostly does its job you can sometimes see some enemies doing stupid things.

I think the ranger difficulties are much funnier to play with than the normal ones as each bullet does more damage but there are lesser bullets all in all wich means you have to save them more.


Points

Gameplay- 6/10 The gameplay are mostly good but I don’t like that the sneaking is so unforgiving while you can’t save the game yourself and there are few bugs and design faults.

Graphics- 7.5/10 The graphics look beautiful and can be really creepy sometimes, still they suffer sometimes of slow framerate but can also look bad at certain parts.

Sound- 8/10 The sounds are really well done and does lots to improve the feeling of the game, allfrom eerie sounds to ambient speaking of people.

Atmosphere- 8/10 This was hard to choose, if I had gone on the good parts it would have been a ten but there are several things that destroys the illusion ranging from design faults to both strangely balanced weapons.

Total- 7.2/10 If you like post apocalyptic games this is something for you, but I warn you its pretty hard and unforgiving.


And take it easy in the tunnels. Oh before I forget “Don’t eat yellow snow”

[Psychotray]

I didn't really like the game when I played, the controls were a bit to buggy for me

[paecmaker]

I just added a small part about the difficulties in the end of the gameplay part.

[Twyst]

Sorry to drag up an (only slightly) old thread but I thoight you ought to know that your review just convinced me and a buddy to give Metro 2033 a shot. and we've been unable to decide whether it's worth it for like a month.

This review was really very detailed and massively insightful. You're a pretty writer man.

Thanks alot, Peacemaker!

[paecmaker]

Well, thank you