PC DVD
Developer: 4A Games
Publisher: THQ
Game website: http://www.metro2033game.com/en
Overview
Metro 2033 is a bit of a grim game. Don’t game me wrong, it’s certainly not a bad game, in fact it is a very good game. However, the overall setting and subject matter tends to make you feel a bit down and in need of something a bit more “fluffy” to cheer yourself up after an extended session with the game (or this could just be me – lol).
The game is based on the novel of the same title, by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky and the basic premise is that well used setup of the aftermath of World War 3 and nuclear armageddon, with the player as a character called Artyom who is a kind of “freedom fighter”. The environment is what is left of
The stations themselves are on the whole bases for the resistance movement, where you can talk to various characters, the plot progresses and you can buy new weapons and equipment. One cute feature of the game is that the currency of this game world is the actual bullets themselves, with military grade bullets holding more value than regular bullets. The bullets can be traded at various dealers at the stations for various weapons, upgrades and medkits etc. This introduces an interesting game mechanic, as bullets are liberally scattered throughout the game levels, lying on the floor and on dead bodies, but the player has to judge and balance how much ammo they want to spend on supplies and how much ammo they think they may need for the next mission/objective. It’s an interesting system that works quite well and adds an overall tactical layer to what is essentially a very linear first person shooter.
There are other game mechanics that separate this game from being yet another generic FPS and one of them is the use of the gas mask. In certain areas of the game, there is poisonious gas, which will kill you quite quickly within minutes. If you are carrying a gas mask, pressing G puts the gas mask on, but you only have a limited amount of air in the filters. The filters can be replenished either by buying them with bullets at a dealer or finding them on the ground or on dead bodies. As the filters run out, your breathing gets heavier and you will die if you do not replace the filter. You also have a gauge on your left wrist that can be displayed by pressing T and this shows you how much air you have left with the current filter. The gas mask can also be damaged in combat with cracks and marks appearing on the surface, obscuring your view and if it takes too much damage, the mask becomes useless and you need to find a replacement. So in essence this forces you to be constantly aware of the environment and to only use the gas mask when you really need to, to avoid damage during combat, and of course to save your filters and make them last. It’s an excellent mechanic that gives the game more of a “survival-horror” type of feel.
There is also the interesting use of light and your head mounted torch. The game world is beautifully lit and this lends itself well to sections where stealth style gameplay can be employed. Your head mounted torch has, of course a limted batttery charge, but you carry a portable charger, that can be “pumped up” and recharged by bringing up the device by holding down the F key and constantly pressing the left mouse button until the charge gauge is full. When you get the night vision goggles, they are powered by the same battery as your torch and charged by the same charger, so again you are faced with another tactical resource balancing act. The fun is also added to by the fact that enemies (of course) can see and react to your torch beam and you can extinguish many of the light sources (such as oil lamps) that are dotted around the dimly lit tunnels and underground areas. Again this helps make up for the linear nature of the game as in many of the dark areas you have the choice of using sealth or going in “guns blazing” (which quite often gets you killed by the way – lol).
The enemies in Metro 2033 consist intially of mostly mutant creatures that are quite aggressive and a bit scary, but as the game progresses you end up fighting both the Red Army and Neo-Nazis that are battling for control of
As I have mentioned, the game is quite linear, but there is enough variety in the environments and objectives to keep up your interest, with typical sections where you are simply blasting away at enemies, to stealth sections and basic puzzle solving. From a production value point of view, the game is created to a high standard with convincing post-apocalypse underground enivonments, gorgeous lighting effects and well-modelled and animated characters and enemies. The voices on the whole are not too bad (I’ve certainly heard worse), but the monologue from Artyom during the loading screens sounds very dry and boring. Sound effects on the whole are very well done, with suitably scary howls and biting and scratching noises from the mutant creatures and weird and spooky background ambient sounds. The weapon sounds I found to be a bit on the weak side and they could of used a bit more “oompf”, in particular the automatic weapons.
The Good Stuff
Metro 2033 is by no means a groundbreaking game, but it does offer a fun experience. It’s nice to see a developer try to do something a little bit different with the FPS genre and I really like the bullet trading mechanic, the gas mask and the use of lighting combined with the torch/night vision goggles/charger. The atmosphere generated by the the graphics and lighting and the sound and music is probably Metro 2033s’ strongest point as the game will often have you on the edge of your seat and immersed in the action, with the odd shock here and there that will make you jump.
The Bad Stuff
To be honest, there isn’t really a great deal wrong with Metro 2033 in terms of it’s design and playability. If I had to pick one thing, I would question the games replay value. The game is a fairly linear experience and you will find yourself replaying certain sections over and over again as you die for umpteenth time, but some levels do have different paths/approaches that you can take, so they game isn’t completely linear. You also get the obligatory difficulty settings, but I do wonder if many people are likely to play the game through a second time. There is also no multiplayer whatsoever which certainly cuts down on the games overall longevity.
The game does feel a little bit of a lost opportunity as I cannot help feeling that the game world should have been a bit more open. It would have been nice if you could go off and explore the apocalypse torn city of
Conclusion
All in all, Metro 2033 is a good first person shooter that introduces some different gameplay mechanics and provides some good solid action. The plot is nothing to write home about and you will probably not want to play through it a second time, but if you love FPS games, like a few shocks and scares and you want something that does a few new things, then I can strongly recommend this game. However, as I said in the opening paragraph, it is a bit grim, so you may find yourself wanting to play something like “Critter Crunch” after you get to the finale.
Score: 7 out 10
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