Metro 2033 Redux

[h1] Introduction [/h1] Metro 2033 is 4A Games' debut survival-horror FPS game, based on the Metro books written by Dmitry Glukhovsky and my first time playing it in over 8 years and boy, what an interesting game this is! [h1] Positives [/h1] [list] [*][b]Immersion.[/b] It's clear that 4A Games wanted to prioritise this for 2033 because it has this written all over the game! Whether it's the train stations that bolster with life, conversations and interactions, the cool morality system that impacts the game's ending or the minimalistic HUD, the game has you covered in order to put yourself into the post-apocalyptic world of Russia and the Metro. I also love how you can just approach characters and they'll talk to you without needing to press a key to interact. Really incredible stuff [*][b]Atmosphere.[/b] One thing that I love about the Metro series in particular has always been the dark, gloomy, brutal world of the Metro and it's an atmosphere like no other horror game I've played, from mutants that roam the land to the scary and feared "Dark Ones" that the common folk refer to them as. You learn a lot more about this through stories, moments and scenes that you experience in the game's levels, as well as Artyom, the game's protagonist, notes or journal entries that you find, where he documents his experiences in real time, as well as how he's feeling. Some of the notes are bleak, others have deep messages inserted into them that made me question life and the decisions we make in the real world [*]The story is fine, but nothing crazy to write home about. You play as Artyom, a survivor living in the Metro, whose station gets attacked by the Dark Ones. An elite ranger or spartan, protectors of the Metro, gets sent to his station and gives Artyom a task of heading to the Polis Station and delivering an important message to Colonel Miller. He'll go on a perilous and dangerous journey, making new friends, have some encounters and deal with obstacles that'll challenge his sanity, but most importantly, himself [*]The enemy variety is solid, with plenty of guys to fight, both big and small (pause). Fodder, medium and heavy enemies are all here, each requiring a different strategy to deal with (except maybe the Librarians, you just point and click and hope for the best :p) [*]Gameplay is good, with an emphasis on either survival-horror or action, depending on the mode you play. Survival gives you more resources, Spartan gives you less, probably the quickest way to put it. Metro 2033 is a mix of stealth and combat, with stealth being the priority, especially with how quick you can die in this game. There's a darkness mechanic that keeps you undetected as long as you're in the shadows, and you can put lights out in order to keep yourself this way. On top of throwing knives and silencers of course. Combat is fine, with plenty of weapons and equipment to use [*]Weapons can be replaced, sold or tuned for Military-Grade rounds, the game's currency. You can find these puppies lying around places, can be used to purchase ammunition and also as its own type, imbuing any assault rifle guns with fire. Pretty neat system that's balanced and gives you a reason to explore. Attachments add little bonuses and help ease the combat a bit [*]Exploration in this game is really fun, despite being a "linear" game of sorts. There's plenty of areas where you can go off the path and find items and goods laying around, which is key to surviving, especially when you go up to the surface [*]One thing that I appreciate from Metro 2033 is the Gas Mask, something taken from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, since this was developed by founders of GSG. It lets you breathe properly in both the surface and radiated places, a thing that hadn't been available on a console game prior AFAIK, so to me, it's an "ahead of its time" mechanic that adds to both the detail and immersion of 2033. It may seem small, but when you consider air filters that you need to find and switch, it makes all the difference to giving you resource management on top of your ammunition and heals/medkits [*]Really love the makeshift weapon design in this game! Unique and unlike anything I've seen before, fitting for the game's setting, especially with some of the cool weapons like the Bigun or the Hellbreath [*]I probably shat myself at least a few times. [*]Level Design is fairly linear as mentioned, with a few set pieces and plenty of tunnels to go through. I can't help but appreciate the many paths you can take for some of the levels in regards to Stealth. It reminded me a lot of the modern Deus Ex games, which would come after this title [*]Morality system is kind of neat, letting you make decisions that are shown to you by the screen flashing black and white for a brief moment. Plays into getting one of the game's two endings, all of these you'll have to find on your own [/list] [h1] Negatives [/h1] [list] [*]This game is [b]vague.[/b] Vague to the point where they give you basic tutorial stuff, and off you go with trying to figure everything out. The game does a terrible job at telling you things, which you can learn by going into the game's options and going back and forth to give you different tips. They don't show you these tips while you're loading into a level, which is silly. Some things the game doesn't tell you which are important include: Darkness mechanic, the morality system and the universal charger, used to charge your flashlight. [*]The AI is kind is funky at best. Sometimes they suck and can't hit a shot, other times they'll laser you out of existence and you won't know what happened [*]The stealth is kind of doo doo, mostly because of how quick you get detected. Feels like I don't get a chance to move a lot of the times and enemies get alerted immediately after seeing one of their own get popped. A "grace" period of sorts would've been nice [/list] [h1] Conclusion [/h1] Metro 2033 is an excellent debut game and a game that still gets talked about today for its dark and claustrophobic atmosphere. Fun gameplay, decent amount of scares, a heavy emphasis on atmosphere + tension and letting you take all the scenery in without needing to have UI shoved in your face makes this game an easy recommendation for survival-horror fans, recommended for those who want a cool, fun and interesting FPS where every bullet is a choice. For a game made in 2010 (technically), this was [b] ahead of its time.[/b]

This game sucks. I couldn't even fu*k Miller. Nah, but for real, this was a fantastic masterpiece. I absolutely loved the story. It was entertaining, incredible, and exceptionally well written. The monsters were extremely well designed, both in terms of their sounds and animations. The weapons were incredibly satisfying to use and fire, especially because of the sound design and atmosphere, which this game absolutely nails. The main character is well written, including the NPCs. The environments are fantastic and really immersive. If this game had come out in 2026, I probably would have given it a 5/10, but for a game released in 2014, it's peak gaming. I can't wait to play the other games in this series.

One of the most difficult games, worth it. Based on a book too. Nice graphics and really realistic regarding ammunitions quantity