Press x repeatedly
Metro 2033 has a fantastic atmosphere. This is an oft-mentioned virtue of the title. Your character (Artyom) navigates a subterranean world of connected Metro stations that have been converted into settlements housing friendlies, hostiles, or corpses, following a nuclear apocalypse. Many of the settlements really take on a life of their own, as you can slow and listen to conversations on a multitude of subjects. Certain dwellers discuss the way they remember Moscow, or their encounter with the central enemies of the game (the dark ones). Certain more memorable moments include a toast that Artyom receives from his jolly Russian companions, or two men in a dimly lit room enjoying a jazz recording. Some of the settlements have bustling markets, and a makeshift government is even encountered at one point. This is a world inhabited by loners and scavengers, and certain aspects of the game make this point well. Your character starts with a lamp and later acquires night-vision goggles, which must be charged every once in a while with a self-charger. He also must maintain a working gas mask and filters for trips to the toxic surface world and particularly contaminated areas underground. You must use weapons constructed from makeshift parts, and the game includes pneumatic guns that must be pumped periodically to maintain potency. You encounter several characters (each very memorable) who travel alone, and each know secrets that aid them in the navigation of this skeletal world. Only certain types of men may survive in a world like this. Traditional currency has been replaced with pre-war ammunition, that may either be fired for increased damage or traded for weapons or a larger quantity of lower quality rounds.
The harsher world outside of the friendly stations is also worth mentioning. Highlights include a segment where Artyom is guided through a particularly spooky tunnel in the metro, still inhabited by shadows of those that perished there, and a scene with the fantastic "librarian" enemies, where you can't help but continuously run for your life. The game is at it's best when is seamlessly meshes scripted events with gameplay, but this is sometimes marred by what has been called the "immersion shattering" prompt: "press x repeatedly." The player receives this prompt at any point when your character is forced to do anything stressful over a small period of time. It's somewhat astounding how often this turns out to be, especially nearing the conclusion of the game.
The game has decent playability, with a few exceptions. Contrary to many reviews that I've read, the guns feel perfectly fine to me. Shooting, aiming, and reloading all have a visceral feel. However, the grenade weapon (closer to dynamite than contemporary grenades) feels extremely awkward. After lighting the fuse, your character hurls the stick a set distance in whatever direction he is currently pointing. So very little control there. One particular segment involves Artyom carrying some extra weight on his back. The game opts for the realism of having Artyom's aim obliterated by the extra sway incurred by the baggage. Perhaps you'll appreciate this, or maybe find it excruciating, as I did.
The graphics and sound are both sufficient, but unremarkable. Some of the enemies leave traps such as piles of glass on the ground as a way to hear your approach, and the sound works well here. Guns, growls, and sometimes hilarious comments by enemy soldiers are all in order.
For some, these elements would be all that counted, and this would tally into a very enjoyable experience. However, I found some story elements to be very unclear. I'll begin by discussing the enemies, the dark ones. What exactly are the "dark ones?" Your character is constantly assaulted by mutant creatures (called dark ones by NPCs) that claw him, but we are told by the developers that the dark ones attack mentally. Sometimes you are mentally affected, but it is difficult to pin this down as an "attack." Artyom is said to have an immunity to the mental attacks, but he seemed just as affected as every other character, perhaps moreso in some instances. Discerning what exactly a dark one is may affect decisions made during the moral choice points of the game. These moral choice points affect which of the game's two endings you receive, but I only learned this after doing research on how to acquire certain achievements. After my first playthrough, I did not even contemplate the possibility of a second ending. These moral choice points are not clear, and some may easily be glossed over entirely. The game in essence is asking the player to contemplate what sort of mentality creates a world like this, but it is done extremely poorly in this reviewer's humble opinion. The other thing worth mentioning with respect to the story is a scene at the very beginning of the game, where you encounter the character "Hunter." The player is privy to the statement: "you've heard of natural selection? Well guess what, we lost!" Sigh. Silly foreign developers. I just don't know how many more times I can hear a statement like this before just going berserk.
