Worth it, If You Can Get Past Some Issues
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METRO 2033 REVIEW
PC & XBOX 360
Metro 2033 is a new game by 4A Games based on the book of the same name, written by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. I’ll have to admit up front that I have not read the book but, from my time with the game alone, will now be looking to add it to my pile for a read. Doing some research I found that the novel tells a similar story of those living in the metro system of Russia, post nuclear holocaust. However, where the game and book differ is that in the book Artyom (the protagonist of both) is on a mission for new technology for air conversion, while in the game you’re out to recruit help to protect your underground home. Some might dislike when people take creative license with source material but here, I have to say it might be wise, since there would be too close parallel to another post-apocalyptic franchise; Fallout 3.
Don’t take that comparison much further than the postwar motif, because the Fallout series is an RPG tinged shooter with a satirical fifties backdrop, while Metro 2033 is a suffocating shooter that holds firm in a realistic imagining of what this type of world might be like. 4A Games is also responsible for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and anyone familiar with that series will see the evidence of the lineage immediately. The game plays as a fairly straight forward FPS, but not entirely linear. You’ll find plenty of alternate routes as you go, and often get to decide if action or stealth is the best approach.
As Artyom, you’re sent out into the unrelenting harsh world, once beautiful Moscow, in an effort to seek help for your community. But the way forward is far from easy, and you’ll find yourself trudging through metro tunnels and above ground areas plagued by radiation, mutant enemies, and even human bandits that would rather pick your bones for supplies than help your cause to save humanity. You’re not always alone. Sometimes you’re with a person who requires you as much as you need them just to get to the next location, whereas other moments you’ll be fighting alongside multiple allies.
There’s strength here in the games teammate AI. Your fellow Rangers or random partners can take a good deal of punishment, but more important is their ability to tackle enemies with acuity of precision. Rarely are you put in a position where your main worry is on a mates survival, instead you’ll find them dispatching foes with the same authority as yourself. It’s an obvious gameplay mechanic positive, but it’s also a believable trait intrinsic of any surviving fighter both able to make it this far and still willing to brave the wilderness with you.
4A Games gets a lot of mileage out of the atmosphere they create by ensuring you can’t ignore it, and it’s not just window dressing. Most of the places you enter or escape to require a gasmask for survival. It means that you’re not just tasked with finding ammunition, more on that in a moment, but also the basic utilities like air filters to do something as simple as breath. Your mask will fog up if you don’t trade your filter or worse, an enemy will attack you and crack it. Players that spend time to search areas off the beaten path are rewarded with extra filters and masks they can stock up with.
Ammunition plays a key role in Metro 2033, but not only in the obvious ways you’ll think of like riddling enemies with them. Here they also work as currency, with pre-war weapons and military grade ammo being the most precious of finds. A single round of military ammo can trade for numerous rusty bullets or slugs for your weapons. The high grade ammunition can also be used in guns providing an added damage boost that may not be worth the tradeoff of having fewer bullets to use.
Guns themselves are usually makeshift weapons crafted from various parts. A revolver may use a sniper scope, which on lower rated weapons can be foggy and hard to use. Pneumonic weapons work like pump action automatics and can be great for silent kills, along with silenced revolvers and throwing knives that are particularly ninja for stealth. When in a bind, a good homemade sticky grenade can clear out entire groups of foes, but some of them will be tossing them at you too just to keep you on your toes.
Completely counter to my praise for the teammate AI is my dissatisfaction with enemy AI. It’s the biggest glaring failure of this game and will jar you out of the immersion instantly. At times the baddies will storm your area, perhaps even run right up to you, but they’ll take cover and look the other way as you stand there, gun pointed at their head. Other times they run patterns like lost ducklings, taking cover, running to the next and back again. This also plagues the stealth elements of the game that are otherwise fairly solid, but it’s hard not to notice the blatant disregard for your positioning by these moronic enemies.
Another problematic aspect of Metro 2033 is the gunplay. Targeting is mostly accurate and responsive, and the actions are fluid enough for what you need, but there’s an issue that bogs it down. Guns sound good, but what you don’t seem to get is that meaty thud you’re accustomed to getting when pelting an enemy with fire. You’ll see a bloody animation registering that you’re hitting your target, but especially up close there’s no audible response to your firing. It can make you think you’re not actually hitting your target, or it makes your weapons feel underpowered. Worse still, is the need to sometimes hit enemies with multiple headshots before taking them down, an issue that should never arise in shooters.
The story may be confusing to some, and I’m not sure if knowing the book helps much or not. There’s the immediate A-story of leaving to seek help, but there’s also an underlying plot that has Artyom seeing visions of ‘the dark ones’ that is somewhat unclear even until the end. You’re not always sure what is right and wrong, and that may very well be the choice of the developers to leave you to your own beliefs and wishes with how you choose the outcome. Players looking for a clear cut answer may not be satisfied, but I enjoyed it the more the game went along.
If you have the choice, I recommend checking this out on the PC instead of the Xbox 360, as there have been some reports of glitches and minor issues with the 360 version. I did not notice any, especially anything that took me out of the game beyond the enemy AI. But this game was made with the PC as its primary target, a boon to PC enthusiasts that don’t get to see this very often.
The look of Metro 2033 is crafted supremely, and the 4A engine utilized is a promising one indeed. Characters in the world look good and the environments are properly tarnished and gross. The enemy animations do jump around in a skittish manner sometimes that don’t lend themselves to being the best looking but for a game that doesn’t just use an engine already in common practice, it’s great to see one so free of major issues.
The actor’s voice work is fashionably downtrodden and morose, and Artyom especially carries a weight to his words that reflects the hardships of both his past and current exploits. Though the audio is mastered well there are issues with player’s dialogue and how you hear it in the open world. Beside them you can hear them just fine, but get a little further away and you can’t. Also, when someone speaks both through his mask near you but also into radio communications in contact with others, you’ll hear both of the voices which end up drowning out the words completely. I turned subtitles on which cleared up any trouble, but I shouldn’t have to, and what makes the game great is listening to these characters that are so believable and real.
Metro 2033 is far from a perfect game, but it’s an excellent example of the kind of first person shooter you don’t get more than once a blue moon. Elements of survival horror blend into the action to create an eerie experience that can be gripping and emotionally harrowing. You can point to the post-apocalyptic nature of the setting and think Fallout 3, but there’s more in common with a game like F.E.A.R. than anything, or more obviously S.T.A.L.K.E.R., 4A Games previous title. It’s not necessarily the sum of its parts, but in this case that may be a good thing because there are some noticeable issues that in other games could impact you enough to think better than playing on. But here it’s worth it; here it excels beyond its problems to be one of the most original shooters in a long time.
GRADES:
HOW DOES IT SOUND? Actors sound great, but the annoyance of them drowning out can be a bit much, even if it is realistic. It’s all outweighed by the wonderful stories these people have to tell you. 8.5/10
HOW DOES IT LOOK? The engine performs more than admirably, with some fantastic characters and greatly dressed environments. It’s not always perfect though, showing the youth of the engine. 8/10
HOW DOES IT PLAY? You may feel suffocated by things like the gas mask, or needing a clipboard to point the way. Controls aren’t perfect, and enemy AI can be troublesome. But nothing game breaking in the slightest. 7.5/10
HOW IS IT PRESENTED? Superbly. This world is crafted with a soul not usually seen; wringing every last drop of atmosphere the story has for you. Realism is the key and in that the game succeeds. 9.5/10
HOW LONG WILL IT LAST? Huge points here – the game took me about 11 to 12 hours to finish completely, and it also has an alternate ending, though it isn’t different enough to merit passing fans a reason to go all the way through again. Still, in an age where six hours in standard, Metro 2033 manages to double up on that and keep every moment interesting and worthwhile. 10/10
FINAL SCORE; 85%
Final Score is not an average but a rating of the entire game.
