You play as Artyom, who despite having never left the metro before, sets out to help save his home by traveling through the extensive, mutant-infested underground. Immersing you in this world was clearly a high priority for developer 4A Games: The HUD is minimal, displaying little beyond your ammo and the occasional quick-time event indicator or weapon selector. Even information like your health and the integrity of your gas mask are indicated by less direct means: The edges of the screen become red as you take damage and your gas mask slowly accumulates frost as the filter wears down. And your objectives list and compass, which always points in the direction you should be heading, are physical objects, not menu choices. That means you physically pull them out, and if you're in the dark, you'll need to flick on your lighter to see them.
Ammo is at a premium in Metro 2033, and you'll find two different types: powerful military-grade ammo that doubles as the game's currency, and dirty ammo, which doesn't pack the same punch as the military-grade rounds but is more abundant in quantity. If you're willing to scavenge for dirty ammo and loot every corpse you come across, you can avoid having to waste military-grade ammo in combat and save it to buy equipment. But later in the game, using only dirty ammo can be a hassle --
some enemies take an absurd number of bullets to put down, even when blasting them at close range with a shotgun.And arguably, saving your military-grade ammo isn't even worth it; there just isn't much you need to buy. You can find all the medkits, gas mask filters, and weapon upgrades you need by looting corpses throughout the game. And to further dissuade you from spending ammo, Metro 2033 contains only a handful of weapons and a few modifications (a silencer, stock, or scope). But even with those additions, you're still shooting the same basic weapons throughout the entire game.
The only real game changer is the silencer, which allows you to take a stealthier approach to combat. It may be useless against mutants as they take far too many rounds to put down and they can sniff you out even when you're hiding in the dark. But against humans, a silenced weapon (or throwing knives) makes things much more fun. Wearing night-vision goggles and picking guys off one-by-one without drawing the attention of others helps to hide the glaring A.I. problems and allows you to conserve ammo.
Metro 2033's A.I. is terribly stupid and there's not enough variety in the weapons; yet despite all that it's still a compelling game to play. When visiting a station and seeing its inhabitants and the way they are forced to live under such terrible circumstances, or hearing the delight in a child's voice when they see the sky for the first time, it's hard not to get sucked into this world. But not enough of the story is told in-game; a voice-over from the otherwise silent protagonist during loading screens provides the game's narrative thrust, and both of the two endings I saw left me with more questions than answers. It's an interesting experience, but it's one that could have been much more satisfying had 4A spent more time making sure the fundamentals -- especially the shooting -- were better. When you pull a gas mask over your head in Metro 2033, you adjust a dial on your watch to let you know how many minutes of breathable air you have left before you asphyxiate. Your flashlight has a charger that you have to manually pump to make sure you can see where you're going. Every bullet you find can be used as currency, but you're also operating in an incredibly hostile environment. Every round you fire limits your ability to buy what you need.
In other words, you are going to have to try very hard to survive, and the game reminds you constantly of how brutal and desperate your existence is. The game takes place in Moscow, after the bombs drop. You live in a small pocket of civilization underground, but the attacks from mutants have been growing in frequency. If that wasn't enough, there is something worse in the tunnels. Something that sings beautiful songs, and then steals your mind. This is not your average first-person shooter.
We played the game with the voice acting in Russian, and English subtitles. This is the way to play, as it makes the world seem even more alien and harsh, at least to English-speaking ears. When you take a look at your clipboard to see where you to go next, your character actually holds up a binder with a compass attached. If you're in the dark, you'll have to flick your lighter to read the text. You'll be checking your watch to see how much air you have left. There is a pneumatic weapon that you have to pump to use, and there is a meter on the back that shows air pressure. Things look, and feel, like they are designed to be used in this environment. They may be ugly and nearly broken, but they'll keep your ass alive.
Always watch your surroundings, as death comes easily, although not cheaply. There are holes in the ground you can fall into, so pay attention to where you're walking. In one scene horrid mutants sniff around your character, and may not attack. Do you kill them, or save your ammo? Trip lines are waiting in doorways, but if you see them in time and follow the cable you can disarm them by taking out the shotgun shell that would have gone into your head. Instead of dying, you just got a little richer. Glass scattered around the floor can give your position away, as will cans hanging from strings.You'll have to juggle all of these things when getting into gunfights with other survivors, or the mutants that live in the tunnels. Your health will recharge, but it seems to take longer than most games, and hiding while you get your strength back is a good idea if you take a few bullets. Make noise though, and your enemies will know where you are. If you're easily frustrated, this is not the game for you; as death comes often and easy. There is also no quick-save function. Checkpoints aren't terribly far apart, but playing the same section over and over can become maddening.
Metro 2033 creates a world. It's not a pretty one, and it's certainly not attractive, but it's a world. Where the game falls apart are the guns. It's not their design, as the mixture of real firearms and hobbled together weapons fits the setting perfectly, but in how inadequate they often feel. The game's fiction explains the bullets with lower than normal gunpowder, but even with normal bullets headshots don't mean much. It can often take as many as six shots to take a character down.
There were multiple times it seemed as if bullets had no effect, and that often happened during the animations were enemies were staggering or trying to hide. It seems as if your human opponents are able to kill you much easier than you can kill them. That's part of the charm of the game, sure, but it often feels cheap and unbalanced.
Combine this with the lack of quick saves and checkpoints that often happen after multiple large firefights, and you may find yourself ready to quit on more than one instance. When a review plays a game, we tend to go for longer sessions than people do for pleasure, which makes problems like this more pronounced. Walking away, going to sleep, and beginning again fresh may make these issues seem less important. When you're on deadline and you continue to crash across a scene like waves on rocks? Mice may be thrown.
This game has its share of flaws, but if the idea of exploring a bleak version of a future Moscow appeals to you.. and you found STALKER to be just a bit much, this is worth your time. After fighting a series of hulking beasts I barely survived, only to find one of them had smashed my gas mask. While gasping for air, I began frantically searching for a replacement mask. The search was fruitless, and I had to restart from an earlier checkpoint.
It felt great. You can't just win your firefights, you have to ensure your continued survival. There is a supernatural aspect to the game that's intensely unsettling, especially in the opening scenes. One character notes that there are new rules in this new world, and no one seems to understand what they're seeing. There is a striking sequence with a young child, and a man that seemed to have an uncanny grasp of the roads between this world and the next. The story, in other words, is much better than you may expect.
Many may be annoyed at the shortcomings, but the same number are going to fall in love. This is a startlingly original and high-quality title with impressive graphics and sometimes subtle mood. Depending on your pace, this could easily take over ten hours to beat, and a second playthrough is not out of the question.
Many may be annoyed at the shortcomings, but the same number are going to fall in love. This is a startlingly original and high-quality title with impressive graphics and sometimes subtle mood. Depending on your pace, this could easily take over ten hours to beat, and a second playthrough is not out of the question.
If nothing else. Metro 2033 makes the mine cart level exciting again. This is a game that can leave you out of breath, encased in dread, and completely entranced.
* Dual core CPU
(any Core 2 Duo or better will do)
* DirectX 9,
Shader Model 3 compliant graphics cards
(GeForce 8800, GeForce GT220 and above)
* 1GB RAM
Recommended System Requirements:
* Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU
* DirectX 10 compliant graphics card
(GeForce GTX 260 and above)
* 2GB RAM
Optimum System Requirements:
* Core i7 CPU
* NVIDIA DirectX 11 compliant graphics card
(GeForce GTX 480 and 470)
* As much RAM as possible (8GB+)
* Fast HDD or SSD
Enabling Nvidia 3D Vision:
Metro 2033 utilizes NVIDIA 3D Vision with compatible
cards and hardware. To play in 3D you will require:
* NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275 and above recommended
* A 120Hz (or above) monitor
* NVIDIA 3D Vision kit
* Microsoft Windows Vista or Windows 7
EG has more details on the technology that supports this game.
