Metro 2033 (PC DVD)

The game gets off to really good start setting a cryptic, interesting and emotionally compelling ambience in a believable post apocalyptic world. The characters actually feel tangible in this game, whether they're belligerently stupid and narrowminded or vulnerable and honest, it's a game that creates an impression of consequences to your actions. Usually that be a bad thing, I can't stand games that present obvious moral choices of do this or get punished/rewarded, that rather than have you thinking about what you'd actually do were this a real scenario, have you thinking about what the game developers want you to do so you don't get shafted later. Suffice to say this game is a lot more subtle and reflective than that. Has some interesting themes overall of the ambiguity of morality and how obvious choices don't always have obvious outcomes. I won't spoil anything but it goes beyond the whole good or evil nonsense. At times the supernatural elements do get a little weak, but it's not too much to moan about.

I was warned about the games linearity elsewhere, and wasn't concerned. Games like Max Payne are incredibly linear but produce back to back perfection in pacing and delivery. However, here, I felt that the monster and onrail sections, especially towards the end were boring. There are sections where you for all practical purposes can't kill enemy monsters that are a little boring too. That's probably about half the game described right there, as for the other half? Pure, magic! Let me set the scene. Enemy soldiers up ahead, shush, flashlight off. You holster your gun and pull out a throwing knife, lurking in the shadows concealed and waiting. A guard walks past you his back now facing you. You throw the knife, it gets him in the neck and he goes down and you wonder if anyone heard or seen it before you systematically going about finding and singling out the next guard to take down, waiting for him to walk away from his buddies till he won't be seen. There's a lot of considerations when doing this, you're constantly making sure you're not stepping on broken glass, rattling cans or tripping wires rigged to explosives. At one point in the game I remember running to a lantern to blow it out, then lurking in the shadows as a guard walked towards me stopping short of just a few meters as I remaied lurking in the shadows. By this point I had a silenced gun, but the game difficulty was hard and he was wearing a full face helmet thus preventing a clean headshot or a means to dispose of him in a single shot without him alerting everyone else. Upon swaying his head left I noticed his neck became exposed and upon swaying his neck in the other direction to have a further look I popped him with a single round resulting in him collapsing to the floor. Of course if stealth isn't your thing then you can turn it into an armed battle throughout the entire game, but given the scavenging mechanics of game is always a good idea to spare ammo.

Nothing much else to say about this game, it's either good or bad in about equal measure, of course I've heard people say they enjoyed the sections with monsters more so it may be a case of all good and no bad if that's your thing.

I first purchased this game as a 2nd hand copy from ebay, I would like to warn people that all 2nd hand copies have been linked by the previous owner to their steam account which can be done only once so you wont be able to play them.

To the game, the game itself is such an imersive and frightening experience that had me quaking in my boot, from the low powered torch light bouncing off the walls of the Metro tunnels highlighting every shadow and making the experience truly scary.
The Nature of the game is highlighted in the fact that the ammo that you use too dispatch enemies is also used as currency, so you can have a really nice shiny gun but no ammo to fire it (dont worry you always have your knife)

The main dissapointment for me was the truly high specs of the game, long gone are the days when I would go out and buy a new computer just to play Halflife 2. I spend over 2 hours tweaking the game settings and display settings just so I could play but when I did it was truly worth the wait.

In short great game excellent replay vaule due to different endings, as well as game play style's (sneaky coward or gun hoe), you need a powerful computer to get the best out of the game but it is more than enjoyable with the lowest graphics settings.

cheers

Frankthetank

Initially I had posted a less than favourable review on Metro 2033 - because of various frustrations I had while playing the game (lack of ammo, feeble weapons etc)

Any yet - even after posting that review - I was still drawn back to playing the game.

Why? Because of the compelling atmosphere and - once I got the hang of it - the total immersion.

After watching a few walkthrough videos of Metro2033, I began to appreciate what a great game this is - and also, what a quality game it is.

Some may say that it's a very linear game - and in a way it is. But it's based around adventuring in an underground Metro system where all tunnels have to lead somewhere - so that's totally logical.

It is also very story driven, so you don't find yourself getting sent on pointless side-quests; there are no go-here-and-get-that-then-bring-it-back-to-me-to-get-useless-reward scenarios here. You're continually scavenging for weapons and ammo - and when you arrive at secure Metro Stations, you're able to trade ammo and buy upgraded weapons etc.

In between stations - it's a fight for survival. It's a stark world portrayed in Metro 2033 - and living in it isn't easy. But that's how it should be in a game portraying post-nuclear Moscow - and the game's graphics, sounds and AI portray this beautifully.