Metro 2033

Metro 2033, developed by 4A Games and based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novel of the same name, is an atmospheric first-person shooter that takes players deep into the bowels of a post-apocalyptic Moscow. Released in 2010, this game remains a testament to immersive storytelling and detailed world-building.

The narrative of Metro 2033 is its strongest suit. Set in the year 2033, humanity's remnants struggle for survival in the Moscow Metro after a nuclear war has rendered the surface uninhabitable. Players assume the role of Artyom, a young man tasked with delivering a vital message to the Polis station. The plot is rich with themes of survival, humanity, and the unknown, unfolding through intense and often harrowing encounters with mutants and other survivors.

The game's atmosphere is unparalleled. The dark, claustrophobic tunnels of the Metro are brought to life with meticulous detail. Flickering lights, eerie sounds, and the ever-present danger lurking in the shadows contribute to a sense of dread and urgency. The surface, while rarely visited, offers stark contrasts with its frozen, radioactive wasteland, filled with ruins and hostile creatures.

Metro 2033 offers a blend of survival horror and shooter mechanics. Ammunition is scarce and often doubles as currency, forcing players to make strategic decisions about resource management. The weapons, while not abundant, feel gritty and realistic, enhancing the immersion. The game also encourages a stealthy approach, allowing players to avoid unnecessary confrontations and conserve precious resources.

However, the combat can sometimes feel clunky, and the AI isn't always consistent. These minor issues, though, are overshadowed by the game's strengths.

For its time, Metro 2033 boasted impressive graphics. The lighting effects, in particular, stand out, adding to the game's oppressive atmosphere. The character models and textures, while not groundbreaking by today's standards, still hold up well.

The sound design is another highlight. The ambient noises of the Metro, combined with a haunting musical score, create an immersive audio experience that complements the visual elements perfectly. Voice acting, primarily in Russian, adds authenticity to the setting, though the English dubbing is competent for those who prefer it.

Metro 2033 is more than just a game; it's an experience. Its compelling story, atmospheric world, and immersive gameplay make it a standout title in the post-apocalyptic genre. Despite some minor gameplay issues, it offers a deep and engaging journey through a meticulously crafted world. For fans of survival horror and rich narratives, Metro 2033 is a must-play.

Metro 2033 remains a landmark in narrative-driven shooters, setting a high bar for its sequels and other games in the genre.

Please if you read Morkulvs review there are some considerations to consider as I feel he went into the game thinking it was something it wasn't and never was.

Firstly anyone who comes into a game that is mostly about post nuclear survivors scratching a living in the old tunnels of the Moscow underground Metro and expects an open world game clearly is missing a large point. While the game isn't a horror game it can rack the tension up by the atmosphere which is done well and it does look great, even though it is now 3 years old it still looks better than a lot of games that are larger in size, sometimes double the size

Some more points by Morkulv I'd like to counter are firstly the point he made about it not being clear where to go. You have a journal with a compass you can pull out at anytime that should, unless you really are someone who needs your hand holding throughout games, point you in the right direction. Yes there is invisible walls and the like but it's purely to keep the narration flowing. You CAN explore as the in-game money is pre war ammo and is littered about the game world for you to find and while it's no Just Cause 2 or GTA it's not marketed as an open world and as I said earlier, how open are underground tunnels

The use of QTE's actually make sense in the last level as they convey the struggle to get to where you are going and I can't think of anything that would have done such a good job.

Apart from a couple, one where I got a stuck on top of some crate and another where I got too far ahead of an NPC who then wouldn't move I doubt it has the number of glitches the other guy claimed.

All in all it's a solid shooter with good atmosphere, a decent story,rare for an FPS,and has really good gun play. Its not a mindless, follow NPC, Shoot here, shoot there, press E to win shooter like a CoD or the vastly overrated BF3, It's a shooter than has a modicum of intelligence. I gave it 8 but it is an 8.5 for me.

#Metro2033 Rating: 8.5/10 Review : Metro 2033 is truly great game. Good plot ,excellent visuals, exciting gameplay and graphics. Survival mode really does make you think hard about your weapon setups which adds a whole new level of tension. Out of ammo = run and hope u can get to the next objective which happened to me frequently LOL. It was a great experience and i cant wait until i can play the sequal and then exodus. #4AGames

A game set in post apocalyptic Russia has an excellent single player campaign but features no multiplayer or co-operative. The game also also is only about six hours in length and is linear. The game being linear isn't a bad thing but I'm just letting other people know that this isn't a game for everyone and if you are expecting to hundreds of hours out of it you are gonna be very Disappointed! Here's my Pros and Cons for the game:

Pros:

Excellent atmosphere!

The attention detail is stagerring - Seeing large groups of refugees in the tunnels talking, eating etc is just brilliantly done

Fantastic soundtrack and Good voice acting

Interesting story (based on the novel by Dmitry Glukhovsky) Though you do have to pay attention as you can easily miss some important plot developments

Great graphics though you will need a high end system to play this game!

Excellent set pieces such as riding on a pump train or defending a position with other soldiers against the monsters

The idea of using bullets as currency (to other other/upgraded guns) is an excellent idea and searching areas/scavenging for ammo is addictive!

Two endings which are both satisfying - You achieve the good ending by gaining moral points (such as giving a starving bum a bullet so he can buy food)

It's not a horror game but it does have a couple of scary/creepy moments which are brilliantly done!

Very quick loading time! like two seconds!

Cons:

The monsters are quite annoying at times since they alway attack you in the same way (runstraight toward you and bite you)and them attacking you in numbers can be frustating

The guns are little underpowered (for example it shouldn't take three shotgun shells to a nazi!) which make the combat a little harder considering you have to save your bullets for trading

The moral system is never explained within the game! So if you didn't work it out and didn't gain enough moral points you will get the bad ending!

Overall despite a few minor flaws I really enjoyed this game and I look forward to the dlc ranger pack and the sequel Metro 2034 :)

When I read a review of somebody who just played a game like Metro 2033 and can STILL give the game 8/10 because of atmosphere and graphics alone, he or she has to be really messed up in the head. Its like the first Just Cause; people seem to like to defend it because it gives them pretty graphics and an excuse to show off that new video-card they just bought.

When I play a game, I want a game that presents a good sense of immersion, and / or gameplay that will keep me interested in playing. To start off, Metro 2033 is just like any other nuts and bolts shooter and it's extremely linear. Even classic Doom wasn't as linear as this. The level of linearity of this game can be described as walking down a narrow corridor in one straight path, while sometimes the path gets pillaged by monsters that take way too many bullets to kill. This experience is also said to be scary at some point, but the only scary thing I noticed was the horrible voice-acting. Seriously, Americans doing Russian accents should be banned from videogames already.

So the game is already nothing special, as I established, but the developers still managed to screw things over in the technical department. Glitches are a natural occurrence in Metro 2033, and the first time the game tells you to replace your oxygen filter for your gasmask, you just know that this feature will come around and bite you in the ass later in the game. One of the ways it will do this, is by autosaving the game after you used up your last filter. So when you load your checkpoint, you will have exactly three seconds to run around and poke at the dirt before collapsing to the ground and try again.

"Morkulv, you noob!" I hear you say while you pound your head angrily on your keyboard. "There's nothing wrong with a good challenge!", to which I would reply: indeed there isn't. But there's a key difference between difficulty, and taking a player out of the experience. The gasmask feature wouldn't aggravate me so much if it wasn't such a hassle. Now, instead of immersing me, the player, it just draws me away from the game, which can never be a good thing for a video game. Which brings me to another key aspect of Metro 2033 that was royally screwed over.

Leveldesign. Let us keep in mind here, we are dealing with a linear shooter, so the game should be clear as to where the player should go. Especially in the outside areas of the game, the level is just a mess of snow, garbage, and nukage and it's never clear where the developer wants you to go. This shouldn't be this hard to figure out. Either make a straight path, or give me the option to roam around, but don't make it a guessing game. To make matters worse, some of the levels (like the mentioned outside areas) contain tripwires that insta kill you and are conveniently placed under water where you can't see them.

And now for the final nail in the Metro 2033 coffin: Quick Time Events! Yes, this game has QTE's. I don't think I need to go into detail why a game shouldn't have QTE's.

While I love singleplayer games, this doesn't mean that garbage like Metro 2033 gets away with it. On top of the very mediocre gameplay, the game contains many technical flaws that only make it harder for you to persevere playing. If you're really a hardcore fan of this 'post-apocalyptic FPS' type of games, go play STALKER again and leave this in the budget bin where it belongs.