Thread: Metro 2033: better than they let on!

I have NOTHING to do at work and, as a part of the universe that allowed such a situation to come about, it is your punishment to put up with my whiling away my time like this.

There?s a breed of game that I adore and which few review sites seem to ?get?. Up until recently the best example on 360 was The Darkness, a game that no-one played. This is a game of story and atmosphere, character and consequence. Entire ?levels? (for want of a better word) are taken up with story, with exploration, with colouring the world. Take the opportunity in The Darkness to sit with your girlfriend ? in game ? and watch the entirety of To Kill A Mockingbird. Just because you can.

There?s a tendency for the mechanics to be a little dodgy, for the production values to be uneven. They tend to take a back seat to headline cookie-cutouts like Halo 17: This Time It?s a Rhombus! or the ever popular Resident Evil 94: Political Sanctions Against Umbrella Corp. But to my mind they stand out as something different and?what?s a good word?? Noble, perhaps. They?re trying to be a genuine story with real emotional attachment and actual moments of suspense and revelation.

I mention this because I?ve found another one. I?m about half-way through Metro 2033 and I am impressed. There?s a word I tend to use to refer to a certain type of fantasy world; chewy. It?s not just gritty, it?s got a bit more substance than that. Firefly?s galaxy is a chewy world, the original Star Wars were chewy. Fallout, in its finer moments, aspires to chewy.

The world presented in Metro is about as chewy as I?ve found. The whole design is presented to flood your senses with the post-apocalypse, subterranean nightmare of the game world. Everything, from the flickering glow of a dozen gas-lamps to the numbing drone of dozens of conversations flowing all around you, hammers home the desperation, determination and humanity of your fellow survivors and once you get away from the stations, into the shrouded tunnels of the eponymous Moscow metro system, the oppressive claustrophobia and presence of the unknown are palpable. That all sounds bad, but trust me, if you just go with it, the experience is worth it.

Special mention is deserved of two levels early on in the game. Between them they had, I think, one minor fire-fight; the rest of the time was spent being told stories and shown wonders. Those two chapters are the most stand-out gaming experiences I can recall for a long time. ?Ghosts? and ?Anomaly? ? you?ll know them when you find them.

Not that there?s no death to be dealt. The world is full of monsters, both radioactively-mutated?things and just ideologically troubling humans. There?s a hefty dose of stealth and strategy to surviving a battle; taking pot-shots, slipping off to regroup as the enemy does the same, hoping that more than your first shot lands, because you can?t see past all the gun-smoke. I?ve never felt more connected to a gun-fight than when crawling through the shadows, alone and vulnerable, in the depths of the Metro.

So far I have nothing bad to say about the game. If you are one of the few who played and liked The Darkness then I urge you to consider Metro 2033 for different, but equally pleasing, slice of another life.

So. I?ll get my coat.

i have heard good things about that game, but your right, it was completely overlooked and didnt sell well at all.

now im not sure if im making this up and i cant be arsed to check but i think i heard there was a sequel in development

Metro is a real gem and one i would def recommend it especially on the PC. Its a slow subtle affair and not at all like COD or any of its 10000000000000000000 clones. Good post worthy of the front page

I have heard that Metro 2033 is a good game, i bought it to attention of most people on here before it got release but not many people was interested in it, because not many people like linear games without multiplayer but i thought it was good even tho i havent played it, but there are a few bugs in it, like poor combat etc, but it shouldnt have stop being popular, but i think it is really the taste of the public, that made the game not popular

great read, i like the look of Metro 2033 but i can't seem to get round to playing it. I think i should make the effort

I've played the first few levels of this and it is an incredibly atmospheric game. There is an accompanying novel called, surprisingly, 'Metro 2033', which is well worth a read and fleshes out the Metro universe very well. As Gary mentions, there is a sequel coming out: 'Metro: Last Light' which I think is due a release early next year. For anyone who's played the STALKER games on the PC and enjoyed them then 'Metro 2033' would be right up your street. However, there are enough differences between Metro and STALKER to make the former more than a clone of the latter and a really engaging game in its own right

the book came well before the game and is has received many good reviews, i haven't it read myself but it is meant to be very bleak, cormac mccarthy the road style bleak. i may even pick this up at the weekend based purely on the 1st post. a great write up.

This game is fantastic, I'm surprised a few of you have not played it. I'm greatly looking forward to the sequel "last light" when it comes out in 2012. It's a unique survival horror game and for those lucky enough to have played it on PC the graphics are sublime.