Imagine the darkest and the most polluted world suffering from eternal winter, hunger, awful monsters and wars between groups of people. Imagine Moscow where 60000 survivors have to exist in gloomy tunnels and stations of metro after devastating nuclear war. Imagine overpowered mutants who can kill humans just with their will. Imagine finally a young man who must stop a new threat and save his little cruel world. Imagine Metro 2033.
This review is focused on different aspects of Russian video game Metro 2033 inspired by a novel of the same name. This book was created by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The game is taken in the subway of Russian capital as well as in abandoned city above the metro. The world around is literally post-apocalyptic. Artyom, the main protagonist, has to travel through entire metro to find a way to protect him and all stations from mutants called Dark Ones.
Let’s discover main aspects of the game in our review!
What’s the game about?
Well, it’s about the metro of Moscow, hostile brigands, bloody monsters, lack of ammunition and surviving.
Metro 2033 is an FPS and survival horror where all cool things from both genres are combined. The game takes action 20 years after the nuclear war that has destroyed the entire world. You will play as Artyom, another regular citizen of VDNKh station. You have to explore different parts of tunnels and stations as well as ruined Moscow. Your main goal is to save VDNKh or even entire system of metro from aggressive monsters.
Once again, the game is about:
- Metro of Moscow.
There is a completely new system based on the well-known metro. Some stations are ruined or flooded, others are peaceful and prosperous. Ganza on the belt-line, Polis in the center, Red line with communists, Fourth Reich with Nazis, scientists near the MSU and other groups can be encountered during the game. Despite linear gameplay, there are a lot of events and meetings which make the game dynamic and captivating.
- Hostile brigands.
At first, Metro 2033 is an FPS. Means there are a lot of different weapons, supplies, and usable items. In the subway main enemies are humans. They control almost every station and only at terminal stations or near ruined gates have to resist mutants from the surface. Humans are more obvious and regular foes. They can die from several shots, they can bring valuable loot and they can also be distracted. But be ready to face them often.
- Bloody monsters.
The next main group of enemies is mutants. They live mainly on the surface but can infiltrate in the metro through destroyed or defective gates and holes. Monsters are tougher than humans, have resistances to certain weapons and can detect you even in the dark. Many mutants will chase you and NPCs in the city. Even a single hit of some mutants can kill human so be aware and use stealth strategy.
- Lack of ammunition.
From this point, Metro 2033 reveals its second genre called survival horror. It’s one of the most classical examples of horror actions where you are always running out of bullets or valuable items. This game will dramatically fast reduce health points, a resource of air filters, number of bullets etc. Note that the highest quality cartridges are also in-game currency so you can literally shoot money!
- Surviving.
Here’s once more about survival features. Metro 2033 is designed as a high-realistic game. There are not special HUD elements, health bar, hints or any help for players. Damage is indicated as blood splashes on the screen, radiation can be detected by fog on the mask, air filters are linked with a timer on a wristwatch. Add here a high tension at almost every moment of the game and gloomy cruel decorations around. And it’s really Metro 2033.
What are other important things?
Some essential moments and aspects of game mechanics are listed above. Gameplay and plot features work fine together immersing players in the grim world after the nuclear war where every single man or monster can end the story. But other things also affect gameplay and impression from the game:
- Graphics. At the time of release in 2010 Metro 2033 had cool graphics. Environment and backgrounds were detailed and good-looking. Also, characters and some animations were not as wonderful as they could be. At the time of 2017 graphics are a bit old-fashioned, but still solid and pleasant.
- Sound. There are a lot of sounds and voices, but not so much music. Sound designers did their work well so music in all scenes enhances overall impression. English localization is way cooler as it features Russian accent for better effect of dialogues. At all, sounds could be a bit deeper, but don’t forget it’s the game released in 2010.
- Game rating. Metro 2033 has M rating means it is suitable for adults only. Here is a lot of blood and violence as the protagonist with allies makes their way through the cruel world. Random phrases feature bad language. Some scenes hint at sexual themes, though there are not onscreen sexual images. Drugs and alcohol are shown often as well.
It’s obvious that the game about the post-apocalyptic planet is dark and violence. But Metro 2033 is paradoxically stylish. The game scares players almost in every fight and peaceful episodes can also easily turn into frightening bloody battles. Developers combined the best features of FPS, survivals, and horrors to create an outstanding atmospheric game.
What we have in conclusion?
As a result of this review we want to rate different sides and Metro 2033 at all:
- Story – 9/10. Wonderful atmosphere, detailed world, and unusual plot.
- Gameplay – 7/10. Interesting mechanics and foes with bad stealth options.
- Graphics – 6/10. Good for the time of release, but moderate nowadays.
- Sound – 8/10. Atmospheric and well-designed for a horror-style game.
Total rating of the game is 7,5/10 and it’s very good result for the project released in 2010! Note that we didn’t count several glitches from the first version of the game as developers made a lot of patches to fix these problems. If you like post-apocalyptic style or books from Metro 2033 universe be sure to check this game.