'Metro 2033' Review - In Russia, Gas Mask Wears You

Review by Kyle Anderson

Don't be fooled by the somewhat generic-looking cover art for "Metro 2033." This is no cheap thrills shooter. In fact, it's impressively deep, refreshingly dark and seriously complicated. Also, it's hard. Really, really hard. Like "Ninja Gaiden" hard.

The Basics

In the not-too-distant-future, a vague apocalyptic event has turned the Earth into a wasteland but has especially destroyed Moscow (perhaps the events in "Dr. Strangelove" finally came to be). What was left of humanity was driven underground to live in subway tunnels. You play a character named Artyom, who isn't much of an ass-kicker but makes up for it with cunning and a reasonable control of a firearm. Can he successfully blend together FPS and RPG elements to fight off the horrible mutants living on the surface to save the last humans on Earth? Yeah, probably.

The Highs

The Story is the Thing
"Metro 2033" has got narrative in spades, and though some people may find its relatively linear nature a little narrow in a world where the "BioShock" games exist, the story is enough to keep interest up. Artyom goes into his mission relatively blind, and the mysteries surrounding the initial cataclysm (as well as what went on in the two decades that have passed since) keep unfolding in a natural, unique way. The best part is that it never throws too much at you at once, though as the game moves on, the gaps between revelations come at greater intervals (sort of like watching "Lost").

Rattle and Hum
I'm a bit spoiled because I played this thing with a surround sound system (which has most recently been wasted on "Mega Man 10"), but the sound design of "Metro 2033" is pretty incredible. Stealth is a big part of the game, and the landscape is littered with garbage, glass and bits of body parts. Stepping on anything can expose your position and completely mess up your program. The creepy score floats in and out in between growls from distant mutants and the occasional burst of silence (which is absolutely terrifying). You can tell the developers spent a lot of time on freaking players out with the sound of rats skittering across the speakers, and it totally pays off.

The First Rule: Duck!
The stealth elements of "Metro 2033" are pretty intense, and players more skilled then myself will be able to most avoid conflict with baddies (which is a good thing for reasons we'll get to in "The Lows"). But unlike the "Splinter Cell" or "Metal Gear Solid" series', "Metro 2033" is far more forgiving if you happen to accidentally walk into an old stack of tires (which I seemed to do constantly). Evading and playing defense is still difficult, but you can still totally survive if your stealth skills fail you.

The Lows

Is the Safety On?
There's nothing particularly complicated about the mechanics of the gameplay of "Metro 2033," but let's just say they obviously focused on story first. For a game that is theoretically meant to primarily be a first-person shooter, the control elements (especially during battle) don't seem particularly refined. The things that really need to work well do (everything related to stealth movement), but the battle stuff can be pretty rough.

Half of a Good Thing
It's difficult to gripe about the level design, because clearly a lot of love and thought went into the details of the environments (well, some of the environments). But the underground stages, while intriguing, are sometimes punishingly dark, which wouldn't be a problem if the flashlight didn't seem so wonky. Once you emerge from the underground tunnels, the landscape is sort of generically barren. While it may be accurate to what Moscow would actually look like if a nuclear blast leveled everything, it falls short of other similar titles like "Fallout."

The Verdict

Despite those minor protests, "Metro 2033" is an incredibly difficult but rewarding, moody game. There aren't any large-scale action set pieces to really hang its hat on; just consistent storytelling and a pretty cool look. Also, did I mention it's really, really hard? Mutants kept eating my face off, but I was sort of fine with it.

Tags 4a games, metro 2033, thq