Crazy Gamers Podcast

March 24th, 2010 — crazygamers Metro 2033 THQ 4A Games Xbox 360, PC
Investment/Worth playing?—> 4/5
To make a long story short, Metro 2033 draws inspiration from a Russian novel of the same name penned by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The story at first feels derivative and kind of rehashes things you’ve probably previously experienced. It takes place in the near future, in Russia, which has fallen victim to post-apocalyptic catastrophe. The surviving members of humanity have managed to get by within the metro tunnels of the country, and some of the dwellers have actually spent their entire lives there, never having seen things such as the sky or sunlight due to the understandable risk and utter impractical nature involved in pursuing the heavily irradiated surface. Clearly this is going to be a dark game, so I’d imagine going based off of those details the developers have obviously looked up the word “tone” in the dictionary prior to making games.
That being said, there’s the obligatory “holy shit ,what the fuck!? did you just see…” kind of moments by the all too common mutated enemy monstrosities. To be fair, at least in games like Fallout 3 for example, most of the effects that lead to the creation of your enemies are explained to an extent. In Metro 2033, I’m not sure during the time of my roughly 8 hours of gameplay if I ever became privy to exactly what spawned these rat/bat/slimy green/etc. types of antagonists. Were they previously human, and this was just one messed up nuke? Or were they animals from the get go, and just modified by the effects of radiation to the point of horror and dismay? I’m not sure, and perhaps that’s intentional. Regardless, it’s this type of ambiguity that I can appreciate from narrative in general, but specifically when dealing with the occult or macabre. Don’t be mistaken, although there are hints of survival horror in this promoted first person shooter, this is not a scary/cover your eyes kind of game. However, there are fears and themes underlying the experience that do deal with those things, and while it may not always express itself directly via the game mechanics, that sense of mystery and lack of understanding brings about a compelling effect that induces tension and paranoia. Doing so within the confines of a narrow, dark subway system is representatively brilliant and it’s something that I’m almost at a loss to describe. For the sake of having never read the novel and for the sake of those who just aren’t the types of players to get into these borderline niche titles, I put the score above. I’d hate to have an impression of a game then come to find out that I actually just misunderstood it and then it would completely change my opinion. If I were to read the English version of the novel, maybe it would shed some light, but for the sake of this being a game, I have to be fair and admit the story in the long run really never explains to me what I have witnessed. But it strikes me that despite this not being a full 5 out of 5 category, my favorable comments certainly outweigh my criticism, no? I think it’s worth taking note.
Fun Factor—> 4.5/5
Once you’ve been introduced to your main protagonist, Artyom, who is seeking escape from the claustrophobic subway system to meet a friend in need, it boils down to a linear first person shooter, with elements of stealth and survival horror. I found the world to be especially immersive, and part of this is due to the fidelity of the graphics. The team at 4A is obviously more familiar with the PC environment, having worked on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series, but I felt that for what it is, it’s a damn impressive looking game. Textures and shading are done impeccably well, and add to the atmospheric and ambient qualities to the menacing and lonely characteristics of the setting. Character models are not the best we’ve seen, but they meet the standards for the genre and the platform. You basically go from point A to point B, and encounter some briefly intermittent scripted events, but other than that you’re running and gunning. You’ll eventually head to the surface to do battle, and subsequently return underground for other chapters, and pretty much alternate back and forth as the game progresses. In between, you’ll encounter the vicious and difficult to anticipate creature enemies, along with multitudes of Nazi and Communist soldiers who can’t seem to get along (hmmm) and fight not only each other but try to kill you just for passing through. All you’re trying to do is get to your aforementioned ally and alert him of some crucial information, but instead you’re met with a firefight and angry soldiers and demons around every corner.
The pace is frantic, and it sprints through the levels with a tenacity and sense of urgency that lead me to playing through the game over a span of 2-3 days. Once the world sucks you in, you’re in for the long haul. I’ve heard others claim they got sucked into the world, only to fade later on due to technical issues I will address shortly, and I would tell them they never actually got sucked into the world. The game can be brutally challenging, very frustrating, and sometimes downright illogical at times, but how many other games have we seen that do these types of things? I was compelled because of how engaging, alluring and affecting the world was, and I did it in 3 days. This almost lent a seemingly unintentional puzzle aspect to the game, and considering I enjoy all of the genres of games mentioned in this section, I ended up enjoying Metro 2033 a great deal. Word to the wise however, it’s hard as balls so I couldn’t give it the full 5 here…I had to take a break a few times because the game was flat out whooping my ass.
Replay–> 4/5
Not much to say here really. The game allows you to replay on different difficulties which kind of goes without saying, and individual chapters can be replayed if you do so desire. Interestingly, they do have a few alternate endings depending on certain decisions made earlier in the game, so now we can add a light RPG element to our repertoire of genre sensibilities in Metro 2033. I can’t say I’d really go through the entire game again just to notice these differences, but at least the game didn’t tack on a multiplayer feature like many have complained about recently. This is truly a game to shut the door, turn off the lights and just get lost in by yourself. I’m confident it’s effective in what it sets out to do, just take heed that it probably won’t stay in heavy rotation after one initial playthrough. It’s a very isolated, singular experience, but one that is well worth the admission fee.
Polish–> 4/5
First of all, the actual difficulties of the game are admittedly off balance. In a nutshell, Normal mode is Hard, and Easy mode is Normal. This game doesn’t really have an Easy mode. If you’ve never played a FPS, don’t bother. Hopefully if you’re reading this then you certainly have, but don’t be surprised if you’re getting schooled until you’ve gathered your bearings. Secondly, there are some minor hit detection issues, specifically in the latter portion of the game when amoebas are introduced. This won’t spoil, but you’ll know what I’m referring to if you play that far. Let’s just say that certain things were refusing to explode when I was aiming directly at them at such close range that accuracy of weaponry was clearly not the concern. Enemy AI overall is decent, actually pretty damn tough and relentless at times, and very organized. You will see an occasional bug like I did, for instance, when an enemy took cover on the wrong side of an object and kept his back to me. I walked right up behind him, with him still oblivious to my presence, and shot him point blank in the back of his skull without using a bit of stealth. This happened on one occasion and it’s disappointing to see, but it was the only time I saw something this conspicuously off balance. I also got screwed out of an attempted achievement via a random glitch, as I had to prevent enemies from breaking through vents in a room, with only a pistol at my disposal. I died on my first attempt, and the game reloaded the checkpoint and my gun was gone. Just nowhere to be found. That sucked. Other than this, it’s a competent shooter. I didn’t say perfect, but…
The shooting is intentionally janky, from where I sit. You’re thrown into a chaotic and combative situation with no prior military training, and most of your enemies move in such a rapidly chaotic pattern that your guns aren’t the problem, this is just a hard game with unique enemies. The game explains to you very early on that there is a limited supply of military grade ammunition that pre-dated the apocalypse. All ammunition crafted after the disaster is substantially less damaging and useful, as it was hand crafted using various powders and is also the most plentiful. The game uses the military ammo as its form of currency, and this is for a reason: it makes the player decide which is more important? Having money to buy supplies and more weapons, or using your most powerful ammo to defeat your enemies. The person who made those shells may not have even known the first thing about making ammo. This adds to the experience in my opinion, because if you’ve never used a gun, and you’re using bullets that were made with low quality materials, in a real life setting you’re not going to be killing everything just because you intend to. Your gun won’t just kill things because your mind wants it to. You have to adapt, and you have to fight to survive. Keeping the suspension of disbelief factor in mind, it presents a formidable challenge no matter how one may approach it. I played the game and immediately started seeing much better guns and shooting after the first few hours. It takes time, and I hope more people dedicate it to see what Metro 2033 has to offer.
Innovation/Creativity–> 5/5
Here’s a solid 5, finally right? You hold the triggers on the controller to flick a lighter and illuminate a clipboard containing your objectives. The game has no HUD. You wear a gas mask when in irradiated areas, and it must be re-filtered or else you’ll asphyxiate and die, to the sight of a black screen and the sound of a loud pop. You must repeatedly pull out a power surge device to ensure that your flashlight and NVG’s stay charged enough to function adequately. If your gas mask does run out of filter, or you know it’s time to change it, your breathing will get heavier and heavier as your time runs out. Certain pneumatic weapons must be charged in order to shoot effectively, although one must be careful not to charge too much or else it will do the opposite. Holding the left bumper will allow you to look at your watch to see how long until your gas mask will need to be refilled. Your character’s heart rate also coincides with the on-screen action, and you can tell when he is feeling the panic of a particularly deadly form of opposition. Is it not fair to say that I’ve listed more than enough interesting components to the game to pique your interest? It’s all brilliant, immersive, and extremely well done. Everyone should give this game a fair chance, and at least give it a rental.
Overall–> 4/5
BEATZ