GAMETIME: Metro 2033

Published 8:42 am Monday, April 5, 2010

By Cody Webb

It’s good to see that in this new multiplayer-focused gaming world of ours, that a good story and single-player component haven’t been pushed aside. Metro 2033 has done a good job of bringing story back to the spotlight by foregoing multiplayer to focus on crafting an engaging narrative. Unfortunately for PS3 gamers, Metro is only available for the Xbox 360 and Windows PC.    Most gamers most likely won’t know anything about Metro 2033, but that’s OK, let me give you a little backstory: it’s based on the tale of a Russian book under the same title. The narrative follows a man named Artyom, who was born in Moscow before a nuclear disaster that resulted in the surface becoming uninhabitable. Humanity has been forced to live in the underground Metro tunnels and stations, living a dark and depressing life of scavenging and fighting mutants to survive.

Metro’s best and most obvious achievement would be the atmosphere of despair and dread that the game nails perfectly. The many underground areas are dark and moody, filled with sounds of unknown origins and the threat of monsters in every shadow. It’s not all horror, however, whenever you happen upon one of the many human settlements in the Metro stations, you can get a sense of hope or oppression. The stations are cramped with people chatting away with each other, giving the illusion that you are trying to edge your way through a crowd of living people.    Further adding to the game’s atmosphere would be the developer’s smart choice to leave the game mostly HUD-less. This allows a nice, uncluttered view of the destroyed tunnels and mutated creatures that you’ll find yourself encountering. Amount of damage and direction of attacks are shown as blood splatters and bloodied vision; though there is a more traditional ammo counter that appears when you use a weapon.   

Being without a HUD gets challenging when you surface out of the underground and into the ruins of Moscow. Remember what I said about the surface being uninhabited? Well, the 20 years between the disaster and when Artyom ventures out into it haven’t improved the conditions any. Anyone who goes out into the ruins has to wear a gas mask, and since there isn’t a HUD: players are required to check a wristwatch to keep track of how much time they have left in their filter. Unless you want to choke on the irradiated air and keel over dead, that is. Metro does a great job of making you feel like a scavenger: whenever you kill a human enemy, you can (and should) loot any ammo visible on their bodies, plus whatever is in their gun. Your mask can get damaged and rendered useless, at which point you’ll have to find yourself a new one. The weapons you will find and use are, mostly, modern weapons with homemade attachments or improvements.   

The gunplay should make any shooter fan happy: the combat is tight and shots are as accurate as you are. Aiming and firing in bursts makes a difference, plus some guns can be outfitted with a scope to help make long-range shots easier. It’s unfortunate that the knife isn’t a one-hit kill, since it’s one of the few melee weapons you get (the other is a bayonet you can get on a couple of weapons).    

If you’d prefer to not blast your way through enemies, Metro does give you the option to be stealthy. On your watch is three little lights, each indicating how visible you are. You can effectively hide from enemies and put them out one by one with silenced weapons or throwing knives. However, due to some quirks in the A.I., the enemies will sometimes find you without you having done anything.

So in the end, what is Metro 2033? It’s a magnificent story told through excellent (usually) first-person cut scenes and a moody atmosphere, but it does have a couple of nagging little issues. They aren’t gamebreakers, however, and shouldn’t prevent anyone from checking out this game. I’ll give Metro 2033 an A; the book has a sequel, so does that mean we can look forward to one as well? I hope so!

Cody Webb lives in Live Oak.