Pros and Cons: Metro 2033
Metro 2033 is yet another game in the increasing post apocalyptic genre of video games, which is perfectly alright with me. The game is based on a novel of the same name by Russian science-fiction writer Dmitry Glukhosky where the aftermath of nuclear war has left near-future Moscow a frozen tundra and the last remaining humans have set up colonies among the vast Moscow Metro system.
The player takes control as Artyom, a semi-mute protagonist who never talks except for narrations from his journal during load screens (no one understands him like his journal). As Artyom, you must soon trek across the Metro and sometimes outside to deliver a message of a fallen friend. Along the way, you'll encounter mutated beasts, bandits, amebas (seriously?) and wait for it... wait for it... Communists and Nazis! That's right kiddos, the Reds and the Reich have returned to rid the Russian rails of ravenous rivals.
To understand what I liked and didn't like so much, here's some handy lists of the pros and cons of Metro 2033:
Pros:
- Incredibly atmospheric; I love all the smoke in the environments, the dilapidated structures, etc.
- The lighting is fantastic
- Interesting and immersive storytelling weaves its way into the game with very little cutscenes.
- Some pretty cool weapon designs
- Rewards the player for exploring, and trust me, I love games that let you explore.
- Flashlight charger
- Some pretty chilling parts
- Killing a dude with a throwing knife
Cons:
- Numerous glitches make some sections of the game incredibly frustrating and more difficult than they should be, especially when you're trying to take the stealthy approach. There were numerous times when I'd chuck a throwing knife directly into an enemies' neck, and instead of killing him, the knife would "disappear" and he wouldn't even respond to it.
- Frame rate issues, especially if an explosion went off. Slideshow central!
- Inconsistent AI. Sometimes they were fine, other times they were flat-out dumb, and other (more frustrating) times they could see THROUGH WALLS!
- Somewhat anti-climactic ending.
- Some of the enemy types kinda killed the vibe for me (Ex: the amebas) that I felt didn't fit into the story or atmosphere at all.
- While there aren't a whole lot of cut scenes in the game, I felt the ones it did had were quite weak and took out of the immersion
- I felt it needed more creepy sections. Most of the tension-inducing parts occur in the first 1/3 of the game
I certainly had fun playing this game; I really got sucked into it and there were some concepts that intrigued me. Unfortunately, the amount of bugs and inconsistent AI almost drove me to insanity during certain sections. When I first saw shots of this game, I figured a Fall 2010 release, and I believe they should've shot for that time period. I felt the game was rushed in a way, and that extra time could've been used to fix the technical aspects and overall polish.
The player takes control as Artyom, a semi-mute protagonist who never talks except for narrations from his journal during load screens (no one understands him like his journal). As Artyom, you must soon trek across the Metro and sometimes outside to deliver a message of a fallen friend. Along the way, you'll encounter mutated beasts, bandits, amebas (seriously?) and wait for it... wait for it... Communists and Nazis! That's right kiddos, the Reds and the Reich have returned to rid the Russian rails of ravenous rivals.
To understand what I liked and didn't like so much, here's some handy lists of the pros and cons of Metro 2033:
Pros:
- Incredibly atmospheric; I love all the smoke in the environments, the dilapidated structures, etc.
- The lighting is fantastic
- Interesting and immersive storytelling weaves its way into the game with very little cutscenes.
- Some pretty cool weapon designs
- Rewards the player for exploring, and trust me, I love games that let you explore.
- Flashlight charger
- Some pretty chilling parts
- Killing a dude with a throwing knife
Cons:
- Numerous glitches make some sections of the game incredibly frustrating and more difficult than they should be, especially when you're trying to take the stealthy approach. There were numerous times when I'd chuck a throwing knife directly into an enemies' neck, and instead of killing him, the knife would "disappear" and he wouldn't even respond to it.
- Frame rate issues, especially if an explosion went off. Slideshow central!
- Inconsistent AI. Sometimes they were fine, other times they were flat-out dumb, and other (more frustrating) times they could see THROUGH WALLS!
- Somewhat anti-climactic ending.
- Some of the enemy types kinda killed the vibe for me (Ex: the amebas) that I felt didn't fit into the story or atmosphere at all.
- While there aren't a whole lot of cut scenes in the game, I felt the ones it did had were quite weak and took out of the immersion
- I felt it needed more creepy sections. Most of the tension-inducing parts occur in the first 1/3 of the game
I certainly had fun playing this game; I really got sucked into it and there were some concepts that intrigued me. Unfortunately, the amount of bugs and inconsistent AI almost drove me to insanity during certain sections. When I first saw shots of this game, I figured a Fall 2010 release, and I believe they should've shot for that time period. I felt the game was rushed in a way, and that extra time could've been used to fix the technical aspects and overall polish.
