Metro 2033

Game Description: A first-person shooter set in the dark and dreary subterranean, post-apocalyptic Russia. Imagine Fallout 3 meets a crap load of load screens.

I probably would have liked this game more if I hadn’t played a much better version of it called, Fallout 3, first. Don’t get me wrong, Metro 2033, was a decent game, but if you played Fallout back in October of 2008, you’ll find yourself wanting to play that game instead. Metro is a first person shooter that takes place in the subways and barren wastelands of a post apocalyptic Moscow after what seems like an atomic bomb. Your character, Artyom, is sent to warn on a mission to warn fellow subway-dwelling communities of a threat that could wipeout mankind. The game is told through chapters that consist of you constantly searching for support, upgrading weapons, and fighting beasts, Nazis, and Communists as you seek a way to end the opposing threat to your civilization. The story is decent, but gets confusing at the end and made me wonder, “Did I miss something?”

Graphically on par with Fallout, Metro was pretty to look at most of the time. The only problem was that it was hard to look at, since a majority of the time was spent in the dark. The darkness added to the suspense at times, but at other portions I felt the urge to look for a light switch. It’s hard to see the beauty of the environment when you only have a beam of light to see around. The above ground portion definitely grabbed my attention with the destroyed environment, creatures, and variety. Paying attention to your environment is essential in this game since noises can trigger attacks, or opposing forces may have rigged traps that will lead to instant death. I definitely commend this game for having various settings that differ in design, structures and mood. Each portion of the game seems to vary from the next, never letting the gamer to become bored through level repetition.

The game controls like you expect from a shooter, but you must be very cautious with your ammo usage, because it is scarce. I found myself constantly switching between guns and my knife, doing anything to kill my enemies. At first it added to the difficulty, but eventually it became annoying and an unnecessary burden. I was looking at the ground for ammo, which caused me to lose my bearings. Luckily, this game doesn’t leave too much room for exploration. The game is mostly linear, leaving only slight deviations in missions to search for hidden items and supplies. At first I found myself searching for these items, much like in Fallout, but by the end I was just trudging through, trying not to waste ammo and not to alarm any beasts. I even found myself struggling with stealth just so I wouldn’t have to get aggravated with reloading, running, and dying numerous deaths.

My largest problem came from the numerous load screens throughout the game. Every time I felt like I was really getting into the plot and gameplay, I found myself at the end of a section and at another load screen. I feel that it can really remove gamer from the atmosphere of the game, even if the screens do offer insight into the plot. By the end though, I found that Metro 2033 was an enjoyable game to play through once. It may not have lived up to the top shooters, but it was not the worst. With a little more development and some tweaks to the gameplay, I think that this could have been a better experience. As it stands though, it’s a middle of the road shooter.