Video game review: Metro 2033 (2010)

The game that I am going to be reviewing today is one that grabbed me by surprise if I'm being honest, it's called Metro 2033. Metro 2033 is a first person shooter/survival horror game that was released back in March of 2010. The game was developed by a company known as 4A Games and published by THQ for the Xbox 360 and Steam/PC platform. It later saw a re-release for the Xbox One and Playstation 4 in 2014. This game is actually based upon a russian novel of the same name, which was written by a man named Dmitry Glukhovsky, one of the first times I've seen a novel adapted into a video game. 

Now, I wasn't really interested in this game back when it was originally released. I had friends who picked it up and were reporting issues with it running properly due to bugs and the game just crashing/freezing pretty frequently. So, I ended up holding off on it for a long time until I picked it up in a Humble Bundle maybe 2 or so years ago. Even then, I still didn't get around to playing it until recently just due to the fact that I have such a backlog of games that I haven't touched yet, and because Fortnite is far too addictive to play for my own good. I can definitely say that I regret waiting so long to play this game though, as it's one of my favorite survival horror games that I've played in awhile.  

The game has you playing as a 20 year old man named Artyom, who is living in the ruins of Moscow underground in the metro tunnels. The surface level of the world has become uninhabitable due to a nuclear war that occurred in 2013, with the current timeline of the game taking place in 2033. The survivors live underground growing mushrooms for food, and there are several factions afoot trying to vie for power over one another. Besides the radiation which requires a gas mask to traverse through, there's also mutated monsters lingering all over the remains of Moscow. So, you know, it's a great time to be alive in the Metro.  

The narrative of the game is a pretty decent one, but honestly a lot of things are left vague and there's not a heavy amount of details shown throughout the game. There's quite an interesting world built around you, but it is never flushed out as much as it should be, at least in my opinion. That doesn't detract from the experience of the game at least, but it is something I wish would have been taken into more consideration, as you don't really get into more than trying to complete your linear objective while making a few selective choices throughout your path. That doesn't mean the story is bad or anything though, by any means. I very much enjoyed the narrative that the game told, and think it's intriguing on its own. 

And, that isn't to say that the game doesn't explore its worldbuilding in anyway. Throughout your campaign mode you will regularly head into metro stations where the game can get fleshed out a bit. Within each station there are different societies that each have their own ideals and principles that differ from one another. Between using these to advance the story or to shop for extra supplies you need to keep yourself alive, there's also a heavy amount of NPC's that have long conversations that can help build your knowledge of this games universe. The NPC's almost act like audio logs you can pick up, giving you exposition and backstory on a variety of things as you run along the game.  

The gameplay within the game definitely leans more towards survival horror than just your typical first person shooter, at least in my book. The reason for it is that your supplies are so scarce that you really have to be careful with each encounter and how you approach it. Any enemy within the game that you encounter, whether they be human or not, can easily lead to your doom as you see the death screen pop up. The monsters within the game are not only fast, but tough as nails. While the human enemies that you may encounter are almost always heavily armed with firearms and armor covering their bodies. This makes it where you often have to use your smarts to stay alive, as the game tends to give the advantage to the enemy AI over the player. 

This leads to a lot of tension filled gameplay that presents a very tough challenge. I was very anxious through a lot of parts of the game, as it feels like you're barely just scraping by throughout each battle and encounter with the enemy units in the game. It all feels very oppressive and bleak, but in a good way. I definitely think you have to go into this game with a good mindset and realize that this is a survival game where you can't just come in guns blazing and tear through anything in your path, because that is just not going to happen. Being smart and stealthy is your friend in this game.

A fair amount of the tension however comes from your dwindling supplies and sub-par equipment. Your flashlight requires you to take out the battery pack and physically pump it to recharge it every so often for example. Another issue that you'll encounter is that there's just barely enough ammo to go around and keep you fighting, though it shouldn't ever get to be a problem so long as you're a loot crazy maniac who searches everything just to find those few precious bullets. It definitely gives the feeling of you just having the bare minimum to survive, which is quite appropriate considering the setting of the game. 

The enemies that you'll encounter throughout the game are pretty varied as well, if you take into account their faction anyways. There are your typical bandits in the game, however there are also a plethora of communists and nazi's that you'll have to fight throughout your quest. That of course isn't taking into account the mutated monsters and Dark ones that are to be found among your journey, which is where the horror aspects of the game come into play. While this isn't the scariest game I have touched by any means, there is a fair amount of horror to be found here, especially when you have so few precious bullets. There's also trips to the surface which you'll have to do occasionally, which are quite nerve wracking considering that each moment you step on land up there feels like you're coming closer to death. 

The graphics are something else I feel like I should commend, as they are particularly pleasing to the eye. While some elements of them are not all that great such as the character animations, the background and world of the game are so heavily detailed that I can't help but praise them. The enemies are designed very interestingly and look quite gruesome. The voice acting within the game aids the atmosphere as well with some great performances and actual russian accents being used to make everything feel authentic. The sound design is used effectively as well, though there isn't much of a musical score existent in the game. Not that that is an issue or anything, as it does have its moments where some music is used in good effect.  

The game does have some issues that can be a bit annoying, however. Such as the combat sometimes feeling a fair bit unbalanced. It gets a bit frustrating when it takes several rounds to put down a human enemy, even when you've shot them in the head, since your character can't survive more than a round or two for the most part. While you can occasionally get an instant kill via headshot, don't expect to each and every time. Another thing that can be frustrating is that an element of the game involves turning out the lights for combat to help aid you in stealth. Most of the time though, it seems like the enemies have night vision goggles for eyes, as they always seem to know your general location. 

Overall, however, I definitely enjoyed this game a lot. There is clearly a great effort put into the game, it just has a few things holding it back from being better than it is. While this won't be one for everyone, I would certainly recommend it for anyone who is a survival/horror fan at the very least. If you can get yourself immersed into it, it'll latch onto you and not let go until you've run through a bloody gauntlet and finished the story. I can only say, give it a try and see if it is your thing. You never know, you could have been missing out on a good thing like I was for years. 

Anyways, thanks for stopping by to check out my review. Appreciate it!