Introduction:
Metro 2033, published by THQ didn't go under the radar as much as Cryostasis but their isn't particular knowledge among the common gamers that have even heard of this title. The game is an adaption from a book written by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The unique thing about Metro 2033 is that its a post-apocalyptic survival horror game that was overshadowed by the release of Fallout 3 without justification. Metro has no role playing elements but brings a whole lot more to the table than it is given credit for. Lets dive in to Metro 2033!
Story: 7/10
In 2013, The world destroys itself with Nuclear warfare. Upon the ashes the next evolution of human kind arose, smarter, faster, and more monstrous. Human kind retreats to the underworld of the Metro. The story follows the adventure of Artyom who grew up in the tunnels of the Metro under the decimated city of Moscow. His main motivation is to help the part of the tunnel that he grew up in and he takes to the railways to the largest community that is also the home of the "Hunters". The Hunters are the special Ops of the world and are trained to kill Dark ones and uphold the peace of the Metro.
The story is in one word. Ambitious. There are quite a few plot holes or plot that desperately needs more time given to it for development.The story is fascinating though as you follow it closely and would recommend giving the book a try.
Gameplay: 8/10
The game itself is massive. Almost every level of the game will have something new for you to do to keep boredom nearly impossible. There are times i would find myself hiding in the corners away from sight from Nazi's, communists or mutants and other times i would find myself on a train cart protecting the people on it with all my life. This works amazing and helps the immersion stay longer.
The failings of the game play are still there though. Your guns are way to accurate to be...well ACCURATE. Shotguns have the tendency to be sniper rifles and pistols can kills most things in one hit regardless of where you hit it. It takes away a bit of the challenge but the enemies do have there own counter measures that might of been to difficult if you didn't have the overpowered weapons. The mutants come in numbers and tend to be fast. The Nazis and communists have the benefit of long ranged weapons with binocular vision and a sight straight to your head.
The game does have stores in some of the towns you hit along the way and you use what is called "Military Grade Ammo" which you can find off dead bodies and lays randomly around the Metro and outdoors that you can buy "Dirty ammo" which is your primary weapon ammo, and you an buy other better weapons. However you find quite a bit of this weaponry outside and almost seems pointless to buy any new weapons. Ammo can be scarce at times and anytime you are outside you will need a gas mask too survive the wastes of Moscow each one has a filter time limit of twenty minutes.
Functionality: 10/10
This game is wonderfully optimized and never crashed once on me during the highest settings. The game has one of the highest graphics out there so there will be a need to turn the settings down on lower end machines but can run on at least a 3-4 yr old machine on its lowest settings.
Immersion: 10/10
This is the strong point of the game and ill break this into several different parts:
Your character is amazingly immersible, the idea of the interface is to make it realistic. You don't have any "digital" elements on your interface except the cross-hair and the game menu. You do not see your ammo bar but instead you see the ammo in the gun being used up. Such as the "Bastard Gun" which a post apocalyptic sub machine gun shows you every bullet you have in the cartridge. You can see your time remaining on the gas mask filters on your wrist watch that is similar to a divers watch. The mission objectives is shown on a clipboard that you take out. However most of the game is in darkness so you also have a bullet shaped lighter to light the objectives for you. You are Artyom, that is what the devs wanted to create for you and they did an amazing job.
The environment is the other key immersible factor. The environment feels so realistic especially when entering into the first city. Conversations everywhere and as much as you'd like to eavesdrop on all the conversations, it becomes hard to with a lot of them going on at once. Even when your in the dark alone tunnels and avoiding the traps set by bandits, i never once broke my immersion on this game.
Overall Score: A-
There was a few miss's as far as game-play goes but if your a gamer that loves narrative and survival horror games. This is the game to get and it would be a mistake to pass this one up.
No comments:
Post a Comment