Metro 2033

The post apocalyptic worlds are certainly part of the most favorite subjects of the computer games manufacturers from the ex soviet space. From that direction came: STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl or Cryostasis, titles with a great atmosphere. With all these, the reputation of the same manufacturers is not so good; their games are running in different technical problems.

In combination, the qualities of the stories and the technical problems have made the players very cautious, and Metro 2033 is not far from this mixed line. As their ex colleagues from GSC, the Ukrainians from 4A Games are inspired from literature for their post apocalyptic shooter: more precisely the novel of the young Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovski.

The action from Metro 2033 takes place into a Moscow which is destroyed by an atomic holocaust, and the survivors have retreat inside the tunnels of the famous metro from the Russian capital and transforming the stations in small communities. From all these unlucky people, Artyom is being remarked (no the football player), a young man who has never seen the outside world, but who discovers that he is somehow immune to the telepathic attacks of the monsters known as Dark Ones.

Thanks to this gift, Artyom is sent to deliver a critical message, but not very clear, into another metro station – Polis – situated in the opposite side of the tunnel network. Obviously, his entire journey is essential for the survival of the whole humanity, and the entire story is said straight from his point of view. Although, Artyom does not speak only between the missions, when being in a mission he is mute in the Half-Life 2 style with Gordon Freeman at power, which spoils pretty much the immersion and any empathy with his mission.

On the other side, the action is filled with semi interactive cinematic sequences, surprisingly placed. I woke up pretty often with the hero taking his destiny in his own virtual hands, so that after that, to retake the control into an extremely hot situation. These unexpected passing ads more to the pushing atmosphere from the underworld, weak illuminated or not illuminated at all, filled with remains and especially with all kinds of scary monsters.

Because Artyom must pass a long maze of tunnels, most of his adventure involves killing different enemies, humans or monsters. The underworld is spread in all sorts of colonies, not all friendly and many bandits are looking for careless “tourists”. Some survivors are Nazi, others are communists and Artyom is in the middle of their conflict, a real critic of the two systems which have changed the face of the world in the last decades. Besides the battles with humans, all kind of monsters, zombies and mutants are in the path of our hero. The action becomes extremely hot especially that all the animals are provided with a great speed.