I literally got this game for free, from Humble. Of course this was a month ago and I’m just now sitting down to play it. It seems to be a bad habit of buying games yet having no desire to play them.
I blame WoD. 😛
Anyway, this game is pretty good, yet it also feels a bit unfinished at times. Of course, this is the original Metro 2033. There is a Redux version I think that fixes problems and increases graphics, but it costs money.
One reason I was hesitant to play it, is reviews that it’s a “hold your hand” kind of game, with an annoying NPC that seems to be near you at nearly all times, treating you like shit even though you’re doing all the work.
From what I’ve seen, there’s hardly any hand-holding. There’s a few ‘co-op’ parts, but I’ve seen a majority of parts that I’m on my own.
So, the plot. It feels like it’s all over the place, similar to understanding Crysis 2. Though I believe in order to fully understand the plot, you must read the novel with the same title, as this game is based from the novel.
You’re playing as this guy named “Artyom”. You were just a baby in the year 2000 and you lived in Moscow, when it and surrounding areas got destroyed by nukes. It’s been 33 years since that event. There’s now these mutant creatures, similar to STALKER. But there’s also a new breed of creature that you somehow know about.
You are part of thousands of survivors, trying to escape from the fallout by using the old Metro tunnels to get around the city. But to survive in this world, you gotta learn how to use a gun.
You also have a Gas Mask, ideal for going into toxic areas of the world. You can put on and take off the mask at anytime, which I like. Give the player options. The gas mask can become chipped to nearly unusable, so be careful with this.
You basically get around as the story progresses, trying to get yourself into the heart of Moscow. You’re also tasked with a promise of a mentor that the player is supposed to know(all in that novel) to get to a specific station and deliver a message.
So, here’s all the things I didn’t like about the game. Although I didn’t like them, they shouldn’t keep you from wanting to get this game(though I think most if not all of these are fixed in the Redux version);
-Flimsy mouse aiming. It almost feels like an on-rails shooter with this.
-Setting mouse settings seem to not do anything to fix the above.
-No Windowed mode option in graphics.
-No way to set advanced graphic options.
-“Stealth” missions don’t exactly exist. In other words, you don’t fail if you’re spotted.
-Claims it has an invisible karma system (like Dishonored)… I didn’t see it. No matter what way you play, you get the same results.
-NPCs you have to protect or follow, move ridiculously slow during high combat areas.
-Quite confused on the currency system, and how to tell the difference between them and actual bullets.
-It’s recommended to keep captions on, as there is no “you, come with me” dialog. You got to know who you play as.
-Hard to understand NPC dialog when they use gas masks. Again, a reason to use captions.
-When you kill someone, it’s impossible to get back into stealth.
-NPCs don’t seem to hunt for you (unless you’re close to them) if you don’t use stealth.
-There are no non-lethal options for taking down enemies.
-Your headlight seems to run out of charge quite quickly.
And that’s about it. Overall, it’s still a good game and worth a try.