Metro 2033

This article is about the video game. For the novel, see Metro 2033 (book).

Metro 2033
Cover art for Metro 2033
Developer(s)	4A Games
Publisher(s)	THQ
Composer(s)	Alex Omelchuk
Engine	4A Engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Xbox 360
Release date(s)	NA 20100316March 16, 2010 AU 20100318March 18, 2010 EU 20100319March 19, 2010 [1][2]
Genre(s)	Survival horror First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 16 USK: 18
Media/distribution	Optical disc, Download, Cloud computing

Metro 2033 is a first-person shooter video game with survival horror elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.^[3] In March 2006, 4A Games announced a partnership with Glukhovsky to collaborate on the game.^[4] The game was announced at the 2009 Games Convention in Leipzig;^[5] along with an official trailer.^[6] A sequel was announced, currently titled Metro: Last Light.

Gameplay

The game is played from the perspective of a character named Artyom. The story takes place in post-apocalyptic Moscow, mostly inside the metro system where the player's character was raised (he was born before the war, in an unharmed city), but occasionally missions bring the player above-ground.

As a first-person shooter, Metro 2033 features a variety of firearms, some fictional and some based on real weapons, which the player will use in combat. Combat alternates between the player fighting mutants and the player fighting hostile humans. Mutants do not possess weapons and tend to physically attack the player in swarms, while humans fight with the same firearms available to the player. The game features recharging health rather than a traditional health points system—if the player avoids taking damage for a period, his or her health will slowly recharge, however the player can speed up this process by using a stim from a medkit, which will almost instantly heal them to full health. When the player is severely injured, it may take over twenty seconds to return to full health.

In the post-apocalyptic environment, ammunition is a rare and essential commodity. Pre-apocalypse military-grade ammunition is used as currency; to avoid "shooting money", the player can also use lower quality bullets made within the Metros. Due to the scarcity of ammunition, a crucial aspect of gameplay is scavenging. The player can loot corpses and the environment for spare ammunition, as well as weapons and items. The military-grade ammo can be used to purchase other ammunition, weapons, and items within most of the Metro stations.

The game's locations reflect the dark atmosphere of real metro tunnels, with added horror elements. Strange phenomena and noises are frequent, and mostly the player has to rely only on the flashlight to find the way around in otherwise total darkness. Even more lethal is the surface, as it is severely radiated and a gas mask must be worn at all times due to the toxic air.^[7] Often, locations have an intricate layout, and the game lacks any form of map, leaving the player to try to find their objectives only through a compass.

As Metro aims to be immersive, the gameplay and interface are somewhat atypical. The game lacks a health meter, relying on audible heart rate and blood spatters on the screen to show the player's current state of health. The player must collect air filters for the gas mask, which last several minutes each and are automatically replaced provided the player has more in reserve. There is no heads-up display indicator to tell how long the player has until the gas mask's filters begin to fail—rather, a timer on the character's wristwatch shows how long until the current filter expires. The gas mask can become visibly damaged and will stop functioning if punctured, requiring it to be replaced. With every weapon, the bullets are (partly) visible, informing the player that their weapon is about to run out of ammo and they have to reload. The game does feature sparse traditional HUD elements, such as an ammunition indicator.

There are also certain moral choices in the game that give points that lead to different endings. Choices can either get you a good point, eg: (Saving Communist prisoners from Nazis.) or nothing (Leaving them to be executed.) while some can even give you a negative moral point, eg: (Being rude to people or stealing cartridges (Currency) .

Plot

The game takes place in post-apocalyptic Russia, and follows a 20 year old male survivor named Artyom (russian: Артём). When the game begins, Artyom learns from an elite soldier, or Ranger, named Hunter that a group of mysterious creatures referred to as the Dark Ones are threatening his station in the Metro. Hunter gives Artyom a Ranger token and tells him if he does not come back, he must go to Polis to see if they will help his station.

Artyom must travel through territory occupied by Soviets and Nazis, and infested with mutants. Once in Polis, he meets with a Ranger named Miller, who agrees to help him. Miller knows of a missile silo known as D6 that has the firepower necessary to destroy the Dark Ones. Artyom, Miller, and several other Rangers reactivate the command center for the missiles, and Artyom installs a laser guidance system on a nearby building. After the laser system is installed, Artyom experiences a vivid hallucination induced by the Dark Ones.

After the hallucination, two endings are possible, depending on choices the player makes throughout the game. In the normal/bad ending, Artyom allows the missiles to fire, destroying the Dark Ones. The alternate/good ending gives Artyom the choice to destroy the laser guidance device, citing a last-minute realization that the Dark Ones were actually attempting to make peaceful contact through the hallucinations.

Development

System requirements

Minimum Recommended Microsoft Windows Operating system Windows XP Windows 7 CPU Dual core CPU (any Core 2 Duo or better will do) Any Quad Core or 3.0+ GHz Dual Core CPU Memory 1 GB RAM 2 GB RAM Hard drive space 12 GB Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant graphics cards (GeForce 8800, GeForce GT220 and above), Shader Model 3 DirectX 10 compliant graphics card (GeForce GTX 260 Or AMD HD 4890 and above) Sound hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant sound card

4A Games was founded by former employees of GSC Game World, a year before the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, in particular: Oles' Shiskovtsov and Aleksandr Maksimchuk, the programmers who worked on the development of X-Ray engine used in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.^[8] The game utilizes multi-platform 4A Engine, running on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows. There is some contention regarding whether the engine is based on the pre-release X-Ray engine (as claimed by Sergiy Grygorovych, the founder of GSC Game World,^[9] as well as users who have seen the 4A Engine SDK screenshots, citing visual similarities, shared resources, and technical evaluation of the pre-release 4A Engine demo conducted at the request of GSC Game World), or whether the engine is an original development (as claimed by 4A Games and Oles' Shiskovtsov in particular,^[10] who claims it would have been impractical to retrofit the X-ray engine with console support). 4A Engine features Nvidia PhysX support, enhanced AI, and a console SDK for Xbox 360.^[11] The PC version includes exclusive features such as DirectX 11 support and has been described as "a love letter to PC gamers" because of the developers' choice "to make the PC version [especially] phenomenal".^[12]

Reviewer Dakota Grabowski of Gamezone was also able to sit down with THQ's Luis Giglotti who describes the game and how it relates to the book, and also gives descriptions of the aforementioned "Dark Ones" who attack you mentally rather than physically. He also talks about how Artyom is "unique", being immune to the Dark Ones. The player also has visions that will give some back story in the form of interactive cut-scenes.^[13]

On February 19 THQ and 4A Games announced the game features the latter's Steamworks software and DRM. This will give Metro 2033 achievements, Steam support for in-game DLC and auto-updating.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	80.65% (PC)[14] 78.28% (X360)[15]
Metacritic	81/100 (PC)[16] 77/100 (X360)[17]
Review scores
Publication	Score
1UP.com	C+[18]
Game Informer	9/10 [19]
GamePro	3.5/5[20]
GameSpot	8.0/10[21]
IGN	6.9/10[22]

The game has received generally favorable reviews, scoring 81/100^[16] and 77/100^[17] on Metacritic for the PC and Xbox 360 versions respectively. Game Informer praised it, giving it 9 out of 10. GameZone's Dakota Grabowski gave the game an 8 out of 10, saying "The single-player affair is worthy of every FPS fanatics’ time since the 4A Games and THQ were able to put forth a wonderful tale that deserved telling. The world is engrossing as it invites players for multiple trips with the sheer amount of detail 4A Games spent implementing into the environments. Metro 2033 is as pure as they come in the genre and I gladly welcome any sequel that may reach fruition."^[23]

Video game talk show Good Game gave the game an 8.5 out of 10 praising the RPG and Survival Horror elements which add richness to the gameplay as well saying the HUD-less design was a choice which suits this particular game. Overall they said "I'm a big Fallout 3 fan and I was worried this would try to be something similar and fail dismally. But it's more FPS than RPG, so I think it manages to dodge a direct comparison. They've just worked really hard to bring RPG narrative and decisions into the action, and it works."^[24]

X-Play gave the game a 3 out of 5, the reviewer pointed out the game's great atmosphere, attention to detail, and that the game had some truly scary moments. The reviewer also pointed out that, they "didn't do enough with the creepy atmosphere". Saying that the game would come close to truly frightening moments, but "never truly commits to scaring the audience". The reviewer said that the mapping of the buttons on the controller for the Xbox 360 can be "less than optimal", but the problem does not apply to PC users. In the conclusion, the reviewer said that the game was, "over all a respectable effort, provided you don't expect the same level of depth found in, let's say Fallout 3."^[25]

GameSpot gave the game 7.5 out of 10 for the Xbox 360 version and 8 out of 10 for the PC version, praising the atmosphere but noting problems with the artificial intelligence and animations.^[21]

IGN gave the game a lower rating of 6.9 out of 10, citing the frame rate, bugs, and disappointing graphics issues.^[22]

Sequel

Metro: Last Light is scheduled to release in 2012.^[26]

References

1. ^ "Trailer: Metro 2033 -- Your Destination for Terror". Dread Central Media LLC. February 27, 2010. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36160/trailer-metro-2033-your-destination-terror. Retrieved June 03, 2011. 
2. ^ "Metro 2033™ - Out Now!". THQ Inc.. 2010-03-18. http://www.metro2033game.com/au/news/10171. Retrieved 2011-03-24. 
3. ^ "THQ Unveils First Person-Shooter Metro 2033". Business Wire. THQ. 22 October 2009. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091022005262/en/THQ-Unveils-Person-Shooter-Metro-2033TM. Retrieved 2010-01-09. 
4. ^ "4A Games announces its partnership with Dmitry Glukhovsky" (Adobe Flash). 4A Games. 30 March 2006. http://www.4a-games.com/. Retrieved 2010-01-09. "4A Games announces its partnership with Dmitry Glukhovskiy, the author of the cult postnuclear novel "Metro 2033" […] he will help create a game based on his novel, writing of its scenario, and working on its concept as an integral part of the 4A Games team." 
5. ^ "4A Games at Games Convention" (Adobe Flash). 4A Games. 9 August 2009. http://www.4a-games.com/. Retrieved 2010-01-09. "4A Games is ready to announce our first project which will appear on Games Convention in Leipzig! During the Exposition we will have an exclusive showcase of our product, codename "Metro 2033. The Last Refuge"." 
6. ^ GC 2006 Trailer. 4A Games. 30 August 2009. http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gc-2006-metro-2033/12793. Retrieved 2010-01-09. 
7. ^ http://xbox360.gamezone.com/gzreviews/p30556.htm
8. ^ http://stalker-game-world.com/index/0-85
9. ^ http://progames.mail.ru/press_conference/3/view#1202
10. ^ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-tech-interview-metro-2033
11. ^ "Metro 2033 Re-Unveiled". http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/50904/Metro-2033-Re-Unveiled. 
12. ^ Andy Chalk. "Metro 2033 is a "Love Letter" to PC Gamers". http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98849-Metro-2033-is-a-Love-Letter-to-PC-Gamers. 
13. ^ http://www.gamezone.com/news/02_04_10_03_31PM.htm
14. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/935068-metro-2033/index.html
15. ^ http://www.gamerankings.com/xbox360/935091-metro-2033/index.html
16. ^ ^{a b} "Metro 2033 (pc) reviews at Metacritic.com". http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/metro2033. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
17. ^ ^{a b} "Metro 2033 (xbox360) reviews at Metacritic.com". http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/metro2033. Retrieved 2010-03-20. 
18. ^ "Metro 2033 Review for the PC, Xbox 360 from 1UP.com". 2010-03-22. http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3178441&p=1. Retrieved 2010-03-23. 
19. ^ http://gameinformer.com/games/metro_2033/b/pc/archive/2010/03/16/a-dreary-subway-ride-well-worth-taking.aspx
20. ^ http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/214423/metro-2033/
21. ^ ^{a b} Watters, Chris (2010-03-17). "Metro 2033 Review". GameSpot. http://asia.gamespot.com/pc/action/metro2033thelastrefuge/index.html. Retrieved 2010-03-18. 
22. ^ ^{a b} http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/107/1078872p1.html
23. ^ http://xbox360.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r30556.htm
24. ^ "Good Game stories - Metro 2033". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2010-03-15. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/stories/s2846192.htm. 
25. ^ http://g4tv.com/videos/45113/Metro-2033-Review/
26. ^ Robinson, Andy (2010-06-29). "Metro 2034 coming, in 3D". Computer and Video Games. Future Publishing Ltd. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=253756. Retrieved 2011-03-24. 

External links

• Official website
• First trailer
• Story trailer
• Comparison video/screenshots with and without Advanced PhysX option