In a Parallel Universe, Metro 2033 could very easily have been set in present day Manchester rather than Post-Apocalyptic Moscow. The City itself is a frozen wasteland of crumbling office buildings and constant rain, sleet and snow; whilst the inhabitants are nearly always hostile and rarely even humanoid in form. Savage dog-like creatures roam the streets in packs and radioactive pools form in almost every nook of the weather beaten asphalt. Meanwhile, those good folk that remain are forced underground to fight for their lives in a constant cycle of attacks launched by Labours’ ceaselessly breeding social underclass.

Political Agenda and personal hatred of anything west of the Pennines aside; if Metro 2033 were a future vision of Manchester, consider the lead role to be that of a twisted, avenging vision of Jeremy Kyle. With his home station under attack, our hero finds himself embroiled in a quest to travel through the labyrinthine network of tunnels that form the Moscow Metro, with the ultimate goal of obtaining some form of assistance.

The setting for Metro 2033 then is a dank, dark, bleak vision of the future and Ukranian developer 4A games have certainly shown an affinity for the fiction upon which the game is based by collaborating closely with the author of the titles namesake novel, Dmitry Ghlukovsky. This is a world of terrible strife where those few remaining humans cling desperately to life, whilst at the same time, the novel also demonstrates hope and the power of the human spirit and 4A have captured that theme beautifully.

Metro Stations form the hubs between each level and are generally brimming with life despite the inhospitable network of tunnels they form part of. Children play, parents argue, old soldiers drink and women of ill-repute ply their trade. Each and every character has been crafted with tremendous attention to detail and the grimey environments are lit by fires and candlelight that cast shadows across the rusty corrugated steel barricades and the inhabitants faces.

On one occasion, a boy asks the player to help him find his most mother. This is just one of a handful of side quests that Metro throws into the mix and which in any other title would be simple filler; but Metro’s world allows the player to take such a small diversion and feel rewarded by it, such is the desperate state of the people living in the Metro. Throughout, there is a general sense that the best reward you can ever hope for is a clip of pre-war bullets, so the chance to reunite a family is worth so much more. In the desolate world of the Metro, a little bit of hope goes a long way.

On this theme, Metro 2033 uniquely deals with the prospect that money no longer has any value. Instead, the inhabitants of the world trade high quality bullets manufactured before the bombs landed for their own, low grade ammunition or in some cases, for Armour or upgraded Weapons. It’s actually quite an interesting system, meaning that players must balance the need for more powerful ammo with the overwhelming desire to buy a bigger gun

Metro 2033 features a very limited HUD, which sadly doesn’t go far enough for me. Gas Mask filters, bullets and a few others bits of key information appear on the screen at all times, whilst other key information like objectives and waypoint guidance can only be accessed by using the back button. I personally prefer an all or nothing approach and I really think Metro would have benefitted from taking a leaf out of Condemned’s book; where the character has to look at his gun to see how many bullets are left, for example. On the other hand, would it have hurt to drop a compass with a green arrow somewhere on screen?

There are some other strange gameplay ideas as well; like the fact that players need to crank a handheld generator in order to power their flashlight or night vision goggles, or that when wearing a gasmask, it can be cracked by enemy attacks. In general, I’m all for this kind of immersive approach to inventory and item management, but in Metro 2033, it feels at odds with the contemporary HUD and rather than adding to the atmosphere, simply becomes an occasional annoyance.

The combat in Metro is also somewhat hit and miss, featuring some fantastic battles against human opponents, but many more against poorly animated, fast moving and extremely tough enemies who simply sprint around below eye level sending the player into a furious pirouette of hot lead. The AI of human enemies is really rather good and certainly gave me the feeling of a fairly genuine desire to stay alive. Conversely, enemies are also easily snuck upon and dispatched via the games somewhat ‘unwritten’ stealth mechanics. It’s entirely possible to get through large areas of dense enemy population using only silent weapons such as throwing knives and the option to do things quietly is never forced, but always available.

Unlike many first person shooters, almost all the weapons in Metro 2033 have some purpose and in fact, the limited ammunition found throughout ensures that players will be switching often. As hinted at earlier, in between each level it’s possible to trade guns in for a better model in return for a certain number of pre-war bullets. It’s a fine balancing act between ensuring that each of Ayrton’s three weapon slots has something powerful in it, but also in having enough bullets left to actually shoot any of the guns anyway.

Metro actually makes good use of it’s associated world, although the story is often a little vague and confusing. Ayrtom suffers from strange hallucinations on occasion which appear to feature some otherworldly presence; whilst with his home station under attack from the ‘Dark Ones’ (who we never meet) we’re forced to consider if he is even sane. Regardless of Ayrtom’s motivations, by the games closing scene I was wondering exactly ‘WTF’ was going on, even though for the most part I had enjoyed every step of the journey to get there.

Looking back across the games seven chapters (each split into three to six sections) it’s easy to see why one might be confused. Ayrtom battles Nazi’s, Communists, Raiders, Mutants, Flying Mutants and ‘Librarian’ Mutants (I’ll leave you to discover those on your own) whilst there is an occasional threat from both the ‘Dark Ones’ and something called an ‘Anomaly.’ I have no doubt that fans of the fiction will know what all these enemies are and where they came from, but in the game, we simply learn that Anomalies mean certain death if we don’t do exactly as told whilst the various mutants are simply considered to be simply the result of such a devastating nuclear war.

Pros
Perhaps the best looking 360 game to date
Atmospheric & Immersive
Interesting take on the post-apocalyptic world

Cons
Sometimes a bit too dark
Annoying, repetitive enemies
Somewhat Confusing Story

Final Verdict
All in all, Metro 2033 is an extremely well made, solid first person shooter which feels let down in several key areas for one reason or another. The graphics really are something else and the atmosphere created is really rather special, but the bulk of the enemies are the tiresome ‘run around your feet’ kind and are plain and simply a bad design. The large, well designed combat sequences against human opponents represent excellent and enjoyable challenges but are occasionally interrupted with the need to change a gas mask or something equally niggling. The story on the other hand is narrated extremely well by Ayrtom between levels, but once on mission, becomes a little confused and often devoid of crucial information. All said, I enjoyed Metro 2033 and I would certainly recommend it to most mature gamers or anyone interested in the fiction.

7/10

Matt