Metro 2033. Played it on PC after buying it cheap during a sale on Steam.

Metacritic gives it 81.

Here’s what I think:

The Good:

  • Solid shooting game-play.
  • Impressive stealth game-play.
    And some good levels for you to use it in.
  • Detailed environments.
    Spooky tunnels, bustling settlements.
  • Good story.
    Writing, plot, voice acting — all solidly done.
    Your in-game allies are sensible and level-headed men. Makes a change from Gear-of-War-style caricatures.
  • Varied difficulty modes.
     Choose from the standard shooter mechanics, or play in “ranger” mode where bullets are very lethal to both you and the enemy (even most of the monsters die with a single well-placed shot).
    Also choose to turn off luxuries like crosshairs and on-screen ammo count, requiring you to use weapon sights and count the rounds in your magazine like Dirty Harry. It’s a neat feature I wish more games would use.

The Bad:

  • Very linear.
    Which is a shame because the ammo-scavenging and the map of connected subway stations would’ve worked excellently with something more open.
  • Regenerating health.
    While this is not a bad thing in and of itself, it doesn’t fit well with the “ranger” difficulties. The very worst injuries you can sustain will heal in about 10 seconds. Admittedly that’s convenient, but it feels wrong when you recover from near death a dozen times in your typical firefight.
    Also, this rapid recovery nearly invalidates the medikit, which actually takes a short while to administer.
  • Some content underused.
    The game introduces you to interesting things, like ghosts and anomalies, but gives them a very limited role thereafter.
  • Scripted NPCs.
    While they’re interesting, they also invincible. Considering much of the game is about conserving ammo there’s a strong motivation to hide and observe during some of the big battle scenes rather than participate yourself.
  • Low re-playability.
    There are alternate endings, but outside maybe trying a different weapon here and there only a completionist would probably want to play again.

The Ugly:

  • The gas mask.
    A bug sometimes means it won’t come off and you’re stuck with an increasingly damaged pane of glass on your face.
    Your character will change filters when he wants to, interrupting other actions. I blew myself up when he did this while I was holding a cooked grenade.
    Gas mask filters are generally plentiful, but should you be unfortunate enough to run out you’re totally screwed. It’s very hard to scavenge for filters when your visor is fogged up and your character is choking to death. Which isn’t helped by…
  • The checkpoint system.
    Sometimes it saves too frequently, such as after you’ve buggered up being stealthy. Now, you can’t load back to before you tripped that alarm.
    Sometimes it saves too infrequently, meaning you can lose a lot of progress.
  • The cursor.
    On my system, the cursor would wander out from beneath the game onto my second monitor. If I clicked, the game would tab out to the desktop.


Found in the corner of an abandoned military control room. Your guess is as good as mine.

Conclusion:

  • Rated Good (on the Amazing, Good, Ordinary, Marginal, Critical scale).
  • Like a decent Hollywood action movie, Metro 2033 is great short-term entertainment but unlikely to broaden your horizons or blow your mind.

See all Good, Bad, Ugly reviews by clicking here.