If there is one thing that came across during our walkthrough of Metro 2033, Russia is not a place that I want to visit, before or after the end of the world. The setting is ominous and perhaps a little contrived, I mean, seriously monsters that evolve/emerge after some cataclysmic event with people living a splintered existence. As clichéd as the setting might sound it is rather fitting that a developer located in the former Soviet controlled Ukraine should choose to create such a title.

The basis of the story is from a book that shares the same title by a Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, all about atomic bombs, tunnels and creatures. The lead is a young Russian called Artyom, who must venture from his increasingly less secure underground village. The world inside is desperate and dreary, what lies beyond the walls of relative safety is the same, with increased danger and without the safety of the walls around you.

Without the stability of governments the financial system becomes meaningless and ammunition turns into the currency of the day. Handy, because it jingles nicely like coins in your pocket and is also able to put a hole in a mutant rat horse’s head. Trading for weapons and mischievous implements of death dealing are available form armoury stockists using the bartered munitions. There are varying grades of bullets found within the game the more valuable obviously offering better accuracy and higher impact, with the trade off of being incredibly useful in combat you must decide how you want to use them.

As far as post apocalyptic worlds go, the setting is disgustingly oppressive, so much so that both Wugga and I felt a little claustrophobic. The use of the gas mask and the heaviness of the breathing was sufficiently effective at creating an atmosphere of tension. I wouldn’t say I was afraid, that is a hard push for a game, but I found the breathing very hypnotic, and not in a calming, your eyes are getting heavy, way.

Far more interesting than I had imagined it would be, Metro 2033 looks like it will be worth checking out if you forgive the linear nature of the experience and the somewhat zany Russianness of it all.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 4:06 pm and is filed under PC, Xbox 360, sideblog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.