Review by: William Abner

When THQ sent along a review copy of Metro 2033, included was a reviewer’s guide which made it abundantly clear that while this was in fact a post-apocalyptic game it was not an RPG nor was it an open world design. Basically THQ wanted everyone reviewing it to know – this is not Fallout 3.

They were not kidding.

Not only is this a linear shooter, Metro 2033 is tightly written, shockingly believable, tough, gritty, scary, and unlike Fallout 3, at times brutally difficult. This game has no qualms about killing you in a myriad of ways. Bullets hurt when they hit you. They hurt a lot. If you trigger a trip wire trap – you’re not going to get bruised – you’re going to die. There’s no escaping it. Fall through an open hole in the floor and you’re dead. Throw a pipe bomb/dynamite stick and you may die from shrapnel. One hit from that fast flying debris and you’re looking at the reload screen.

Metro 2033 uses death as a means to teach you how to proceed. At times the game wants you to run away from danger – it won’t tell you this, you need to figure it out on your own, most likely after getting ripped to shreds a few times by a hoard of mutant wolverines. You can stay and fight them off, but the best option is just to run like hell.

Or maybe you’ll die from lack of oxygen. There are portions of the game that take place above ground in Moscow where nuclear winter has deemed the air, well let’s just say not fit for breathing. To counter this you are equipped with a gas mask with air filters that must be exchanged – you’ll know when by checking your watch or more vividly because you’ll start choking and hacking. But again Metro isn’t going to make it easy on you. If you head off on a mission without ample filters (and they are not always available to purchase so you’ll have to scrounge for them) there is the very real possibility that you’ll end up stranded far away from the safety of the Metro with no filters, no air and death staring you dead in the face. Time to reload an old save, buddy – there’s no going forward from here.

Or maybe you’ll die during a stealth mission when trying to sneak past human bandits or the game’s new breed of Nazis. Other deaths in Metro are tough, but admittedly fair; the steal missions are where things get maddening. You can sneak around in the dark (after finding night vision goggles) but step on a piece of glass and the entire compound not only hears it but somehow knows your location and arrives in force to shoot you. And the AI has a tendency not to miss…ever. If you shoot a guard in the back it obviously alerts other bad guys, but hiding in the dark won’t do any good because everyone apparently has the ability to see where you are at all times as has the accuracy of Eagle Eye McGee.