The Metro series has always been one of those franchises I consider glorified cult classics -- they sell tons of copies, but whenever you ask their admirers what exactly they do right, it always comes down to something shallow: atmosphere, immersion, atmosphere, visuals, and did I mention AT-MO-SPHERE? No seriously, read the comments on any review and that’s what 90% of them are raving about.
Don’t get me wrong, atmosphere is important, especially for post-apocalyptic titles like Metro, but it’s arguably the least vital aspect behind things like, oh I don’t know, story, optimization, and gameplay, all of which 2033 has major deficits in. The premise is a nuclear war wiped out most of humanity, leaving mutants on top and the remaining Russians underground where several factions, including neo-Nazis, have formed. There are a lot of holes in this concept that, while I’m sure were addressed in the source material, aren’t even touched upon here (at least so far as I didn’t catch them). For starters, how exactly did the Moscow Metro protect against radiation when much of it is exposed? In Fallout, the bunkers were hermetically sealed; now I may not be a scientist, but in the game, you’ll find so many mask-free hypogean spaces, it seems illogical that airborne ionizing rays magically avoided them. Secondly, what exactly are the mutants? Wikipedia claims they’re transmogrified animals, however, nothing in the actual story indicates such, and given how absurd some of these monstrosities look, it seems like a giant stretch, even by sci-fi standards. Thirdly, how are there so many dang Nazis? The nuclear winter emerged in 2013, well after World War II, and you’re only ever in Russia, so where did an army of them come from? Out of all the states in history, I sincerely doubt a Slavic country would house a bastion of Nazi sympathizers given the atrocities of the second Great War.
I’m sure I could come up with more, and I certainly don’t mean to be nitpicky, but you guys need to understand dystopian video games are highly dependent on their lore: if you don’t understand how things came to be, it results in the world becoming generic to a fault. And that’s kind of the case here- the metro is a cliche dilapidated hub, the mutants indifferent from your standard vampires/zombies, and the Nazis another run-of-the-mill evil faction in the same vein as other hostile survivalists. And it’s a shame because I doubt the author of the book (Dmitry Glukhovsky) or the writers here intended for that. But without in-game descriptions, or at the very least optional data files, 2033 ultimately fails to be indistinguishable from its calamitous brethren.
All cards on the table, I doubt I’d be criticizing the setting this much had the narrative been up-to-par, but it’s honestly pretty bland. You play as Artyom, a young soldier tasked with delivering a message to the metro capital about a new threat called the Dark Ones. If you guys have ever seen the phenomenal movie 1917, Metro’s story is basically that minus the personality and impetus. Arytom’s journey takes him to many decrepit sections of the subway, but it never feels like you’re doing anything grand or important, namely because of two reasons: one, the Dark Ones are even duller than the mutants, their essence obscured for sequel purposes; and two, Artyom joins a long line of pointlessly mute protagonists, sapping him of any humanity he may have had. I’ve never understood the rationale behind narrative-driven games opting for silent heroes; it’s one thing if your product is gameplay-directed, but for titles like the original Dead Space, certain Call of Duties, and even Half-Life, I find it to be a fundamentally dumb decision, and 2033 joins those infamous ranks. By leaving the relative safety of his compound, Artyom is theoretically undergoing a nerve-wracking experience (as he literally conveys via diary entries in and in-between scenes [more on that later]), yet illogically shuts his trap when in the midst of this very madness! It’s genuinely anti-immersive, especially when you see how conveniently hackneyed the script is in its attempts at working around this lack of dialogue. Real-time observations about the state of affairs around you, whether by inner monologue or general discourse, could have also gone a long way towards imparting a sense of history to the slums you stumble about, slums that otherwise suffer from a severe lack of environmental storytelling. Don’t mistake me, each location you travel to is technically distinct from its brethren, however, the developers didn’t do much in the way of visually conveying that- everywhere you look it’s the same basic rusted metal grating contorted around shoddy marketplaces lit up by oil drums, their NPCs donning similar apparel regardless of their age or gender. The few times you head to the surface don’t bear greater fruit as the everlasting Russian winter poorly masks what is effectively a standard post-nuketown metropolis we’ve seen a million times over: you know, the leveled buildings with blown out windows, smooshed vehicles, broken down signposts, and scraggly foliage.
I get it, there’s only so much variation you can do with this archetypal setting, and I doubt the real life Moscow Metro would’ve been substantially altered in just 30-years of crude maintenance. But considering this is a game with psychic attacks and flying wing demons, a little artistic licensing wouldn’t have hurt. As it stands, it rarely feels like you’re progressing towards a grand marker when the lion’s share of milestone camps are optically indistinct from the place you just came from. There was an area later in the game that I swear induced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu in me due to its eerie similarity to a prior stage.
I don’t mean to sound completely whiny as Metro’s story isn’t bad by any means. In fact, it’s a perfectly solid entry in the standard man vs. monster conflict we’ve had since the dawn of humanity. I only bring up these criticisms to caution against those aforementioned praises coasting on atmosphere relishment: it’s vastly overstated, the subterranean tunnels being more detrimental than ambient.
Then again, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking 2033’s plot would be epic given the stunningness of the graphics. Playing the Redux version, I don’t know what upticks were done, but the final remaster is definitely breathtaking: cracked walling, razed concrete, the sleek green tint of a radiated pool, worn out textiles, and the natural disbursement of snow on corrugated surfaces; all are superb exhibitions of the monster that is 4A’s proprietary engine. From the splatter of blood on your visor to the flying of casings as you discharge weapons, tons upon tons of smaller details have been coded that I’m sure warrant multiple playthroughs to catch in their entirety. Yet even these pale in comparison to the grand feat that is the lighting. Conducting a bit of research (that is, browsing Wikipedia), I wasn’t surprised to learn that 4A’s software specializes in subsurface scattering as 2033 might have the best lighting I have ever seen in a video game. As you can imagine, you’ll be underground for the majority of your playthrough, meaning most of the effulgence derives from improvised ignition sources stuck in stationary poses: gas barrels, torches, and lanterns all make their presence known between levels, sending orange and gold shadows radiating along walls. And while an inherent baked overlay exists to prevent overwhelming darkness, the fact that you can discern a blaze fount from a distance speaks wonders about the overarching quality of the lighting.
Like most AAA games, these praises are unfortunately capped by foibles in the craft. First and foremost, 2033 has not been optimized well for PCs- I experienced numerous crashes that were only absolved by turning off certain settings (I’ve read other players have had to outright tone down the resolution). Secondly, shortcuts were effected with Artyom’s model as he is essentially an exaggerated first person camera: taking a gander down will reveal the absence of legs, while his uncovered hands look uncanny as heck (thankfully he wears gloves in the final act). Thirdly, and most noticeably, are the mutant responses to damage- 2033 may very well hold the worst paired animation schema I’ve witnessed in a video game as these motions are jarring. Whenever you slay a monstrosity, there’s no transition between the last bullet and death call -- they just up-and-initiate their pre-programmed collapse. It reminded me a lot of that defect in the Civil War FPS “A Nation Divided” wherein allies would spontaneously die on the spot without reason.
Shooting, in general, is pretty poor largely because of the inconsistent damage threshold. Every weapon feels great, but you won’t have much fun using them courtesy of the mutants varying in fatality margins: some go down consistently with headshots, others can tank an entire assault rifle clip (this being particularly irksome if you play on the harder difficulties with scarce ammunition, though more on that later). It’d be fine if 2033 made combat encounters intermittent or outright optional, but as it stands you’ll be in mandatory firefights for a good chunk of your playthrough and have to witness this incongruity.
Human enemies are luckily more stable in their faltering, and even against monsters, you’re occasionally provided allied AI that actually do a solid job mowing them down, so it isn’t all bad. On the flipside, 2033 has compulsory stealth sections which are underdeveloped, though in a twist of faith, this tends to be in your favor. See, the game hypothetically operates on the basis of shading- light sources can be destroyed or switched off, wherein you’re provided a veil of darkness to meander in and one-shot bad guys. The problem, based on my experience at least, is that lighting is ultimately irrelevant due to enemy vision cones being inherently impaired- I’ve literally had goons walk right by me while I was crouched, or see me as I peaked around corners, and not get alerted. I’ve heard the Redux version attempted to revamp the stealth, but these alterations have clearly resulted in coding errors which, combined with long-range silencers and throwing knives, honestly make the stealth a bit of a cakewalk. I’m not saying you’ll never have to redo a section, but chances are it’ll derive from accidentally springing a booby trap than a hoard catching you.
Unfortunately, these positives are negated by a baffling game design decision that frustrated me to the point of not having fun. What it comes down to is the same problem I had with Mirror’s Edge, which is this disparate juxtaposition between pure linear pathways against a free roam blueprint. When you begin a level, 7 times out of 10 the spaces before you look open-ended, seemingly promoting this idea that you can approach such obstacles in more ways than one. Sadly, though, what you’ll quickly realize is that this isn’t the case at all, and not only is it not the case, it’s downright insulting. See, 4A wasn’t interested in creating playpens for gamers to meander around in- they want you to do things exactly the way they intended, and if you try to deviate, be prepared to hit the reload button again and again and again. A group of guards blocking your way? Well, don’t bother sneaking around because you NEED to climb the ladder instead. Want to save a prisoner on the verge of execution? Don’t even think about it cause that’ll put you in sight of the snipers above. Want to take your chances fighting a giant mutant guarding a doorway? You’re wasting your time cause, plot twist, that entrance was blocked off anyway!
It does get better in the second half (one chapter set in a rundown library, in particular, is absolutely brilliant in composition), but the fact that you have to meander through 50 percent of the game dealing with this pseudo-sandbox is aggravating to a fault. Yes, you do have a compass which shows the right way; however, it more often points in the general direction of the next objective over the exact method you are obliged to utilize.
On the topic of the compass, much has been made about 2033’s HUD (or lack thereof), and while I’ve always felt animosity towards gaudier HUDs to be a bit silly, I can’t deny the numerous benefits that come from a clearer screen. That said, 2033 has a needlessly complicated tool interface that I believe could’ve been alleviated had the developers not gone tabula rasa with the display- you can only equip one ranged armament at a time (swapping requiring you to go through two different menus), certain gear like the night vision goggles need to be periodically recharged, and your watch (which reportedly indicates your oxygen level and hidden status) must be manually prompted to be viewed. These may appear like small potatoes, but when you’re in the heat of a battle and have to quickly toss a molotov grenade, or cowering from monsters and have your specs deplete, it can be pointlessly vexing.
Now the counterpoint to these grievances may be that 2033 is part-survival horror, meaning the extraneous elements are meant to deliberately induce stress in you. To this I respond maybe? I’m not huge into the genre, but my understanding is that it’s more about inventory management and maneuvering around conflicts than haggling with menus. And to be honest, after my playthrough, I don’t really consider 2033 to be survival horror- vendors for recuperating gear are a dime a dozen, there’s a lot of mandatory combat (including one scene that straight up feels like a CoD set piece), and the game is ultimately not scary. Granted, I did beat 2033 on the easiest difficulty (namely due to aforementioned annoyances with the mutants), so these facets could very well be amplified on the harder modes. But when I see titles like Dead Space and Black Flag master the interface in both a minimal and ergonomic way, it encroaches on 2033 a little.
Soundwise, I have no complaints. This is a firmly crafted enterprise that accounts for the differences between the occlusion of a sunken city and the wide berth of an exposed surface: plangent gunshots boom in the tunnels whilst gusts dampen your footsteps above. And while there isn’t much enemy diversity, mutants are capable of being individually identified by way of their unique gait (it’s saying something when the flap of wings can induce a heartbeat skip!).
When it comes to the voice acting, I’ve seen much debate online about whether to go with the Russian or English dub. To clarify, my philosophy has always been to adopt the version most culturally appropriate- if a work of fiction is rooted in a particular country, chances are the voices from that state will better infuse the story with that indescribable factor we call authenticity. Under these circumstances, 2033 is theoretically better suited with Slavic dialogue- it was made by a Russian studio, is set in Russia, and reportedly incorporates some Russian Orthodoxy. However, despite such notations, I actually recommend playing in English for a couple of reasons: one, subtitles are NOT present for the numerous side NPCs you hear conversing in the background (who tend to make interesting remarks about the world), and two, during shootouts, it’s too risky to glance at your comrades words whilst dodging creatures. Contrary to what some russophiles will tell you, the English voice acting is well-cast. No, they’re not as good as their Eastern counterparts, but at least they speak with accents (unlike a certain “acclaimed” miniseries). Plus, 4A has redone the lip-syncing, meaning you’re not dealing with any poor ADR.
The score by Alexei Omelchuk and Georgiy Beloglazov is good enough. There are times where they weirdly indulge in old-timey radio tunes that take you out of the game, but the majority of the music is what you’d expect from an action horror title- ambient beats without a particularly formative structure. Basically, they get the job done.
In the end, Metro 2033 is a fine enough FPS hampered by boneheaded mapping and a forgettable story. I won’t degrade other people’s experiences, but for me, the atmosphere truly wasn’t that great, at least not enough to supersede the game’s many problems.
NOTES
-There is an alternate ending, however the way to get it is a little contrived and not worth pursuing, especially since it isn’t canon for Last Light.
-I wasn't able to fit it in organically in the review, but facial animations are extremely well-done here, the Redux version putting them in the same camp as contemporary eighth generation releases. One of the cooler things 2033 does is have certain characters actually look directly and say something to you whenever you get up in their face (compared to most other titles where it's like you don't exist).
-Certain levels have a volatile autosave wherein it will either behave normally or force you to restart some portion back, so be warned.
-Being able to wipe off blood and soot from your mask is pretty cool, but not seeing any of it on Aryom’s palm is an example of two steps forward, one step back.
-Flies populating the face shield appear indifferently animated than flies populating your regular face.
Don’t get me wrong, atmosphere is important, especially for post-apocalyptic titles like Metro, but it’s arguably the least vital aspect behind things like, oh I don’t know, story, optimization, and gameplay, all of which 2033 has major deficits in. The premise is a nuclear war wiped out most of humanity, leaving mutants on top and the remaining Russians underground where several factions, including neo-Nazis, have formed. There are a lot of holes in this concept that, while I’m sure were addressed in the source material, aren’t even touched upon here (at least so far as I didn’t catch them). For starters, how exactly did the Moscow Metro protect against radiation when much of it is exposed? In Fallout, the bunkers were hermetically sealed; now I may not be a scientist, but in the game, you’ll find so many mask-free hypogean spaces, it seems illogical that airborne ionizing rays magically avoided them. Secondly, what exactly are the mutants? Wikipedia claims they’re transmogrified animals, however, nothing in the actual story indicates such, and given how absurd some of these monstrosities look, it seems like a giant stretch, even by sci-fi standards. Thirdly, how are there so many dang Nazis? The nuclear winter emerged in 2013, well after World War II, and you’re only ever in Russia, so where did an army of them come from? Out of all the states in history, I sincerely doubt a Slavic country would house a bastion of Nazi sympathizers given the atrocities of the second Great War.
I’m sure I could come up with more, and I certainly don’t mean to be nitpicky, but you guys need to understand dystopian video games are highly dependent on their lore: if you don’t understand how things came to be, it results in the world becoming generic to a fault. And that’s kind of the case here- the metro is a cliche dilapidated hub, the mutants indifferent from your standard vampires/zombies, and the Nazis another run-of-the-mill evil faction in the same vein as other hostile survivalists. And it’s a shame because I doubt the author of the book (Dmitry Glukhovsky) or the writers here intended for that. But without in-game descriptions, or at the very least optional data files, 2033 ultimately fails to be indistinguishable from its calamitous brethren.
All cards on the table, I doubt I’d be criticizing the setting this much had the narrative been up-to-par, but it’s honestly pretty bland. You play as Artyom, a young soldier tasked with delivering a message to the metro capital about a new threat called the Dark Ones. If you guys have ever seen the phenomenal movie 1917, Metro’s story is basically that minus the personality and impetus. Arytom’s journey takes him to many decrepit sections of the subway, but it never feels like you’re doing anything grand or important, namely because of two reasons: one, the Dark Ones are even duller than the mutants, their essence obscured for sequel purposes; and two, Artyom joins a long line of pointlessly mute protagonists, sapping him of any humanity he may have had. I’ve never understood the rationale behind narrative-driven games opting for silent heroes; it’s one thing if your product is gameplay-directed, but for titles like the original Dead Space, certain Call of Duties, and even Half-Life, I find it to be a fundamentally dumb decision, and 2033 joins those infamous ranks. By leaving the relative safety of his compound, Artyom is theoretically undergoing a nerve-wracking experience (as he literally conveys via diary entries in and in-between scenes [more on that later]), yet illogically shuts his trap when in the midst of this very madness! It’s genuinely anti-immersive, especially when you see how conveniently hackneyed the script is in its attempts at working around this lack of dialogue. Real-time observations about the state of affairs around you, whether by inner monologue or general discourse, could have also gone a long way towards imparting a sense of history to the slums you stumble about, slums that otherwise suffer from a severe lack of environmental storytelling. Don’t mistake me, each location you travel to is technically distinct from its brethren, however, the developers didn’t do much in the way of visually conveying that- everywhere you look it’s the same basic rusted metal grating contorted around shoddy marketplaces lit up by oil drums, their NPCs donning similar apparel regardless of their age or gender. The few times you head to the surface don’t bear greater fruit as the everlasting Russian winter poorly masks what is effectively a standard post-nuketown metropolis we’ve seen a million times over: you know, the leveled buildings with blown out windows, smooshed vehicles, broken down signposts, and scraggly foliage.
I get it, there’s only so much variation you can do with this archetypal setting, and I doubt the real life Moscow Metro would’ve been substantially altered in just 30-years of crude maintenance. But considering this is a game with psychic attacks and flying wing demons, a little artistic licensing wouldn’t have hurt. As it stands, it rarely feels like you’re progressing towards a grand marker when the lion’s share of milestone camps are optically indistinct from the place you just came from. There was an area later in the game that I swear induced an overwhelming sense of déjà vu in me due to its eerie similarity to a prior stage.
I don’t mean to sound completely whiny as Metro’s story isn’t bad by any means. In fact, it’s a perfectly solid entry in the standard man vs. monster conflict we’ve had since the dawn of humanity. I only bring up these criticisms to caution against those aforementioned praises coasting on atmosphere relishment: it’s vastly overstated, the subterranean tunnels being more detrimental than ambient.
Then again, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking 2033’s plot would be epic given the stunningness of the graphics. Playing the Redux version, I don’t know what upticks were done, but the final remaster is definitely breathtaking: cracked walling, razed concrete, the sleek green tint of a radiated pool, worn out textiles, and the natural disbursement of snow on corrugated surfaces; all are superb exhibitions of the monster that is 4A’s proprietary engine. From the splatter of blood on your visor to the flying of casings as you discharge weapons, tons upon tons of smaller details have been coded that I’m sure warrant multiple playthroughs to catch in their entirety. Yet even these pale in comparison to the grand feat that is the lighting. Conducting a bit of research (that is, browsing Wikipedia), I wasn’t surprised to learn that 4A’s software specializes in subsurface scattering as 2033 might have the best lighting I have ever seen in a video game. As you can imagine, you’ll be underground for the majority of your playthrough, meaning most of the effulgence derives from improvised ignition sources stuck in stationary poses: gas barrels, torches, and lanterns all make their presence known between levels, sending orange and gold shadows radiating along walls. And while an inherent baked overlay exists to prevent overwhelming darkness, the fact that you can discern a blaze fount from a distance speaks wonders about the overarching quality of the lighting.
Like most AAA games, these praises are unfortunately capped by foibles in the craft. First and foremost, 2033 has not been optimized well for PCs- I experienced numerous crashes that were only absolved by turning off certain settings (I’ve read other players have had to outright tone down the resolution). Secondly, shortcuts were effected with Artyom’s model as he is essentially an exaggerated first person camera: taking a gander down will reveal the absence of legs, while his uncovered hands look uncanny as heck (thankfully he wears gloves in the final act). Thirdly, and most noticeably, are the mutant responses to damage- 2033 may very well hold the worst paired animation schema I’ve witnessed in a video game as these motions are jarring. Whenever you slay a monstrosity, there’s no transition between the last bullet and death call -- they just up-and-initiate their pre-programmed collapse. It reminded me a lot of that defect in the Civil War FPS “A Nation Divided” wherein allies would spontaneously die on the spot without reason.
Shooting, in general, is pretty poor largely because of the inconsistent damage threshold. Every weapon feels great, but you won’t have much fun using them courtesy of the mutants varying in fatality margins: some go down consistently with headshots, others can tank an entire assault rifle clip (this being particularly irksome if you play on the harder difficulties with scarce ammunition, though more on that later). It’d be fine if 2033 made combat encounters intermittent or outright optional, but as it stands you’ll be in mandatory firefights for a good chunk of your playthrough and have to witness this incongruity.
Human enemies are luckily more stable in their faltering, and even against monsters, you’re occasionally provided allied AI that actually do a solid job mowing them down, so it isn’t all bad. On the flipside, 2033 has compulsory stealth sections which are underdeveloped, though in a twist of faith, this tends to be in your favor. See, the game hypothetically operates on the basis of shading- light sources can be destroyed or switched off, wherein you’re provided a veil of darkness to meander in and one-shot bad guys. The problem, based on my experience at least, is that lighting is ultimately irrelevant due to enemy vision cones being inherently impaired- I’ve literally had goons walk right by me while I was crouched, or see me as I peaked around corners, and not get alerted. I’ve heard the Redux version attempted to revamp the stealth, but these alterations have clearly resulted in coding errors which, combined with long-range silencers and throwing knives, honestly make the stealth a bit of a cakewalk. I’m not saying you’ll never have to redo a section, but chances are it’ll derive from accidentally springing a booby trap than a hoard catching you.
Unfortunately, these positives are negated by a baffling game design decision that frustrated me to the point of not having fun. What it comes down to is the same problem I had with Mirror’s Edge, which is this disparate juxtaposition between pure linear pathways against a free roam blueprint. When you begin a level, 7 times out of 10 the spaces before you look open-ended, seemingly promoting this idea that you can approach such obstacles in more ways than one. Sadly, though, what you’ll quickly realize is that this isn’t the case at all, and not only is it not the case, it’s downright insulting. See, 4A wasn’t interested in creating playpens for gamers to meander around in- they want you to do things exactly the way they intended, and if you try to deviate, be prepared to hit the reload button again and again and again. A group of guards blocking your way? Well, don’t bother sneaking around because you NEED to climb the ladder instead. Want to save a prisoner on the verge of execution? Don’t even think about it cause that’ll put you in sight of the snipers above. Want to take your chances fighting a giant mutant guarding a doorway? You’re wasting your time cause, plot twist, that entrance was blocked off anyway!
It does get better in the second half (one chapter set in a rundown library, in particular, is absolutely brilliant in composition), but the fact that you have to meander through 50 percent of the game dealing with this pseudo-sandbox is aggravating to a fault. Yes, you do have a compass which shows the right way; however, it more often points in the general direction of the next objective over the exact method you are obliged to utilize.
On the topic of the compass, much has been made about 2033’s HUD (or lack thereof), and while I’ve always felt animosity towards gaudier HUDs to be a bit silly, I can’t deny the numerous benefits that come from a clearer screen. That said, 2033 has a needlessly complicated tool interface that I believe could’ve been alleviated had the developers not gone tabula rasa with the display- you can only equip one ranged armament at a time (swapping requiring you to go through two different menus), certain gear like the night vision goggles need to be periodically recharged, and your watch (which reportedly indicates your oxygen level and hidden status) must be manually prompted to be viewed. These may appear like small potatoes, but when you’re in the heat of a battle and have to quickly toss a molotov grenade, or cowering from monsters and have your specs deplete, it can be pointlessly vexing.
Now the counterpoint to these grievances may be that 2033 is part-survival horror, meaning the extraneous elements are meant to deliberately induce stress in you. To this I respond maybe? I’m not huge into the genre, but my understanding is that it’s more about inventory management and maneuvering around conflicts than haggling with menus. And to be honest, after my playthrough, I don’t really consider 2033 to be survival horror- vendors for recuperating gear are a dime a dozen, there’s a lot of mandatory combat (including one scene that straight up feels like a CoD set piece), and the game is ultimately not scary. Granted, I did beat 2033 on the easiest difficulty (namely due to aforementioned annoyances with the mutants), so these facets could very well be amplified on the harder modes. But when I see titles like Dead Space and Black Flag master the interface in both a minimal and ergonomic way, it encroaches on 2033 a little.
Soundwise, I have no complaints. This is a firmly crafted enterprise that accounts for the differences between the occlusion of a sunken city and the wide berth of an exposed surface: plangent gunshots boom in the tunnels whilst gusts dampen your footsteps above. And while there isn’t much enemy diversity, mutants are capable of being individually identified by way of their unique gait (it’s saying something when the flap of wings can induce a heartbeat skip!).
When it comes to the voice acting, I’ve seen much debate online about whether to go with the Russian or English dub. To clarify, my philosophy has always been to adopt the version most culturally appropriate- if a work of fiction is rooted in a particular country, chances are the voices from that state will better infuse the story with that indescribable factor we call authenticity. Under these circumstances, 2033 is theoretically better suited with Slavic dialogue- it was made by a Russian studio, is set in Russia, and reportedly incorporates some Russian Orthodoxy. However, despite such notations, I actually recommend playing in English for a couple of reasons: one, subtitles are NOT present for the numerous side NPCs you hear conversing in the background (who tend to make interesting remarks about the world), and two, during shootouts, it’s too risky to glance at your comrades words whilst dodging creatures. Contrary to what some russophiles will tell you, the English voice acting is well-cast. No, they’re not as good as their Eastern counterparts, but at least they speak with accents (unlike a certain “acclaimed” miniseries). Plus, 4A has redone the lip-syncing, meaning you’re not dealing with any poor ADR.
The score by Alexei Omelchuk and Georgiy Beloglazov is good enough. There are times where they weirdly indulge in old-timey radio tunes that take you out of the game, but the majority of the music is what you’d expect from an action horror title- ambient beats without a particularly formative structure. Basically, they get the job done.
In the end, Metro 2033 is a fine enough FPS hampered by boneheaded mapping and a forgettable story. I won’t degrade other people’s experiences, but for me, the atmosphere truly wasn’t that great, at least not enough to supersede the game’s many problems.
NOTES
-There is an alternate ending, however the way to get it is a little contrived and not worth pursuing, especially since it isn’t canon for Last Light.
-I wasn't able to fit it in organically in the review, but facial animations are extremely well-done here, the Redux version putting them in the same camp as contemporary eighth generation releases. One of the cooler things 2033 does is have certain characters actually look directly and say something to you whenever you get up in their face (compared to most other titles where it's like you don't exist).
-Certain levels have a volatile autosave wherein it will either behave normally or force you to restart some portion back, so be warned.
-Being able to wipe off blood and soot from your mask is pretty cool, but not seeing any of it on Aryom’s palm is an example of two steps forward, one step back.
-Flies populating the face shield appear indifferently animated than flies populating your regular face.
2 Comments
@Flameboy928 - thanks brother, yeah it was definitely annoying. I'll check out your review ASAP.
Flameyboy928
3 months ago