February 26, 2010 - Next month, the bombs start falling and we start running. THQ's horror-shooter Metro 2033 may not have all of the pomp and splash of a Modern Warfare 2 or God of War III, but marketing campaigns are not necessarily the best indicators of quality. Metro 2033 has all the makings of a sleeper hit. I played the game at its Moscow debut late last year and have not seen it in the interim, but I've had Metro 2033 in the back of my head ever since for a number of reasons. Well, five to precise. And here are the reasons I think you, too, should have it on your radar.
Basing Games on Books is a Great Trend
Metro 2033 is a licensed product, but it's not based on a movie or television series. The source is a novel – and a very popular novel, too. Dmitry Glukhovsky's Metro 2033 was a breakout hit in Russia and has since been translated into many other languages, including English. The dark sci-fi adventure tells the story of a future where the bombs have fallen. Moscow's survivors were driven into the city's extensive underground metro where they must fight against encroachment by terrible creatures that sprung up in the aftermath of the atomic apocalypse as well as negotiate delicate relations between the city-states that have arisen at the various metro stations.
Videogames based on books? Now this is a trend I can get behind. Recently, we've seen Electronic Arts transform the still-breathtaking epic poem Inferno into a blood-spattered Grand Guignol videogame. Despite what you think of how EA handled the poem, you cannot deny they have serious taste in literature. Though Metro 2033 is no Divine Comedy, the adoption of literary narratives into games holds incredible promise because there are no set visuals to adhere to -- everything is in the mind's eye.
Metro 2033's fallen Soviet setting is creepy-cool.
Metro 2033 Has a Strong Narrative
This ties into the previous point. Narrative is really taking a starring role in the current wave of videogames, from the story-driven Heavy Rain to the sweeping tale of Dragon Age: Origins. Thanks to its literary origins, Metro 2033 possesses a strong narrative that drives the action. You will get to know the people of the various metro stations and learn all about the cold world that followed the nuclear war. Great narrative in service of excellent gameplay can pull you even deeper into the action, giving you characters to empathize with and motivations that become your own. If Artyom, the hero of Metro 2033, is fully fleshed out and somebody that I can either relate to or at least sympathize with, I'll be that much more involved with helping him survive the horrors above that want into the below.
However, as much as I appreciate the power of a good narrative to push a videogame to the next level, there is such a thing as too much exposition. Metro 2033 needs to find the proper balance between speaking and shooting to remain engaging as a videogame. This was a big concern when I played an early version of Metro 2033 late last year, as scripted events really prevented me from exploring as much as I wanted to. This problem is compounded by the next reason you should keep an eye on Metro 2033: the setting. Because when you have a place as fascinating as the Moscow underground, you'll want to poke around.
The Moscow Underground is a Brilliant Setting
Moscow Metro map
Metro 2033 is set in the massive Moscow subway system, an achievement of engineering that is as impressive today as it was in 1931, when the proposal to build the underground was put into motion. There are a total of 180 stations (some with stunning architecture and decoration for being built in the waning shadow of World War II) along twelve different lines. The most recent line – Butovskaya – was completed in 2003, making the underground a project that has so far spanned seven decades. I wish more people could experience the grandeur, history, and efficiency of the Moscow Metro because it would help set up just how perfect it is as the setting of a horror-themed shooter. The kind of claustrophobia it offers helps feed into the terror of being trapped in the dark with things that were never intended to walk.
You do not spend all of Metro 2033 pushing through monster-filled tunnels, though. You must slip a protective mask over your face and brave the surface world. Despite being wide open to the West for a few decades now, Moscow is still a very foreign place. Most North American gamers likely know it from Reagan Era-movies or the Russian campaigns in Call of Duty. Although it has been Westernized since the fall of the Soviet empire (there are a considerable number of McDonald's in Moscow), there are plenty of reminders of the Cold War everywhere. Seeing Soviet architecture smashed to the ground by nuclear weapons offers a glimpse at what might have been. For a gamer that grew up in the eighties, it's still chilling to behold.
Bullets as Currency
In the world of Metro 2033, cash holds little value. Instead, a premium has been placed on ammunition – particularly ammunition produced before the war. These bullets are higher quality and thus do more damage. But to get at some of the better weapons in the underground, you need to trade. So, here's the big trade-off. Do you hold on to these powerful bullets and use them against enemies in a dangerous situation? Or do you hoard them and splurge on better gear, relegating yourself to using weaker ammo? Bear in mind, ammunition of all stripes is scarce, so you want every shot to count, regardless of when it was produced.
This commerce system means you've got to think before you shoot because if you rush the tunnels, guns blazing, you'll soon find yourself not only broke, but dead.
Do you blow the payroll on these terrors of the tube?
4A Games' Authenticity
Although ones and zeroes are a universal language, how developers string them together is a reflection of personal sensibilities, many of which have to do with upbringing and location. There is no hint of xenophobia in looking at the original Katamari Damacy and thinking, "That could have only come out of Japan."
Developer 4A Games is based in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. Many members of 4A are former GSC Game World employees, which was the studio behind S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Ukraine is the site of Chernobyl, the failed nuclear power plant that, according to National Geographic, released 400 times more radioactive material than Hiroshima. When you live in a country home to such a tragic incident, you cannot help but be shaped by it. That's why I am so curious to see 4A Games' commentary on the fictional nuclear war that drove the people of Moscow into the underground. The book contains some insight, but I expect the legacy of Chernobyl to be channeled into Metro 2033 in a way that few developers in other countries could manage. There will be an authenticity to it. And that's a currency all too rare in games
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