The post-apocalyptic setting has become insanely popular for film, videogames and TV in the last 7 years or so. Tales of hardship, of humanity on the brink of extinction, fighting all the odds and then some in a world that is so familiar yet so foreign at the same time.
Some of the most popular tales from this genre are The Walking Dead, Fallout, World War Z, 28 Days Later and I Am Legend. Though these stories were ones that started with small cult followings until they exploded into popularity somewhere down the line. This is where the Metro series is different, because you see, the series already had a fanbase of hundreds of thousands before the first of Artyom's tales in the Russian metro tunnels was even finished.
In 2005 Russian author Dimitry Glukhovsky released his much anticipated novel Metro 2033, after having started as a series of short stories online, the author dedicated his time to create a full blown story and the first Metro novel is the result of that. Gaining not just a fanbase in eastern Europe but internationally and catching the eye of 4A Games & THQ. 5 years later and a videogame adaptation of the novel was released as an FPS Survival Horror hybrid; despite the problems Metro 2033 had back in 2010, it was a brilliant showcase of a post apocalyptic world and a great example of how to adapt existing material into a videogame.
Now just 4 years later, Deep Silver is taking us back to the Metro to explore post-apocalyptic Ruissia again, but this time with new features and a new engine...but is it any better than the original version?
In 2013 a nuclear war devastated the world, targeting Russia in particular. The planet became irradiated and uninhabitable, plunged into a permanent nuclear winter. Survivors of the attacks went underground, to live in the country's metro tunnels. Those who didn't make it, mutated and now roam the surface.
20 years later you play as Artyom, a man who was born just before the bombs fell and as a result has little recollection of what the outside world ever looked like. When a ranger by the name of Hunter contacts Artyom and tells him that his station is under threat from a paranormal force known as the Dark Ones, it becomes Artyom's mission to travel across Russia using its underground network of train tunnels to unite stations in an attempt to help save his station from this force.
Metro's narrative is tight and convincing for the most part. The world is one of the most convincing and interesting scenarios of dealing with an apocalypse that I have ever seen. It reminds of slums that plague third world countries, with makeshift houses made out of cardboard and bits of wood littering stations. Forcing a population of 5000 to live in small, cramped and unsanitary conditions. Factions form, politics takes a role in trying to settle unrest between warring stations and the military keeps stations safe from both mutants and other humans.
However Artyom's story is of two halves. Whilst the uniting stations and exploration of the world is entirely convincing and well told; the paranormal elements become nonsensical and at times a little silly. As the story progresses it becomes more and more engrossed in the paranormal and by the end of the game you are left with an underwhelming ending that leaves you asking more questions than you started with.
Metro 2033's gameplay is a FPS through and through. However it can vary depending on what gameplay setting you choose. In the Redux re-release you have the option between 'Spartan' and 'Survival' gameplay types. Survival is the original Metro 2033 experience, supplies are extremely scarce and stealth is a more viable option than combat in almost every scenario. Spartan however more closely resembles the gameplay of sequel Metro: Last Light. A heavier focus on combat and more frequent and plentiful resources; you;ll still be scavenging and running thin on supplies but nowhere near as much as you would on survival.
