Metro 2033

The Good
Here is the other antithesis to the Hollywoodized post apocalyptic genre, embodied in games like Fallout 3 or Gears of War. The first is of course the more famous STALKER. While it portrayed a desolate landscape in a depressing world, it was largely open ended. The open air and sky was your only friend.

Take the horror of STALKER's Chernobyl Zone then, and compress it down into the small corridors of a Metro tunnel. Foremost, you see it in the eyes of the individuals you encounter. That unique sort of Slavic ruggedness is portrayed wonderfully in both games. But the people in STALKER were in the Zone by choice. In Metro, it is children, wives, and parents who live in the Metro tunnels. The stations are exquisitely detailed, bustling with activity.

Anyone who has ever ridden the Metro in a major city will immediately feel the claustrophobia. The metro of Fallout 3 is nothing compared to this. The Stations are crowded, literally filled with people talking, yelling, crying, each having their individual conversations. No other game simulates being trapped in a mass of people so well.

If there is one thing about Metro that warrants a playthrough, it is it's atmosphere. It is better than every major Western game, and its only competitors are other games from the Post Soviet bloc.

Graphics of Metro deserve special note. Here is that rare game that was not optimized for console hardware from 2005. At Very High settings, this game rivals Crysis in its depth and widespread usage of effects. The atmosphere is all the better for it. Audio is similarly excellent, from subtle touches like the echo of all sounds in the tunnels, to the crackling sound of factory grade bullets that stand out in a world dominated by cheaply made copies. Playing in Russian is a must.

The Bad
Linear, Linear, Linear. We're talking Half Life 2 linear here. There are moments in the game where a single block of wreckage is positioned just right for you to be able to climb it. For a game that has avoided most of the terrible trends in the gaming industry, it has fully succumbed to linearity.

This game is quite harder than your typical Western fare. Sometimes overwhelmingly so especially toward the end. The lack of a quicksave system is all the more frustrating as a result.

The Bottom Line
You play STALKER for its open world, Cryostasis for its story, and Metro 2033 for its atmosphere. In my opinion, these are the three great Russian games that challenged the West's tired Call of Duty clones each year they were released.

Atmosphere is the highlight, the core of what makes Metro great. If you are not already in a reflective, melancholic mood when you start the game, you will certainly be by the end. There is never a moment of relief from the oppressiveness of the world around you. And every time you enter a Metro station, you will remember Metro 2033.