Impressions: Metro 2033

It's a strange yet true fact that portions of Moscow's underground Metro transit system were built to withstand a nuclear strike and serve as massive fallout bunkers in the event the Cold War ever got incredibly hot. In Metro 2033, based on the novel of the same name by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, it did. What's left of Moscow's populace has been living in the Metro system for more than two decades, stations have become their own city-states and only the brave (or suicidal) venture to the surface.

We recently got to take a guided tour of THQ and 4A Games' adventure FPS based on the novel and came away with a new appreciation for sunlight, fresh air and the ability for plot-driven, scripted first person games a la Half-Life to still surprise us. We'll recount what we saw after the break.
The demo started out with the game and novel's main character, Artyom, getting reading to brave the outside world along with the man who raised him after his mother's death. Surviving on the surface in the midst of a nuclear winter requires wearing a gas mask and setting a timer on Artyom's watch that will let you know when the mask's filters are about to be used up. The mask can also break altogether should it be struck by gunfire.

Flying bullets are the least of Artyom's worries once he's outside in the roaring snowstorm. Moments after his rendezvous with scavengers who comb what's left of Moscow for precious supplies, his group is smack dab in the middle of a stampede ... of giant, mutated dogs. And in Metro 2033, if it's not mutants out to kill you and everyone you know, it's Metro dwellers from other stations.


We got a tour of Artyom's home station, which was bustling with activity and -- as you can see in the screenshots of the game -- looks like a real, lived-in place. Every area we saw had this quality; the attention to detail in every facet of the game world is already spectacular. Players will be able to use the game's currency system -- real, pre-blast bullets -- to buy and upgrade new improvised weapons, gas mask filters and other items essential to survival in the Metro.

If it's not mutants out to kill you and everyone you know, it's Metro dwellers from other stations.

Infiltrating another Metro station was up next, a sequence which showed off another game mechanic: night vision goggles that must be recharged using a small hand-operated generator. Destroying light sources and getting the slip on enemies in the dark was key to surviving this area, but keeping quiet was made tricky by the noisy device.

The final stop on our tour was literally an on-rails sequence, where Artyom and three others had to outrun mutants while riding on a modified service cart through the Metro tunnels. This sequence offered some truly frightening up-close looks at the more humanoid mutants, who'd leap onto the cart and come within inches of Artyom's face. Even though we weren't controlling the sequence, it was edge-of-your-seat all the way.

Even though we only got a tiny taste of what promises to be a 10+ hour game, its combination of tried-and-true scripted FPS gameplay, unique setting and the three enemies -- mutants, radiation and other humans -- have definitely put it this 2010 release our watch list.