I haven’t played a first person shooter in a very long time and this one is an old game, first released some ten years ago, though this Redux version I believe updates the engine some. I only played it for two reasons: because it was free, one of the many offered by Epic to lure players to try out their platform, and because I actually have read the novel it is based on. I didn’t really like the book either but I do know this game was a hit, spawning multiple sequels so I wanted to be able to compare.

First off, I’d like to note it really was somewhat frustrating that this is a non-Steam game as I’ve grown accustomed to features such as taking screenshots through the Steam overlay and having access to the Steam community. This was compounded by the fact that this Redux version is missing some of the tutorials and basic instructions that it seems were present in the original version. For example you’re never told you have a lighter that can set things on fire or how to recharge electrical equipment. After testing trying several options, I had to go back to using Fraps for screenshots and had to look up the solutions of many interface and control issues elsewhere. It’s not that big a deal but it is time-wasting and it’s a sign that Epic really should hurry to at least reach feature parity with Steam if they want to be a contender in this space.

Anyway this game does in fact retrace the same story that I’ve already read in the book, albeit in a somewhat simplified form with much more action. You play as Artyom and you must travel across the metro system to get help for your home station which is under threat by the Dark Ones. Unlike the book, you need to fight off mutated monsters right from the beginning and engage in many firefights with other humans. There’s little in the way of character development here as Artyom’s own background is skipped over and I think the story is even harder to understand as this one of those silent protagonist games where everyone talks except for you. All obstacles apart from those that can be dealt with by either shooting or running are done away with but of course you have more weapons to choose from and there is even combat on the trams that travel along the metro tracks.

Graphics-wise any game this old is certainly showing its age and here the character models in particular aren’t the best. But the lighting effects which as I understand it was what was mainly updated look fantastic to me. I reiterate that game graphics are now good enough that I don’t need a great need to chase the latest and greatest. The level designs are solid as well and it’s pretty great how we get both cramped, claustrophobic tunnels and wide-open spaces on the surface. I have no complaints when it comes to production values except that I really wished they included all of the necessary tutorials about the full set of tools available to the player. I played most of the game without even knowing that it’s possible to recharge your batteries and looking it up online, I see that I’m far from being alone.

Yet in the end, I disliked this game because I just don’t find its design philosophy appealing to me at all. Apart from maybe two areas which are wide open, this is basically a very linear shooter with extensive narrative elements. This means that it relies heavily on scripted events and for much of the game you have one or more NPCs along with you telling you what to do. In this kind of situation, a lot of the combat is actually optional and in some cases, the stream of enemies may be endless. Often the map simply calls for you to get to some predefined point, so just running there and not shooting anything works. Other times, just letting the NPCs do most of the fighting while you just try to get the monsters targeting you to get off your back. Even when you’re alone, there are plenty of times when the monsters are supposed to follow a script so you just have to let things play out.

This kind of cinematic on-rails gameplay wouldn’t be so bad, except that this game also wants to be a survival horror experience in which you must diligently search for and hoard resources. Above-ground and in contaminated areas, you must wear a gas mask to survive and the filter must be swapped out regularly. This means that there is constant time pressure to move quickly and not waste time. To me, the design pushes you towards two contradictory directions. On the other hand, there is pressure to keep moving especially when you’re working in conjunction with NPC teams. Yet at the same time, you’re expected to carefully look around for spare ammunition, secret stashes and collectibles. I wish it would be one way or the other. Either reassure the player that future areas will always provide you with what you need so keep shooting and moving or let up on the time pressure and let you take your time with things to engage enemies at your chosen pace to conserve resources.

For the combat itself, I find the fights against other humans, whether they are bandits or Nazis or Fascists, to be quite satisfying as you can sneak around them and pick them off. You have access to silent pneumatic guns and throwing knives for stealth kills and can go around extinguishing lights to create more darkness to hide in. Make a mistake and all of them rush towards you, which seems fair. Fights against monsters however are pure chaos as there are either so many of them that you can barely tell what is going on or it is against super-tough enemies that are bullet sponges. Blood splatters and muzzle flashes add to the difficulty of seeing what you are shooting at and of course the monsters move very, very fast. I find these fights very gimmicky and not fun at all. Once you realize that these fights are particularly scripted and shooting at most of the monsters is just a waste of bullets, there is little fun to be had here. You only really need to know where the game wants you to go in the level and head straight there.

Basically I feel that if this were more of an open-world RPG, I would really love it. But it isn’t and even the peaceful moments when you get to walk around bases feel meaningless. You can buy ammunition and components for your guns but it’s pointless as you will pick up far better fully upgraded guns when you need to. I think it might be better to keep all of the military ammunition that is able to be used as money to actually shoot the extra tough enemies you encounter. As it is, it is quite impressive how much work they put in to make those stations come alive. But there are no game mechanics attached to any of it beyond picking up some spare ammo here and there. It’s all pure sightseeing.

At least this was a short game so I was done with it quite quickly and I did enjoy the sightseeing. The Russian post-apocalyptical setting did of course remind me of STALKER and the makers clearly wanted to refer to it as much as possible. I don’t remember anomalies being in the book version of Metro 2033. But it also made me feel that I’d much rather go back and play STALKER again.