After enough time, Metro 2033 was finally released. To tell you the truth, I was looking forward to it. It looked quite atmospheric and the story was based off of the novel so a good narrative was in order. Thankfully, author Dmitry Glukhovsky kept developer 4A games in line to actually create that extremely atmospheric and fine tuned experience the the game looked like it had in earlier stages.

   The game starts out 20 years after on apocalyptic event wipes the world clean (2033-20=?). Like Fallout (which may have been an influence for Dmitry), some people manage to escape to the safety of the underground. In this case, metro tunnels. Young Artyom learns that mutants are threatening his home metro of Exhibition and he must set out for the city of Polis to warn the others of the attacks. It really is quite compelling, and it should keep you playing the entire way through. This enough gives you a reason to play the game, but it just gets better.

   The graphics are damn close to astounding (if not well past) and should make you stop and stare at the beautiful world you're in. Whether you're above ground in the ruined city of Moscow or in the metro tunnels, the game looks great and it never seems to miss a beat. The audio department is no slouch with good voice acting, great weapon effects, and a sound effects that go well in game world.

   And while the gunplay is good, but it doesn't seem to be the full highlight. The entire game acts in a way that makes it feel as if you're really involved and the world and this quest to save the world you know. In fact, the "military grade bullet as currency" idea was good, but after a while the system gets thrown out. It is always a tough decision. Either use weak bullets and barely live or shoot your money into your enemies and scream "DIE BENCHES!" (weird moment there) as you slaughter them all. But of course, that means less money for air filters needed for irradiated areas and no more ammo. The stealth seems a little bit hit and miss, but at least it's there. And at least you can kill things with it.

   Overall, Metro 2033 packs a nice little punch as your kill nosalies and bandits in a beautiful, atmospheric (I like that word a lot) world. It definitely isn't the best FPS, or even game on the market, but it feels like it was 4A's goal. This game goes down with the rest of the good ones of this generation. I applaud Dmitry Glukhovsky for making a great novel, as well as 4A games, some former developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., for making such an excellent game.

Score: 9