Someone calls her gray copy s.T.A.L.K.E.R. Someone says that she is able to give a unique game experience. For whom is it true, or truth, as usual, somewhere in the middle? Hello! You are on the blog “Breathe deeper”, my name is Lesha, and today we will talk about the phenomenon “Metro 2033”. Before we start, it is worth noting that this material is not a review. He may appear a little later. Now we will analyze interesting mechanics that are rarely found in games, and also recall what we actually love the story about the gloomy Moscow subway.
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A little about why I generally decided to write this material. I met a class of the fifth class of the Metro series. That is, it turns out, 10 years ago. Then the book made a huge impression on me. And when, after a few years, I found out that based on the novel there is a game, then I immediately wanted to try it. Since then, I have passed and rechecked parts of the series on all the game platforms I have. More recently, I launched the original 2033 and was surprised from how well it looks after so many years.
What is the "Metro 2033"?
First of all, I will remind you what the game was about. Her events unfold in Moscow 20 years after the nuclear war that happened in 2013. The inhabitants of the capital took refuge in the subway, where they arranged everyday life. In 2033, the VDNH station is attacked by mysterious mutants. The protagonist Artem sets off on a trip through the entire metro to ask for help in the policy – a certain capital of the underground world.
I thought for a long time where to start the analysis of the game, I climbed on the Internet, where I noticed a little oddity. Many sites gave completely different definitions to the genre. Someone stated that the “metro” was a horror sterned, somewhere it was written that it was stealth explosion, and somewhere-“The first-person shooter”. It seems that it will be the right one first of all to figure out which genre the project still belongs to.
The term Survival or in Russian "Svyazhach" began to be applied to a fairly wide group of video games that were developed in the 90s of the last century. Then this word was called a separate squeeze of action, the only difference between which was in the setting, where the protagonist was sent. In such games, gamer, as a rule, was placed in an open world with limited resources and equipment. The main goal is to collect as many useful items as possible and get alive to the end. An ideal example of such a game is The Long Dark, if you have not played, I strongly advise you to evaluate, get unforgettable emotions.
Now let’s deal with the concept of “survival horror” and find out why the “metro” still belongs to a slightly different genre. I put forward the thesis (just do not laugh): “Metro 2033” in its mechanics and mood is much closer to Arma 2 than to Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark and Silent Hill . Please, remove the cursor from the Diesley button, now I will explain everything. The uniqueness of the 4a Games project is that it has become one of the first games in a separate genre called Horror-Themed Survival. I did not find an accurate translation of this term into Russian, because, I dare to assume that no one is engaged in such nonsense besides me. The peculiarity of this genre is that the developers do not set a paramount task to scare the player. If the same Resident is concentrated on solving puzzles, shoots from monsters and total saving resources, then “2033” on the contrary throws the player in hot kneels, having previously poured him a full pot of cartridges. Well, or not complete, but we will definitely return to this later. Their common is a setting, where the user has to survive in an extreme situation. And it doesn’t matter if it is a zombie apocalypse or a nuclear war. I hope you have a little concept.
Resident Evil 3 Remake
As for the first -person shooter, I think no one has questions that the game completely and completely falls under this definition. We have a machine gun and goals at which you need to send pieces of lead.
The mixture of genres managed to comment on Glukhovsky himself* back in 2009. According to him, despite the departure from the book canon, the presence of various mechanics went to the game only to the benefit:
“It seems to me, no matter how voluminous and in what genre the game is, it is still doomed to lose some of the diversity and plot saturation of the book world. Cinema, no matter how good it may be, this is also a format. And the format is always a vast bed. “Here you need to cut off your legs, but here you need to shorten your head a little to get into”. This is inevitable and you need to treat it calmly ".
Dmitry Glukhovsky*
In order to understand how the story of the game begins, we have to go into the past. In the yard 1996, the Soviet Union has already collapsed, the wind was walking in the heads of the people, and jeans jackets and mini-skirts come into fashion. In the middle of this Sumbur, a 17-year-old guy named Dmitry* is thinking of writing a book about the post-serving world. A couple more years take to collect the texture and think through the plot. But already in 2002, the first version of the novel appears. By the way, a trip of Glukhovsky* to Chernobyl played an important role. It was there that he drew inspiration to describe the city abandoned by people.
As the writer later admitted, his book was not interested in large publishers. Having decided that it’s not worth the good, Dmitry* created the site where he uploaded the text, having previously divided it into chapters. He later accompanied him with photographs and an emboss, allowing him to tune in to the right way.
After placing the text on the Internet, Glukhovsky*, of course, did not wake up famous at the moment, but the number of readers, albeit slowly, but still grew. When thousands of people managed to get acquainted with the book for free, publishers remembered the talented author. Roman appeared on bookstore shelves in 2005. Two parties with a total circulation of 11 thousand scattered like hot pies. By that time, Dmitry* had already changed the plot somewhat, adding seven chapters and leaving the protagonist alive. Yes, who did not know, in the original version, Artem died from a crazy bullet. This fate was attributed to Vitalik – a friend of the protagonist.
And what happened to the book https://casinojinx.uk/ Metro, I think everyone who has once entered the book. Dozens of novels from authors from all over the world, thousands of fans, longing for a meeting with their idol, a possible film and, of course, games.
Start of development
The first game, by the way, like the first book, the story is also quite interesting. For some reason, many sources that I studied by preparing this video say that there were no problems with the transfer of rights to the Metro. They write about the beginning of development literally one sentence. In fact, everything was not entirely.
First, Andrei Prokhorov contacted the author – one of the main members of the Ukrainian GSC Game World, known for the series S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Glukhovsky* wanted a million dollars as a royalti. Of course, this answer did not suit the studio, and the writer had to agree to 10 thousand evergreen. However, he admitted that he was not very upset due to a small amount. And something tells me that even now he does not regret the decision made.
The development was taken by a newly formed studio, where in addition to Prokhorov, the leading GSC programmers Oles Shishkovtsov and Alexander Maksimchuk, who left the team due to disagreements with the leadership. Working builds began to appear already in 2006, but a public demo version became available only three years later, in 2009.
A year ago, I already made a material in which I spoke about the reasons why the series S is so fond of in the post -Soviet space.T.A.L.K.E.R. If you haven’t seen it yet, the link will be in the description, be sure to look.
Features of gameplay
Let’s make a small remark before moving to the gameplay segment. In this video, I will try not to delve into the difference between the passage on Harkdkor and the easiest level of complexity. At least because Stopgame has already come out of a similar material, but I do not want to produce copywords. Rather, on the contrary, I will try to focus on unique, well, or in extreme cases of not hackneyed mechanics, which are almost never found in other games.
Divide areas with active gameplay (well, those where you run with a machine gun and shugging from the slightest sound) can be divided into two groups – tunnels/stations and surface. And just the division – the main advantage of this game.
If you went through the "metro", then remember that above the hero must constantly wear a gas mask. Adding an air mask to the game is not new even as of 2010. She appeared in the same "s.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat ", released a year earlier. But 4A Games, unlike colleagues, elegantly turned an additional means of protection, without which you can go through the whole game, into an essay, if it comes to infected areas. Without filters, Artem will not live for several seconds, and the search for additional promises unpleasant meetings with mutants who are not averse to enjoying humanity. Something similar was in the first Dead Space . However, in the space Odyssey, the levels in outer space were not so long.
I remember how the first time I went through a ground location with a bourbon and was afraid to move away from the route. The filters remained for a minute, there was only half the machine in the machine. And I forgot to buy cartridges for the rest of the weapon.
I don’t know if the developers really had such an idea, or they simply created a level and stumbled up in the random (in fact not) place of monsters, and my other brain filled with caffeine thought up, but I noticed one very interesting feature. Now I’ll try to explain how the developers flirt with our psyche.
A person is born with three reactions to the danger: to fight, run or freeze. As a rule, if we feel that we can cope with the situation – we are fighting. If we understand that we will not take it out, we run. If neither one or the other option is impossible due to certain circumstances – we hide or just stand still, not knowing what to do next. Psychologists say that, unfortunately, most often people choose the third option. Why this happens? In reality, a person is faced with social and psychological dangers, from which it is impossible to escape and which cannot be solved by fists. For example, in 2002, scientists put an unusual experiment, they simulated a fire in an underground tunnel. According to the results, many people refused to leave their cars, even when they were covered with smoke.
Let’s get back to the "Metro". I don’t know how you are, but at first I was very "stupid". I was afraid to stick into the houses, trying to find, as it seemed to me, a safer way along the surface. I was looking for the opportunity not to fall down, but to jump over that unfortunate ditch at the very beginning of the level. Because of this, I lost the precious minutes of the filter, and ultimately Artem was dying.
But do not think that 4A Games somehow limits the player. Quite the contrary, developers give different types of players the opportunity to search for their own ways to pass. Their only condition is that you should not stand still or try to play by the rules. So, for those who are afraid of everything and everything, there is the opportunity to run a dangerous area, passing both mutants and potential secrets and points of replenishment of filters. Nevertheless, the method is quite working. Those players who are not afraid of battles with mutants resort to another option – a slow study of the proposed location with cleaning all rooms. Unfortunately, in the first game, the developers were not too fond of adding points of interest, a “ray of hope” in this regard, much more attractive. Nevertheless, to look at 2033, too, there is something. Hunter cache is confirmed. But one way or another, we again get to Bourbon. Yes, a little slower, but having learned a little more about the world of the game.
A little earlier, I did not accidentally talk about the underground component and the creatures of its inhabiting. It probably makes no sense to devote a separate block to opponents of both monsters and people. The authors did not offer anything innovative, in fact these are just blanks, the purpose of which is to prevent you from passing from point “A” to point “B”.
Interestingly, a few years before the release of the game, art director Alexander Kostyuk described the behavior of mutants so much:
“We try to maximize adequate and interesting behavior for all opponents. For people, more cunning behavior and elements of team tactics will be characteristic – competent “analyzing” shelters, the interaction of fighters of different “classes”, etc. D. Monsters will have unique and unusual tactics that are difficult to expect from an ordinary person. ".
Alexander Kostyuk-art director "Metro 2033"
Unusual internal economy
Another extremely interesting mechanics appearing in the first two games of the Metro series is ammunition of different types of machine guns. In the course of passing the plot, the hero can use both pre -war ammunition and bullets produced in the subway. The former are much less common, but the damage is inflicted by significantly larger compared to the second.
According to Laura, due to the depreciation of the usual currencies, the residents of the metro began to use ammunition instead of money. Here’s what is interesting: in the book, cartridges for the machine are not divided into produced in the pre -war times and made by a artisanal method. Glukhovsky* describes a number of scenes in which the main character leaps several “bullets” from the store to pay them.
If you have not played either the original 2033 or the Ray of Hope, I will give a little advice. After the levels of the “policy” and “depot” of stores where you can spend savings, no longer meets. This means that you can safely charge your machine gun with “golden” ammunition and watering enemies in bursts is much more effective.
Stealth implementation
We return to the mechanics, players are confronted with a choice – to simplify the passage of a complex site or get to the base and purchase an improved barrel or buy ordinary cartridges for another gun. Passing the game for the first time, you do not know if you will have the opportunity to improve your arsenal, or will you have to continue passing with the same barrel. This motivated me to save any consumables and try not to get involved in a shootout again.
And 4a Games, as it were, says, do not want to fight, we have a stealth. Playing the subway in childhood, I did not understand why mechanics were added to it for secretive movement. Artyom has cool guns that can extinguish all enemies on the way. Then, having appreciated other titles, I came to the conclusion that the stealth mechanic in the 4a Games project is not like those that are found in most other releases. As a rule, the protagonist acts according to the same scenario: he enters the enemy behind his back, strangles him or cut down on the script. Artem, on the other hand, does not know how to cut down the quiet. Therefore, in order to get around enemy patrols, you have to almost by heart to learn the map and remember the locations of the shields that turn off the electricity, as well as the routes of the enemies. Yes, we can kill the enemy from one shot with a pneumatic weapon, but his corpse will find a partner and raise the alarm.
Secret paths for secretive movements, by the way, are also realized in an unusual way. No one will write to you on the boot screen that there is a secret pass in the corner of the card. No one will say directly how to get around the patrols, quietly sneaking through the pipes. All this information has to be obtained, carefully listening to the conversations of NPC. And you know, playing is so much more interesting.
And in the game there are the very levels of honor on which the finale depends. The presence of a bad or good ending is not some kind of unique feature of the game. Therefore, we will not dwell on this.
And what in the end?
In this material, I did not pay attention to the obvious misses that did not even correct the Redux version. The game suffered from stupid opponents, who sometimes took it not cunning, but simply watered space in front of them with lead. 4A Games was not particularly worn over the study of the backdrops. When you move away from the beaten route, a little sloppiness immediately catches your eye.
Despite this, dirty men with Kalashnikov machine guns sunk into the very heart to domestic gamers. Yes, the “metro” was not deprived of the shortcomings, but pleased enough hardcore gameplay, exciting history, interesting characters, original mechanics and pleasant graphics.
The game gave fans of the universe – the opportunity to personally survive the adventures from the favorite book. You can remember a lot of games that allowed you to do the same?
Today it’s all. Thanks for watching to the end. Tell us in the comments what you remember the game, and also do not forget to subscribe to the channel and like. Until new meetings!
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