Metro 2033 (play)

“4A Games” was founded by former employees of GSC Game World , who left a year before the release of STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl , in particular, Alexey Shishkovtsov and Alexander Maximchuk - programmers who participated in the development of the X-Ray engine, which was used in the STALKER game series ^{[5 ]} . The game uses a multiplatform 4A Engine , ported to Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows . There are debates whether this engine is based on the pre-release version of X-Ray (as stated by Sergey Grigorovich, founder of GSC Game World ^[6] , as well as users who saw screenshots in the SDK 4A Engine development kit, noting the visual similarity, common resources and technical changes to the pre-release 4A Engine demo, made after the scandal with GSC Game World ), or it is a proprietary development (according to 4A Games and Oles Shikhovtsov in particular ^[7] , who claims that it is pointless to remake the X-Ray engine to support gaming consoles) . The 4A Engine uses PhysX support, improved game artificial intelligence , and a console SDK for the Xbox 360 ^[8] . The version for IBM PC-compatible computers includes support for DirectX 11 and is described as a “love message to PC players” thanks to the developers' decision to “make the PC version very phenomenal” ^[9] .

On February 19, THQ and 2K Games announced the game's support for the latest software innovations and the Steamworks digital distribution service. This allowed Metro 2033 to use Steam features such as in-game support for downloadable content and auto-update.

On October 22, 2009, THQ officially announced that it will be the publisher of Metro 2033. It was announced that the game will be released in early 2010 for PC and Xbox 360 . Along with this statement, a gaming trailer was released ^{[10] [11]} .

On November 2, 2009, the Russian publisher and localizer Akella announced the signing of an agreement with THQ on the publication of Metro 2033 in Russia and the CIS countries ^[12] .

At the exhibition of computer games IgroMir 2009, which was held from November 5 to 8, inclusive, the game "Metro 2033" was demonstrated. The demo version was represented by ten levels. At Igromir and after it, Absolute Games journalists interviewed Andrei Prokhorov and Dmitry Glukhovsky, creative director of 4A Games, in-depth interviews ^{[13] [14]} .

On December 1, 2009, IGN.com published a preview of Metro 2033 and an interview with Dmitry Glukhovsky ^{[15] [16] [17]} .

In the first commercials, published at the end of 2009, the subtitle of the game “Fear The Future” / “Fear of the Future” was used ^[18] .

In the announcement of the game, the subtitle “The Last Refuge” was used, but when THQ officially quit the game, it was abandoned ^{[19] [20]} .

On May 17, 2013, a sequel to the game, Metro: Last Light , continues the original story.

On May 22, 2014, a re-release of Metro Redux was announced, in which both games were remastered from both the graphic and gameplay sides. The release took place on August 29, 2014 for the personal computer, game consoles Xbox One and Playstation 4.

Metro 2033 uses the 4A Engine game engine , developed by 4A Games , the creators of the game. The PC version of the game uses PhysX as a physics engine ^[10] . Ujesh Desai, vice-president of the NVidia GPU direction, said: “Metro 2033” boasts the most advanced graphics and PhysX effects we have seen. Based on what we have seen so far, it can be said that this game will be one of the showcase patterns of 2010 " ^{[12] [21]} .

February 17, 2010 THQ officially announced that the PC version of the game will support stereoscopic image mode, which will be achieved with the help of technology nVidia 3D Vision . The second feature of the PC version will be the API support for DirectX 11 . Depth of Field and character tessellation will only be available on DirectX 11.

The engine does not support vertical sync.

THQ employee Huw Beynon ( Huw Beynon ) said that after spending a lot of time to refine the 4A Engine, the company managed to achieve high-quality performance on the PlayStation 3, but the project version for the Sony console was canceled due to strategic considerations ^[22] .

The game's plot unfolds in post-apocalyptic Moscow , mainly in the Moscow metro , everything starts (after launching it goes part of one of the last missions) from the station where the main character Artyom grew up (he was born four years before the war), but sometimes the player has to get to the surface for perform certain missions and in search of something valuable.

Locations in the game reflect the gloomy atmosphere of the subway tunnels, although they are made more sinister than in reality. Strange effects and noises often occur, and sometimes the player has to rely only on these flashes to find a path in the pitch dark. On the surface, the player is in even greater danger, since radiation is present there, and you also have to wear a gas mask all the time because of the poisoned air ^[23] . Water often also turns out to be radioactive, and even a small touch of it can take life.

Often the locations are confused, and there is no map option in the game, leaving the player to find out the direction only with the help of a compass. There is no health scale in the game, and you only need to monitor the character’s health by listening to his heartbeat and watching the blood splatter on the screen, which are indications of the character’s condition and the extent of his injury. The game has no on-screen indicator showing the degree of deterioration of filters in the character’s gas mask. Instead, the player is invited to follow the wristwatch, the dial of which is divided into three zones, corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the filters, which forces the player to contact them regularly, so as not to miss the moment when filters need to be replaced. The gas mask also reflects its condition in the form of cracks on the glass, warning the player about the need for a new gas mask.

The game interface contains the traditional elements of the display indicators , such as, for example, the ammunition indicator and the list of remaining filters for gas mask and adrenaline injections (med-kits). The addition of the “Ranger Pack” was released, which completely disables all indicators, leaving the opportunity to see the indicators by looking at the clock.

Another key factor is the management of ammunition. For AK there are two types of ammunition of 5.45 × 39 mm : pre-war cartridges, which are the equivalent of money - “gold” cartridges and a modern handicraft counterpart. Cartridges for other weapons do not have similar analogues.

Prologue

Artyom, the main character of the game, together with a man named Melnik rise from Metro-2 through the concert hall named after Korolev . They are at the top, on the ruins of Moscow. Nearby is the Ostankino television tower , where they keep their way. On the surface, the heroes meet three people from the Melnik squad, after which the group is attacked by mutants ...

Outset

The events of the game are transferred eight days before the battle at the Ostankino television tower, starting with Artyom awakening at the VDNH metro station. The station became his home after being brought here by his stepfather Alexander Sukhoi. He introduced Artem to a man named Hunter, who later helped repel the attacks of mutants. According to Sukhoi, attacks are not as dangerous as compared with the threat of the appearance of “black” - mysterious humanoid creatures penetrating through the exit of the Botanical Garden station. "Black" can negatively affect the psyche of people at a distance and use their mental energy, transforming it into physical energy of great power. Hunter is trying to find out more about these creatures and find ways to destroy them. Before leaving the station, Hunter gives Artyom a stalker token, instructing him to go to Polis, the most powerful group of stations in the metro, and ask Melnik for help if Hunter does not return the next day.

Bourbon and Khan

When it becomes clear that he will not wait for Hunter to return, the guy begins his journey to Polis. From the VDNKh station he is recruited on a caravan to Rizhskaya station. In the roundabout tunnel, the caravan collided with an anomaly and the attack of the ghouls that followed it. Having difficulty reaching the station, Artem faces a petty thug Bourbon, who invites him to become a partner in a hike to Sukharevskaya station. Having made their way through dangerous tunnels inhabited by gangsters and mutants, partners find themselves at the Prospect Mira station, from where Artem hits the surface for the first time in many years. After the hero of the game and his partner get through the ventilation shaft to Sukharevskaya, gangsters catch Bourbon. Reaching the station owner, Artyom was able to save his partner, but the leader of the bandits killed Bourbon. Then Khan appears - a mysterious man who secretly helped Artyom on Sukharevskaya. Having gone along with Khan, Artyom explores a dangerous place - abandoned tunnels that living beings prefer to bypass. Then both arrive at Turgenevskaya , the damned station, which is regularly attacked by mutants. Artyom saves the residents of the station, after which Khan sends Artyom to the station Kuznetsky Most .

War

Kuznetsky Most is an independent station, but there are many agents of the communist Red Line on it. Once on her, Artyom immediately arouses suspicion and was barely arrested, but Khan's friend, Andrei Master, rescues him. It was possible to get out of the station only by going to the front line. Artem, with the help of Andrew, secretly sneaks into the luggage compartment of the trolley. Having gone to the front, he finds himself in the very center of the battle between the Communists and neo-Nazis. During the battle, he is captured by the Nazis, who are preparing to execute Artyom, but at the last moment he is saved by two stalkers - Ulman and Paul. Artyom shows them the Hunter token, and Ulman orders Pavel to take Artyom to the so-called Black Station, where they will have to meet later. Pavel and Artyom steal an armored railcar and try to drive through checkpoints, posing as Nazis. Their deception is revealed and they begin to pursue in the tunnels on the railcars and the tank. Along the way, Pavel is killed by the attacked mutants, and Artyom gets to the Paveletskaya station , where he takes part in the defense of the station from the invasion of mutants. But the sudden anomaly destroys the defenders of the station. Artem, who survived the anomaly, goes to the Paveletskaya station, already abandoned by people, where he encounters a surviving child named Sasha, with whom he gets to the evacuees. Having led Sasha to his mother, Artyom gets out to the surface. On the way to the Black Station, he encounters a fascist outpost - it became clear that the station was already occupied by enemies. At the Black Station, Artyom meets with Ulman, with whom he is sent to Polis.

Policy and D6

In Polis, Artyom shows Hunter Miller's token, tells the station's council about the threat and asks for help. However, the Council refuses to help in view of the lack of resources and people who are required for the war with the fascists, and besides, Artyom considers a superstitious guy from the outskirts. Hope appears when Melnik promises his help in fighting blacks and saving the VDNH, thereby saving the rest of the stations. Melnik plans to find D6 (Metro-2) to get to the rocket launchers and destroy the black den. The exact entrance to D6 was lost as a result of a nuclear strike, so stalkers have to get to the surface and go to the Russian State Library , whose military archives store documentation on the location of D6. Due to the injury of Danila, one of the stalkers, Artyom had to find the archive himself, making his way through the dangerous places of the library, inhabited by aggressive mutants - "librarians". After finding the documentation and leaving the library, Artyom meets with Melnik and Ulman, with whom he leaves for the Order's base, located in the church on the surface. There he again meets Khan, who warns Artyom against rash decisions and violence. Gathering a squad of six people, among them a good technician, Vladimir, Artyom and Melnik are sent to the tunnels in search of D6. Opening the sealed containment, leading to a secret complex, the detachment is faced with hordes of ghouls, but with losses lost. In D6, the surviving stalkers find a missile command center, but there is no power supply in it. Artyom and Melnik have to manually restart the center reactor. Having reached the reactor, Artyom and Melnik are confronted with a certain biomass, which is probably the result of a mutation of biological weapons. Biomass does not allow Artyom and Melnik to start the reactor from the console, and Artyom starts the reactor manually, removing the slowing rods in the working area of ​​the reactor with a crane. This deprives biomass of energy, but does not kill it completely. Reaching the train, Artyom takes the navigation system with a laser designator and, together with Melnik, with the help of a monorail goes to the Ostankino television tower.

Further the game continues the prologue. The only survivors of the mutant attack, Melnik and Artyom, leaving Vladimir behind the control computer and Ulman to guard him in the complex, are going to deploy a laser target designator for D6 missiles. To do this, climb to the highest point of the Ostankino television tower. During the march of Miller a demon wounds. Artyom will complete the journey alone.

Endings

There are two possible endings in the game.

Canonical

The ending, reflecting the events of the book Metro 2033 . At the end of the game, Artyom reflects the mental attack of the blacks and observes how the rockets destroy their lair. In Metro: Last Light , this ending is canonical and has a continuation.

Alternate

After repelling the mental attack, Artyom sees a wounded black man in front of him, he asks to save his life. After that, everything depends on the player: if you shoot into the installation with a laser target designator, then Black will survive and no longer attack people, if you wait, the missiles will be launched and, similarly to the canon, Black will be destroyed.

In the final of each ending, Artyom looks at the dawn, discussing his action.

The plot of "Metro 2033" is based on the novel " Metro 2033 " by Dmitry Glukhovsky . The actions of the game take place in the same fictional universe , in the same setting , and the protagonist in the game is Artem, the main character of the novel. The plot of the game is similar to the plot of the novel of the same name: the player needs to get to the Policy from the VDNH station and warn everyone about the impending threat. Однако в игре есть возможность получить альтернативную концовку, отличающуюся от сюжета источника.

Ричард Уильямс ( Richard Williams ), вице-президент управления глобальными брендами THQ, заявил о связи разработчиков с Дмитрием Глуховским: «„Метро 2033“ погрузит игроков в ужасающие видения будущего. 4A Games тесно работала с Дмитрием Глуховским, чтобы привнести в неё уникальный игровой мир, захватывающую, кинематографичную историю и невероятную атмосферу, которые могли бы соперничать с любыми конкурентами в своем жанре» ^[21] .

Сам Дмитрий Глуховский так прокомментировал игру ^[12] :

В интервью после выставки ИгроМир 2009, Андрей Прохоров рассказал о музыкальном сопровождении игры. Над саундтреком работают два композитора: Алексей Омельчук и Георгий Белоглазов, больше известный под псевдонимом своего коллектива Anthesteria . «Музыки будет много, не только dark ambient, хотя и он тоже. Она будет передавать настроение разных станций», — рассказал Прохоров ^[24] .

Зарубежная

Игра получила довольно положительные отзывы, набрав 81/100 баллов ^[25] и 77/100 ^[26] на портале Metacritic для ПК и Xbox 360 версий соответственно.

Журнал Game Informer похвалил её, поставив 9 баллов из 10. Дакота Грабовски с портала GameZone оценила игру в 8 баллов из 10, заявив следующее: «Каждый FPS синглплеера заслуживает потраченного времени любителей, поскольку 4A Games и THQ смогли замечательно рассказать замечательную историю. Её мир увлекает, приглашая игроков в многочисленные походы с большим вниманием к мелочам, которые 4A Games реализовало в окружающем игрока мире. Metro 2033 — это замечательный представитель своего жанра и я с нетерпением жду её продолжения, которое вполне может оказаться ещё более сочным» ^[41] .

В телевизионной программе X-Play игре была выставлена оценка в 3 балла из 5, причём рецензент отметил отличную атмосферу игры, внимание к деталям, а также то, что в игре есть действительно несколько пугающих моментов. Однако, критик отметил и то, что они «недостаточно воспользовались пугающей атмосферой». Говоря, что игра обладает действительно пугающими моментами, критик отмечает, что «никогда не удается закрепить испуг». Автор утверждает, что назначение кнопок на джойстике Xbox 360, вероятно, является «не совсем продуманным», но эта проблема не касается пользователей ПК. В заключение, критик говорит, что эта игра — «в общем, заслуживающая уважения попытка, если только вы не ожидаете от неё такой же глубины как, скажем, от Fallout 3 » ^[42] .

На сайте GameSpot выставлена оценка игры 7,5 баллов из 10 версии для Xbox 360 и 8 баллов из 10 ПК-версии, похвалив атмосферу, но при этом отметив проблемы с искусственным интеллектом и анимацией ^[34] .

PC:

• Jewel
  • Включает диск с игрой и электронное руководство пользователя.
• Подарочный DVD-BOX
  • Помимо диска с игрой включает печатное руководство пользователя, диск с бонусными материалами и карту сюжетного метро 2033 года.
• Коллекционное издание
  • Содержимое DVD-бокса в другой упаковке, добавлены наручные часы.
• Цифровая версия
  • Доступна в интернет-магазине Steam с 18 марта 2011 года ^[43] .

XBOX 360:

• DVD-BOX
  • Включает диск с игрой и печатное руководство пользователя.

• The official website of the company " 4A Games "
• Official computer game website