Thread 718361439

I recently read the book for Metro 2033 and absolutely loved it. I had played the first game as a kid, but couldn't really remember much about it besides the Nazi presence in the Metro, and the little goopy things in D6. But after replaying this game for the first time in over a decade, I can say it was pretty fun at times, and pretty bullshit at others.
I felt like I could never really get the hang of the stealth and ended up just running and gunning through a lot of areas after getting tired of resetting. I also just didn't use hardly any of the money I found, had like 800+ rounds of the good shit by the end when I desperately needed more shotgun shells instead.

While they really took a lot of creative liberties with the story to adapt it into a game, I really did appreciate whenever I would hear NPCs give direct quotes from the book. Mostly just little side conversations that bear no meaning to the main plot, but I like that they're present.
Other than that, trying to follow along with how loosely the book followed the main narrative from the book had me fumbling trying to remember what was actually supposed to be happening. I think they did well enough despite my misgivings about that though.
Gunplay was fine enough, the revolver shotgun really feels great to use. You can confidently handle any mutant with that thing, and the bayonet is just a good ammo saver at times. That being said though, the gameplay peaked with fighting the Nazis on the surface. Very well designed levels and enemy placement, tons of fun there. Fuck that on rails section though.

All and all, I'd give it a solid 7/10. I don't think its a game I'll ever replay again, but I can easily see myself rereading the book.

Anyone else play this shit? I plan on doing the same thing for the other books/games. Is the stealth more refined in the other games?

Damn, I guess these games just suck then

Good thread. It's a rare sight at these parts. I hope Anons who played more METRO games than I did are going to find it and contribute!

>>718362043
Really hope that Exodus has a lot better stealth than 2033. I don't have a lot of hope for Last Light though desu.

>>718362020
I loved back when i played it at launch. Played only on the hardest difficulty but i didn't find it hard at all. Since i explored everything i also had a shit ton of military grade bullets but refused to use them lmao

>>718362043
I hate that I got the bad ending...

>>718362202
Yeah I thought about going on Ranger Hard, but decided that I should just relax and play it on Hard since I was mainly there for the narrative. Glad I did too because I got super tilted at failing the stealth all of the time.

>find the Helsing
>win

>>718362223
I got the good ending, then doubled back and got the bad ending because it's closer to the book. i know that the Dark Ones don't intentionally try to fry peoples brains, but realistically, they gotta go. Humanity first above all things
The ending to book 1 was still heartbreaking though. Artyom realizes his mistake a second too late. Fucking hell man, that shit hurt to read.

stealth in the new games is less involved since its pretty much binary

>>718362223
Dont worry it's not canon. The game ended when Artyom sacrificed himself.

Books --> games/movies are often unable to translate 1:1 due to lack of funds or time. As for games, some shit wouldn't translate well into gameplay. Same for movies if it is real movie filming, there are censorship rating, costly CGI that is next to impossible to make without sufficient fund, and too much content to put in a 1.5-3 hours movie. There are limitation, so you have to take give creators with a grain of salt, especially games or movies that are decent or good.

Gaming also have the same problem of censorship as movies because of ESRB ratings. If the people in charge decide to go ape shit, certain countries will completely ban or even the publisher will take it off the shelves. Perfect example of this is The Punisher (PS2) game. It is one of the best adaptation of the character. Due to how faithful it is, the game was thoroughly censored and eventually abandoned. You can't even buy this game any more and have to download it "illegally" even though it's not really illegal because it's abandon ware.

I am just not emotionally neutral right now, so I just want to flame you. 7/10? Fuck you.

>>718361439 (OP)
You are not allowed to like the book retard. This is ukranian franchise

>>718361439 (OP)
Stealth was somewhat broken in the game, but it gives you indicators to tell you how "blind" enemies are to you, which is helpful. By the end you really don't need shotgun shells as much as the good ammo, if I'm being honest, since you want as much stockpiled for the final few areas and a good rifle works just as well as a shotgun by that point. The only time the shotgun is "fuck this, I need it" is for the black librarians.

Unfortunately to get the "proper" ending you have to play the game twice. There's no getting past that, which is unfortunate. Even if you make all the right decisions for it, you still get shoehorned into the default on a first run. Last Light is fine as a game, but some of the areas are annoying to traverse, and it can feel lazy in a few spots. It's still a decent enough game if you liked the first one. Exodus is more interesting as it's a bit more open for an order of priorities, but it's still linear overall. The second area you travel to feels very thematically different than anything in the previous games, so it can be jarring.

>>718361439 (OP)
I played the original 2033. The only thing I remember outright hating was that slime section at the very end, otherwise it was an enjoyable experience. pre-war ammo being used as currency was a neat idea

>>718362745
the author is pro ukraine, so it's okay.

>>718362280
Lmfao fair dude. Ranger difficulty, iirc, removed the hud. Afaik there wasn't many games back then that had that option. It was immersive

>>718361439 (OP)
Afaik, the book was suppose to be a one and done deal but it was such a hit, the publishers wanted more. Keep that in mind when reading the books.

I hate games where highest difficulty limit exploration. The worst part of this game series is the lack of air filter if you decide to explore on the highest difficulty. You have to map out where you go, rush to the objective, or know every location of loots because this is probably your 3th/4th/5th play-through. I don't mind the lack of ammo or other resources, but the lack of air filter and the cap of it on highest difficulty is kind of bullshit and bad design.

There was one point where I had to abuse the system of taking out and putting on the mask because that extend the timer that let me explore and actually look around at the higher difficulty. This game series is one of the only game series where I actually like to look around the environment.

As a retard when I played the original I kept dying at the part where the Bourbon (?) guy needed to open a rusted door.
I thought that was a cutscene and didn't know you had to keep moving forward or you would dragged away by the monsters or whatnot.

>>718362723
Idk, and friend and I recently started a book club together with the intention of comparing books to their adaptations, and so far we've gone through No Country for Old Men, Shutter Island, and Wiseguys (Goodfellas). Out of those books/movies, Shutter Island really does stand out as an almost 1 to 1 adaptation of the book, and its our favorite so far because of how faithful it was, while also taking some small liberties in order to make it work as a movie.
In contrast, No Country leaves so much on the cutting room floor that I honestly just don't enjoy the film because of it.
Wiseguys feels like a really good middle ground, taking direct quotes from the book to work as the narration, and adapting the story very well to a movie. It still leaves some key parts out Why didn't we get the heist as an actual scene in the movie? I mean the scene is so perfectly described in the book, the script is all there. My guess is time/budget as you've mentioned to be a factor.

I believe that there can be really well done adaptations that respect the source material, and I feel that Metro does have some of that respect with how NPCs will directly quote the book verbatim. I just feel that the actual game part of this adaptation in particular is a little lacking at times.
Sidenote though, the goop in D6 was a very good adaptation of the goop they find in the book. That translated to a game very well imo.

>>718362690
What? The bad ending is the canon one, Last Light starts with it and then you have your little friend alone too.

>>718362775
>librarians
aren't these the enemies that don't attack you and eventually go away if you don't move when they find you or is this black variant always aggressive?

>>718361439 (OP)
Those games are shit.

>>718363659
imo comparing adaptions is especially interesting in the case of metro, since the later stuff glukhovsky wrote plays around with it and doesn't attempt to keep some kind of strict continuity. 2035 is a sequel to the games and 2034/2033 but doesn't match up with either so its sort of a sequel to some unseen third 'continuity'

the short story the gospel according to artyom is sort of his take on last light, if you end up playing the rest of them too

2033 and Last Light OG aim at stealth, Redux is more about gun skirmish and guns blazing through the levels

>>718365797
>>718361439 (OP)
Is there a consensus on the OG versus Redux debate for 1st time players?
Let's overlook that the originals are not available on Steam anymore.

>>718366216
definitely the OG's, althou i prefer Redux UI and controls, but just because they arent available on Steam doesnt mean they arent available at all (1337)

Simplifying the Bastard Gun's moving magazine design and downgrade to a pistol caliber was enough for me to never finish Exodus. Bastard Gun/Shambler was peak DIY slavjank.

Also, I hate Redux.

>>718361439 (OP)
Some of the weapon designs from this series lives rentfree and it pains me that you will never see them outside of it. You have exceptions like the Duplet in Fallout but stuff like the Azbats, Bastard, Uboinik and the clockwork chaingun will never see the light of day. Whether that's from the convoluted animations or the mechanics involved with their operation. I hate that Exodus ended up dropping a lot of it by the end and it felt like every game was trying to top itself. The shooting range in Last Light had the greatest variety that you could use without limitations to compensate for the lackluster action sequence in the already linear narrative.

My major problem with the series is you have all this cool shit and the potential for more but you are stuck playing through the same scripted shit on repeat with the moral point system to boot. If you took the entirety of the concept and opened it up with the ability to traverse the lines and fight the various factions you would have a compelling idea on your hands. Like an underground version of Freeplay Stalker wearing a Metro skin. They already proved it was possible with the Kshatriya DLC where you work for Hanza as a no name scrounging around for money.

You can do a similar thing with alternate starts and factions based on where on the line you decide to jump in from. Larp as a member of the Reich to blast the Red Line, run as the Reds to pop the nazis or sidestep the conflict entirely by setting out from one of the smaller stations. The cool part of this game was exploring all of the spooky shit that was dripping with environmental story telling like the surface levels and the ghost stations. Being able to fully map those out at your own pace would be legit.

>>718364272
>librarians were meant to be even spookier with their ability to lay sound traps with their voices mimicking human speech or outright puppeteering the corpses of dead stalkers like the giant enemy crab from Love Death + Robots
I don't have the artist depiction of it on hand but they were meant to be a lot more than just a bunch of shaved gorillas with a penchant for high literature.

>>718363152
>removed the hud. Afaik there wasn't many games back then that had that option. It was immersive
It worked well enough since most of the game was heavily visual outside of the QTEs and stock taking between missions. Most guns had an open mag, filter changes could be queued up based on Arty's diving watch and your clipboard had a compass for directing you around.

>>718367570
Remind me of Far Cry 2 when they give you multiple maps to navigate.
Too bad they just drop it for every next game.

>>718361439 (OP)
>I recently read the book for Metro 2033 and absolutely loved it.
just stop now
let the happy memories stay good. dont force yourself to read the rest. its about the same level of game of thrones shitting itself

>>718361439 (OP)
>All and all, I'd give it a solid 7/10. I don't think its a game I'll ever replay again, but I can easily see myself rereading the book.
Pretty much how I feel about it. I will say that I really enjoyed the atmosphere.
Oh one thing. The menu theme or whatever is beautiful and there are a few moments in the first game that really made me go, 'fuck.'
https://youtu.be/an0rZ-knfpI
I think the gun design in metro is also like pretty iconic to the fps genre too by now. The shotgun, smg, and bicycle gun are stuck in my mind. The spartan ranger helmets are also quite cool and memorable.

I played the second game, and I liked it a lot but I felt like if there was only 1 metro game, I would be fine with that.
>>718362043
Crazy how pretty they made her.

>>718366216
2033 OG is definitely better as a 'work of art' than Redux, but Redux definitely plays better as a game so you're kinda hosed.
LL is doesn't matter either way.

>>718362043
I wish they dropped the silent protagonist thing for these parts at least.

>>718367823
Fuck

>>718367953
That theme song really is just beautiful. A lot of the random people play really nice ambient music in the populated areas. Such a great vibe

>>718368750
the books at least the games are playable
dont read 2034 and 2035

>>718366941
It's the correct move. Something like the bastard won't be able to handle a high pressure cartridge. It's a mistake to make it fire 5.45 in the first place.

>>718362280
Playing on Ranger mode won't make stealth harder because you keep the light gem on your watch (that shows whether you're in darkness or not). It's diagetic hud so it's not removed. If anything it makes stealth easier because time to kill is lower, so if you fuck up you can quickly kill a dude with a silenced weapon. I'd recommend switching to Ranger Hardcore for Last Light.

>>718368750
The game have better story and at some point, even better characters. Book Miller is total garbage while game Miller is total Chad.

>>718368936
2035 felt too much like Glukhovsky seething at Putin to be good, even though it had a few cool moments. I don't know why people have a problem with 2034 though. The nihilistic story about Homer and Sasha trying to see love and beauty where there is none and getting burned for it is right in line with the plot of the first book, even though it's different in many other ways from 2033.

>>718363659
>No Country leaves so much on the cutting room floor that I honestly just don't enjoy the film because of it.
NTA but I thought the Coens did a splendid job with drawing the lines. If you asked me about the biggest omission I'd probably said Llewellyn's discussion with the girl about the nature of self and destination. But that'd have meant including the girl and her storyline, which alone would've added like 15 mins to the runtime. Sheriff Bell's musing were some of the best parts of the book but while he's clearly the protagonist in there the movie elevated all three major characters on the same platform. With that being kept in mind I don't see what else is missing there. Don't even get me started on mundane sections like Carson's maneuverings in the apartment across the hotel.

>>718369550
Cutting Bell's speech about survivors guilt and obligations to your nation is unforgivable imo. Especially when the scene where he talks to his father is right there in the movie. Just add the speech, its the final send off the book/movie needs, and leaving it is just a wasted opportunity.

>>718369391
if anything i thought it avoided any direct seething, instead putting all the blame and unsavory depictions onto the people, the apparatchiks and the political technologist class, but that's kinda semantics

for me the stuff with anna and how their relationship ran through the narrative was enough to make it an enjoyable read

>>718369391
> I don't know why people have a problem with 2034 though
its a book about fake notartyom homer and sasha instead of being about artyom. it retcons hunter into a worthless drunk russian.
though 3035 retcons the fuck out of everything so the minor changes in 34 dont seem as bad in comparison.

>>718361439 (OP)
I read the first book a long time ago so my memory is hazy, but it did have a pretty different vibe from the games, which is to be expected when you go from book -> game.
What stood out to me was shit like Artyom getting knocked out/captured several times and then falling in with a new group. Also some of the weird sci-fi shit that either wasn't in the games or only had a passing mention.
I remember how if you looked at the kremlin you'd get hypnotized and drawn in if you didn't have a buddy to snap you out of it. That might've been mentioned in the game but I don't remember it.
Never got around to reading the others, but I'd like to at some point.

>>718370886
>retcon
He got mindraped by Dark Ones. The fact that he lived at all when literally everyone except Artyom who had contact with them died is just another mark of badassitude. And he still mulches mutants like a motherfucker even though he's mentally scarred.

>>718370216
I see why you're saying this, but that whole arc was about Bell's confession about his cowardice in the war and how the secret he carried all these years affected him - without this context half of the point is missing. Which brings us back to the dilemma with the girl, namely, if you want to properly include that section that's another 20 minutes at least. Not to mention it'd have completely changed the pacing of the movie and created imbalance between the main trio's content. Again, this is not about what one personally like or not; the source material is not difficult to adapt to the big screen but the structure is different. This is why I say the Coens touched the novel in thoughtful way, as they trimmed enough fat everywhere to make it work as a standalone movie.

>the scene where he talks to his father
He was his father's Deputy Sheriff. The old Bell was long gone by those days.

>>718361439 (OP)
2033 is pretty much as direct of a book adaptation as can be, Last Light and Exodus are pretty much a different universe compared to 2034/2035

>>718370935
>I remember how if you looked at the kremlin you'd get hypnotized and drawn in if you didn't have a buddy to snap you out of it. That might've been mentioned in the game but I don't remember it.
IIRC it was mentioned in Last Light by Khan.

i love these games but
>metro 2033 climaz in the spoopy "currupt" part of d6
>fight these lame ass orb things hanging on the walls, compeltely anticlimactic especially after the library
>end of exodus in the spooky "corrupt" metro
>fight these lame ass spitting things on the walls

what the hell was up with that

>>718361439 (OP)
Why did Moscow use kiev metro trains in this setting?

>kid
>15 years ago
I'm too old for this shithole

>>718361439 (OP)
>>718375490
>>718362043
>15 years passed
>tfw still no cute tomboy gf

>>718368750
don't listen to that faggot 2034 deserves a read

>>718375276
The developers are Ukrainian so they might have not done their research properly when they designed the metro trains.

>>718361439 (OP)
The biggest problem with all three Metro games is that all of them are way too easy, even at the highest possible difficulties. I completely understand people that do not want a hard time playing them; it would have been amazing if they could have added another setting to make the games even harder for those that want a big challenge.

>>718361439 (OP)
Couldn't get any of those games to work on a 4k monitor, distorsions out the ass. Also controller support is basically non-existent. Dogshit games.

>>718375276
The ones you posted started being used in 2016, in universe the nukes dropped in 2003. Picrel is what they used before.

One of my most kino memories from a decade ago was reading Metro 2033 at 2 AM in bed, with a pocket flashlight jammed into the bunk above me and a blanket blotting out the outside world. It felt super cozy and immersive, like I was really underground.

>>718361439 (OP)
metro is nortubel tier

>>718375276
Because it was technically abandoned Ukrainian metro. There is some urbex YouTuber that explored an abandoned ukrainian metro lines and found some strange stickers used to mark scanning spot for the games model and texture.

>>718361439 (OP)
I bought Last Light and this for $2 on my Switch, felt like an amazing purchase.

>>718378159
>n universe the nukes dropped in 2003
You mean 2013 right?

>>718366708
>>718368148
Thanks! I guess the best way would be playing the OG ones first, then if I ever find myself in a mood for a replay it's time switch to Redux.

>>718361439 (OP)
I was craving some slavjank this year and ended up giving this game finally a try, I agree with the stealth specially during the librarians, it felt like they didn't even follow their own rules, but I played the original and not remaster so maybe that got fixed.

Right now I am anjoying Roadside Picnic and STALKER way more

>>718378262
i had a pretty comfy memory with exodus when i played it.

I adopted a stray cat but it turns out she was pregnant. when she had the kittens she brought them into a corner in the gaming room, and i didnt want to make too much noise at night,nor did i want to disrupt them with light. at the time i had just got exodus, so i started playing the game in the dark, with my new headphones which were nicer than i thought, and something about the headphones and the sound quality and the dark room made it a very immersive experience, so for weeks i played the game like that while simultaneously checking on the kittens once and a while, making sure they were warm because it was the dead of -40 winter outside and they were by a drafty window.

good times. honestly to this day i still like to use headphones when i play the metro games

>>718379847
Yeah, the OG version's jank is half the charm and half the frustration. Librarians were especially dumb - either they'd sniff you out from a mile away or just stand in place scratching their ass while you walked past. Redux made them a bit more consistent but also kinda neutered the atmosphere imo. Roadside Picnic and STALKER are god-tier for that whole weird, scientific dread vibe though. It's like Metro focuses on post-nuclear sadness, and STALKER is all about existential dread soaked in vodka and radiation. Respect for diving deep into the slavrot.

>>718379357
Oh yeah, right, why'd I think it was 2003. Anyway still 3 years before they started refreshing the train cars.

>>718381340
The thing I disliked the most was honestly not having subtitles for the background npc chatter, since I'm playing them in russian for the added immersion, I bet I would've enjoyed listening to all of them if I understood what they were saying.

I'll probably give Last Light a go after I'm done with SoC, I gotta say it's crazy how well the visuals and atmosphere hold up, the AI, RPG elements and everything else is so much better than anything released now aside from some jank moments, the references to the book are sweet too, I still don't know if I can find a full empty or other artifacts/anomalies from the book