Metro 2033: Opinions?

Originally Posted by swaaye
This is what I'm talking about. Just plain awful stupid dumb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSUGzNKfCaw

Ah…ok.

Yes, I remember that sequence, and I agree it was fairly difficult. I had to reload a few times there, but it wasn't as hard to me as some parts of the Library were.

I think I was confused by you calling it an "escort mission", since to me it was more of a co-op thing. That NPC did die quite easily though as I recall.

I'm looking forward to a replay when I have time, but I might wait until after my next system upgrade. I hate when I can't run a game at max settings, and Metro is one of the few games I can't do that with. I also want to try for the alternate ending on my next playthrough.

Originally Posted by swaaye

This is what I'm talking about. Just plain awful stupid dumb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSUGzNKfCaw

Ahh yep, I understand now. It was an awkward part - I died a couple of times as well. It's more just a survival mission; wipe out the Amoeba hives and do it in good time and you'll live. I found it helped to shoot a few of the early hives, then run to the end of the level and slowly work your way back. Trying to shoot them all consumes too much ammo.

I'm up to Chapter 5 in my ranger hardcore playthrough and having a blast. The ammunitition as money concept really comes much more strongly into play and
curious is very accurate when he says running out of oxygen is more of an issue on this difficulty setting. I've had my gasmask cracked open a few times and only barely survived after the frantic search for a replacement.

The most reloads I've had was definitely during the War mission; finding the right mixture of stealth and movement was tricky and fun on that map. But I think the approach to the Library mission is next…hopefully I have enough ammo stocked up. Looking forward to going toe-to-toe with those Librarian Apes again.

Ammo shouldn't be a problem in the escort mission if you found the shelf full of ammo in the control room with the big screen.

A question:
Can I go back and play single missions again after I've finished the game or will doing so delete all progress after the point?

Can I go back and play single missions again after I've finished the game or will doing so delete all progress after the point?

It will delete your progress. Even the game itself gives you a warning about it and unfortunately, there aren't different save slots or profiles to keep savings separate. But you can just copy/paste the content in the game's save folder to somewhere safe and play your desired mission, then put them back in their initial place anytime you want.
BTW, if any of the statements above are wrong, please correct them.

I finished up my Ranger hardcore playthrough - took about the same time, 12 hours. I wouldn't say it was quite as tough as say Doom 3 on nightmare, but it was still a very enjoyable challenge. The first two parts of the library section were probably the most difficult - I didn't purchase enough filters and took a bit too much time scavenging around, so I had to madly rush some parts.

My two minor criticisms would be the save system and the regenerating health.

I missed the alternative ending, so I might leave the game installed and come back to it another time, maybe try the ranger difficulty and go for it.

Thanks to JonNik and the Stalker players in this thread, I think I might try Call of Pripyat with the Complete mod for my next post-apocalyptic experience.

Call of Pripyat to me, was the "third time's the charm". SoC had something fresh new to it, Clear Sky was rather poor as far as I concern. CoP creates an RPG-like society, with reoccuring NPC's, factions, sidequests and decisions that matter and a fallout-style ending that ties it all together.

That said, I was looking for my next title after Amnesia and I might be ready to go for Metro 2033 now. I have learned that the games I play while studying needs to be clearly divided into manageable levels so I can play a level per day then turn off the screen.

Originally Posted by Frozen Fireball
It will delete your progress. Even the game itself gives you a warning about it and unfortunately, there aren't different save slots or profiles to keep savings separate. But you can just copy/paste the content in the game's save folder to somewhere safe and play your desired mission, then put them back in their initial place anytime you want.
BTW, if any of the statements above are wrong, please correct them.

I tried it. Only the current level and the latest loading spot are overwritten. So it's effectively a mix of all the different progressions through the game.

Well I'm finally playing it. I've just got to the Market with Bourbon, and we headed out onto the surface. I agree with everything you said about the setting and the details and I love all that. But what I'm disappointed by is the gameplay. It's basically Call of Duty with mutants. It's on the rails, totally linear, checkpoint saves, auto health regen. I knew it was a corridor shooter so it wasn't going to be free roam but it's even more linear than I feared. You just move along according to the scripted sequences just like Call of Duty. You don't move back and forth exploring the tunnels, or travelling to and from the different settlements in the metro picking up side missions and stuff. It's nothing like that at all.

It's Call of Duty with mutants. But that said it's done very well, but that type of gameplay bores me. I hope the sequel is different but I'm sure it won't be.

Originally Posted by Frozen Fireball
It will delete your progress.

This killed the game for me. I was near the end of the first half of Dead City when I ran out of gasmask filters. I thought I had a good supply and I had moved at a steady pace, but I was out. I looked at a walkthrough and found that there was an extra filter near the end of the level. I rushed for it, took the wrong turn and accidently reached the end of the level. Seeing the Dead City II load screen was like seeing GAME OVER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESTART THE GAME? My savegame and my final chance to get that extra filter to carry on was gone, now updated with starting Dead City II without filters.

So I found a forum that said I could restart and pick the level I wanted to play at. It was wrong information. My entire save was deleted and all I got was a fresh new game.

This was the second time I replayed the game after restarting at the Market. My first game had rested on the shelf for too long and I had forgotten what had happened so I replayed the game. The 2nd time I had taken outmost care to get everything and do everything, knocking every door, talking to every npc, earned every enlightenment point. I also didn't have time for more than a level a day so I lost a week.

Stange. I've replayed a couple of levels several times now, and I still can always go back to different levels. Of course I don't remember from which iteration the savegames were, so it's always a surprise which weapons I'm carrying.

So on my PC only the latest progress savegame is updated and the levels I touch are overwritten. Everything else stays intact.