Stories of dystopian post-apocalyptic worlds have a certain very strong appeal to me. Fact is, Fallout 3, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Bioshock are among my most favorite games, while Richard Matheson`s “I am Legend” is a book I deeply adore. Mr. Matheson practically invented the post-apocalyptic genre single-handedly 56 years ago with his masterpiece.

Can you imagine my feelings when I woke up this morning and just by accident saw the new trailer of Metro 2033? My first thought was that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sneaked into Fallout`s bed in the night, impregnated Bethesda`s game and I was seeing their newborn child.

I got so inspired that I completely forgot the humongous amount of Theoretical physics I had to read today and started researching this new title.  It seems that a certain Russian reporter by the name of Dmitry Glukhovsky published his book “Metro 2033″ as a free web project in 2002. The book got very popular with an ever accelerating speed and in 3 years it was already a printed nation-wide best-seller. The guy was very soon approached by the Ukrainian developer 4A Games and the team has been working on the adaptation very closely with the author of the book for 4-5 years. If all goes well the game will be released in Q1 for PC and Xbox 360.

Attention to detail

Actually some of the guys who formed 4A Games have left the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 1 year before final release, so they must have experience with this genre. What I`ve seen untill now shows immense amounts of detail to the underground stations where the scattered remains of humanity reside. The world looks absolutely real, populated by real living people and that`s of no wonder. The team has set complete immersion of the player as a main goal from start. When we take control of the main protagonist Artyom (accent on the last syllable) we won`t have any on-screen indications about health, ammo, etc. Even when looking at the map the game doesn`t pause and Artyom has to take out a physical map and look at it with his flash light exposing himself to risk of becoming the dinner of something from the dark.

4A Games use a propriety engine with full support of goodies such as DX10 and Physx.

Being completely immersed by the absence of HUDs and menus what so ever can actually add a very nice touch to the gameplay when implemented successfully like for example in one game that I`m sure not many of you remember: Peter Jackson`s King Kong: The Game.

Focus on the PC version? Yes, please.

What really makes me happy is that the main focus of development was put on the PC version of the game. I am sick and tired of getting half-backed ports after spending a couple of hundred bucks on a video card that can easily top both current gen consoles. Don`t get me wrong, I enjoy gaming on all platforms (other than portable ones that is). I really enjoyed the shit out of my Xbox 360 before it died and I`m thinking about getting a new one + a PS3 some day when I suddenly get rich Well anyway, for the moment I have to do with a notebook and try to fully enjoy every piece of the little “crumbs” that fall from the Big Gaming Table to us, students with laptops sitting on the floor.

March 2010?

What more can I say? I already ordered the book in German because it still isn`t released in English and I don`t have the patience to wait for it getting delivered from my country in my own language. I cannot wait for the game and I`m all the more hyped by the fact that this title looks exactly as atmospheric and just as deeply detailed as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Fallout 3, but a lot more linear! This is a really good point when time is short in university and you can`t afford to spend all day running through an imaginary world.

Let this current map of the famous Moscow subway system speak for itself:

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