Metro series

[Pink Gregory]

Why do I *like* these games so much?

They're fairly linear and generic in terms of what became before or after with a little extra scavenging for air filters glued on, the gunplay's just fine (if feeling quite lacking in impact in 2033, better in Last Light), the narrative's absolutely nothing special in a fairly standard post-apocalypse playing it straight kind of way.

But I'm utterly compelled by them.  Maybe all of the generic stuff is just done so well that it doesn't feel like the knock off that any other standard shooter would?

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I'm quite fond of them as well, although as you say, there is a certain je ne sais quoi about them. Maybe it's the atmosphere? Games with bits set in underground stations are nothing new,  but they just add a bit more. I've only played the first two, once on the 360, then the remaster on PS4 (excellent "reimagining" or whatever with 2033 on that, they really put a lot of work on it, the second one is just a port of the PC version on high graphics settings). Don't bother reading the books btw. I've read the first one, and it was boring wank. Maybe they get better, but I'm not prepared to find out. One of those cases where the game developers took the concept of the books and made it better.

Is the third game in a similar vein? It's one of those ones I'll eventually pick up when I see it for a tenner in CEX.

[bgmnts]

Because it's simple, atmospheric, tense and it has intuitive gameplay. I love all the little things you can do utilising the controller; you have a gasmask, a map, a timer, a lighter. It's not all flooding the screen with information either, it's quite natural.

Every first person shooter should strive to be like the first two Metro games.

[Moribunderast]

Haven't played the most recent one but loved the first two. They just create a grimy, damp, cold and foreboding atmosphere and it's fun to sneak around knifing bastards. The first game, in particular, nailed some survival horror-y moments where you knew you had to progress a certain way but saw a heap of monsters that just made you think: "Fuck that!" And some of the stealth sections are excellent. 2033, again, had a segment in a train station that I still recall very fondly. Sneaking around and turning off lights so I could then sneak around and murder guards. It felt properly tense.

Reviews of Exodus seem mixed. A more open-world was definitely not what I would have chosen for the series. I do like open-world games but I prefer a linear story and levels. What you give up in exploration and vastness you gain in being able to create a controlled path with peaks and valleys specifically designed. I thought the first two Metro games had a good feel for level design. Again, it had that survival horror aspect where, if I found a bunch of ammo in a quiet area, my first thought was: "Fuck me, what's about to attack then?"

[Famous Mortimer]

It looks like if you have a Game Pass you can play all the previous Metro games for nowt (extra).