Metro 2033 EP4: Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Oct 16, 2013

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 66 comments


Link (YouTube)

I am now a convert to the Church of Volt Driver. I initially ignored the weapon because it takes a long time to reload, it has a slow fire rate, and it requires a six-week training course to reload the thing. You reload the bullets by tapping R, but you recharge its energy by HOLDING R and tapping the fire button until the meter is full, which is different from the meter of the OTHER electrical thing you have to pump to keep charged. If you don’t have the energy high enough it will still fire, but will do almost no damage. You can overcharge it, but the overcharge dissipates quickly.

It might not sound complicated, but in the context of fighting a swarm of foes this is about four more steps than I want between me and the point where I can murder things.

But based on feedback from a lot of you, I gave it another try. It has turned Metro 2033 into a point-and-click adventure. Just equip the volt driver and then click on the monster you want to remove from the game.

Did I mention how much I like the towns in this game?

 


From The Archives:
 

66 thoughts on “Metro 2033 EP4: Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding

  1. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Ok,we definitely need a Rutskarn plays metro where he will assume the role of artyom and talk in fake russian during the whole game.

    1. Rutskarn says:

      So far, I actually think (if I had the tech and a convenient script) I would have a lot of fun putting together a parody alternate set of Metro 2033 dialogue.

      “Artyom! Get those guns from the locker like we told you how to do one month from now five minutes ago.”

      “What’s this? The subway tunnel has collapsed, but here is a convenient staircase. I think we might be in a first-person shooter.”

      1. Dave B. says:

        Artyom! Reload your gun this instant or I’ll keep nagging you about it forever!

        1. ehlijen says:

          Hold W! Hold W! Hold W! Come on people, hurry up!

  2. Daemian Lucifer says:

    That thing when you died:
    I think you ran out of air actually.Going towards the red thingy should give you morality points.

    1. guy says:

      No, no, you screw up resisting the psychic attack and it murders you. That is absolutely how it works.

    2. A. Hieronymus Bosch says:

      Running into the red light always kills you. Failing to reach the blue light always kills you.

      This is actually a really poorly handled part of the game, because it’s not immediately apparent what you did wrong.

  3. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Um,Josh,why do you need filters?You can finish the game with a single filter.You are an exploit master,so why arent you using the gas mask exploit?

    For those that dont know the exploit:You can put on your gas mask,then immediately take it off,walk around for about 30 seconds,then put your mask on,and immediately take it off again,and so on,and so on.

    1. rofltehcat says:

      But… Why would you do that? When I played it, I had the impression there were more filters than military bullets in the game.

      1. Disc says:

        On Ranger Easy, they’re really not. I had to use the same exact glitch to get through one of the latter parts of the game since I was constantly running out of filters. Could probably have been easier if I’d bought more at what was probably the last shop selling them in the whole game as I recall, but I thought I was being smart by saving my military grades. Though saving them did pay off later, it really made the game a pain in the ass to play for a while.

    2. Josh says:

      Wouldn’t exactly make for great viewing, constantly running around unable to see anything and choking to death…

      Why aren’t I using this?

      1. Daemian Lucifer says:

        EXACTLY!Theyve tamed you Josh,theyve broken your inner troll.

      2. ET says:

        I vote Josh uses the exploit, just because the outdoor sections are pretty boring visually, at least half the time, anyways. :P

  4. Daemian Lucifer says:

    The best mod for your weapons in last light is the thing that allows the pressure to stay overcharged until you shoot.Though its a shame what they did with the pumping animation in that game,because here its really awesome,like you are struggling to actually pump it,but there its just like pushing a button.

    1. rofltehcat says:

      I played the game mainly with the ball bearing hand-pumped Gauss rifle. Dodging a whole swarm of whateverthosethingsare while pumpin was fun.

  5. Daemian Lucifer says:

    By the way,silenced revolvers and silenced shotguns may sound weird,but reality trumps fiction once more,because in reality we have:

    .

    .

    .

    Stealth helicopters.

    1. Nytzschy says:

      Stealth Helicopters aren’t all that surprising, though. They were even part of the raid on Bin Laden’s compound, and so got lots of attention. “Stealth” and “aircraft” go together well.

      From an intuitive perspective, a stealth revolver makes about as much sense as a stealth grenade, which I’m sure someone will shortly inform me a is real thing.

      1. StashAugustine says:

        The new XCom expansion take this literally and has a grenade that can turn your guys invisible :v

        Although I’d say gas would probably qualify as a stealth grenade.

      2. Felblood says:

        Do portable flux compressors (EMP Grenades) count?

        –because we totally have those.

        –oh, and I guess smoke grenades for visual cover, too.

      3. CTrees says:

        The Nagant m1895 revolver is indeed suppressible, and is not an uncommon C&R weapon, even in the US. Russia was even the primary user.

        1. Naota says:

          This was actually my first guess for a silenced revolver, but it leaves out one very important detail: the Nagant takes an eternity to reload.

          This is because the cylinder is seated straight into the gun and isn’t capable of spinning out to one side (ala modern revolvers) or breaking down the middle (as you see with cowboy guns). That means to reload a Nagant you have to detach the gun’s miniature ram rod, spin the cylinder to expose one bullet at a time, poke out the spent casing, replace it with a new one, rotate the cylinder again, and repeat this process five more times. ~90 seconds later, you have six more shots of middling power.

          I can see how this worked out just fine in reality, especially during the October Revolution, but as a video game weapon it is destined for a life of scorn and frustration.

          Thankfully, the lunatics at KBP in Tula have solved this problem in a more elegant fashion: Silent Bullets.

          1. KPB? “Kerbal Bullet Program?”

          2. Imposter says:

            There was actually a version of the nagant that did have a swing-out cylinder for reloading, but the 1910 really is an extremely rare gun. Still neat, though.

    2. Blue Thunder had “Whisper Mode,” after all.

      1. Addendum: For those who don’t know what a “Blue Thunder” is, ask your parents. Parents, be sure your child is mature enough to learn about “Blue Thunder” for the first time. This could also be a good opportunity to bring up the sensitive subject of “Airwolf.”

      2. Torsten says:

        The original Get Smart movie had what I think they called a perfectly silenced Shushcopter.

  6. Paul Spooner says:

    Yeah! Rescue rangers!
    Went on Youtube and watched a few of the episodes… definitely suffers from nostalgia tarnish.

    Chris: “They’re basically all the same, I mean that’s what happens after the appocalypse…”

    Well, I kind of feel like that would be both true and not true. Wouldn’t the town materials be drawn from the local supplies? If there’s a lot of heavy industry nearby, you’d expect to see lots of slabs of steel. Likewise a station near, say, skyscrapers might have lots of tinted glass around. On the other hand, there does seem to be a lot of mass-produced merchandise that would tend to converge the designs of the different settlements.

    In any case, it seems like the developers did a good job of it.

    Also, DL, you’re a terrible person and you should feel bad about yourself. :)

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Why thank you >:->

  7. ET says:

    Arrrrggg!
    Sorry, but your pronunciation of Kyiv* bugs the heck out of me, Chris. :P
    Those dastardly Russians spelled it on the maps Kiev, and pronounced it that way, but it’s actually Ukraine’s city; Hands off! :)

    * Try saying the ‘ki’ from ‘kick’ and then append ‘Eve’.

  8. Phantos says:

    I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that the L Tetris block makes a cameo in a game set in Russia.

  9. Nytzschy says:

    For some strange reason, I woke up with the Power Rangers theme stuck in my head today. Now I know why: it’s because I would learn that Rutskarn wasn’t allowed to watch Power Rangers as a kid.

    What kind of crappy psychic powers only apply to information related to the Power Rangers? I want a refund.

    1. Dave B. says:

      What kind of crappy psychic powers only apply to information related to the Power Rangers? I want a refund.

      Maybe it’s just information related to Rutskarn.

      1. Nytzschy says:

        If that were true, I would think I’d be better at puns. How can it be telepathy when I can’t take a telegraphed pun opportunity?

        Science.

        1. anaphysik says:

          Continue testing. See if you find yourself groaning by which I mean smiling just seconds before a pun appears.

          Puncognition

  10. Jarenth says:

    As someone who’s only played Metro 2033 for the first time ever last week (to completion, in a single week, and now I don’t remember why I took so long in the first place), I started using the pneumatic arrow gun based on earlier Spoiler Warning comment thread feedback and I had pretty much the same experience. It’s basically an infinite-ammo silent insta-kill launcher against humans.

    I’d heard the Library was notorious for its difficulty, but even ham-fisted gorilla mutants can only take so many arrows to the fur before they realize they’ve got better things to do.

  11. Henson says:

    I know I’ve mentioned this in a previous post some months ago, but when I first played Metro 2033, I had turned off tutorials. As a result, I had no idea how to pump a pneumatic weapon or even that pumping was an available action. The key bindings menu doesn’t list actions tied to ‘hold down the key’ button presses.

    For some reason, the Volt Driver wasn’t working.

  12. Imposter says:

    I just thought I’d pop in and point out that the nagant m1895 isn’t a particularly rare revolver, what with the russian military using it for more than fifty years. Considering that their reputation says that it’d take some effort and a hammer to break one, one showing up in a post-apocalyptic russian subway wouldn’t particularly surprise me.

    (sorry to be that guy)
    (couldn’t resist)

    1. Rutskarn says:

      It’s cool. I don’t really mind polite refutations of things I say live on the internet.

      1. CTrees says:

        It’s actually a pretty cool design, eliminating the cylinder gap that traditional revolvers have. Very distinctive bullets, too. Supply is a little more constrained in the US than it used to be, but the going rate is about $99.

        And now we likely see if that’s enough links to trigger the spam filter. Oh, the woes of being an antique firearms collector…

  13. A. Hieronymus Bosch says:

    You actually can sneak up and stab someone in the back. Right-click with the throwing knives equipped.

    1. Jakale says:

      Regular knives: For all your general slashing needs.
      Throwing knives: Now with new reusable stabbing feature. No need to throw when you’re not on the go.

  14. Way to go Campster with the ding ding thing, now I got The Fox stuck in my head.

    1. ET says:

      The remix is clearly better. :P

      1. Sorry, but to me that sounded horrible. After 10 seconds (literally, 3 sec at the start and 7 sec further into the song) I had to turn it off.

        A good remix is as much a art unto itself as an the original it’s based on. And that remix was not good at all, it was horribly overcompressed. Then again I find remixes and cover versions bad 99% of the time. Take for example Johnny Cash’s Hurt, the original by Nine Inch Nails is much better.

        I have even disliked re-recordings done by the original artist.
        And this is not me being an ass to other artists. I’ve actually deleted (permanently) several albums worth of music (that I composed) myself that I felt was not good enough to keep.
        Of the music I’ve released, only a few songs are close to anything I’d call being proud of, the rest is just meh, and quite a few I regret releasing even.

        There has never been so many musicians before as it is today, and the quality/originality has never been as low as it is today. The games industry suffer from the same. (just to get thing kind of back on topic again).

  15. Mersadeon says:

    The monsters in the book normally aren’t described much – Artyom barely sees them, and when he does, it’s normally a very quick, adrenalin filled moment. Some of the other books go into more detail, and from everything together you can kinda figure that Nosalises in the game look like the ones in the book. They could have made them a lot more interesting, though, especially since they look so close to all the other melee-based monsters in 2033. Watchers aren’t bad. They look a bit more interesting.
    Last Light actually has a lot more variety, especially in behaviour – there are enemies that only attack if they outnumber you 3:1, those are small buggers that like to disappear in holes. They appear in this game, too, but are more of a nuisance, since they always attack in those random run-by attacks that won’t kill you and leave enough time to regenerate for the next attack.

  16. SpammyV says:

    I thought that the Nosalises were kind of interesting looking in the face. They’ve got that tapir snout thing going on there.

    Also I don’t know if this episode is from the last block of episodes, but I really don’t think the points correspond to a morality system. You get points for doing things that indicate Artyom being curious and thoughtful. There’s some where doing the moral thing gives you the point, but I can think of one situation off the top of my head where taking an immoral inaction gives you the point.

    1. A. Hieronymus Bosch says:

      The thing is, immoral actions can lower your points from time to time. Off the top of my head, taking the ammunition from the guitarist’s tip container will give a ‘negative’ flash.

      Then again, taking the supplies in the red locker at the beginning of Frontline (which requires you to kill the guards) gives you a ‘positive’ flash.

      The game is really all over the place with this system. It’s no wonder no one can come up with a good way to describe it.

      1. Anorak says:

        They are not morality points. They are “curiosity” points, or maybe “open-mindedness” points.

  17. Phil says:

    I look forward to finding out what “PHSYCHIC” is all about.

  18. Quent says:

    Perhaps instead of morality points you should call them soul (in an artistic sence) points. Maybe culture points.
    No weight. I’ve got it.
    Experience points.

    1. Felblood says:

      Humanity points?

      Also, do the black flashes that appear when you open the crate of babies and first take the hit off the hooka mean you are losing points?

      So, you lose a point for tagging the hooka, and then gain back 3 more over the course of your high?

      1. PeteTimesSix says:

        I think those were for overhearing conversations to completion that just coincidentally happened while Josh was tripping balls.

    2. ehlijen says:

      Let’s be honest. They’re Unlock Points, as, if I understand it right, all they do is unlock a different ending?

  19. Ygor says:

    Just to put this in, you don’t usually get high from smoking hookah. If you’re not accustomed to it, you can pass out though.

    Also, as someone who read the books, I believe that the only two monsters you really get a good description of are those guys in Library and the Dark Ones. But it was a while since I’ve read Metro, so I might remembering it wrong. The book was definitely focused more on psychological and “supernatural” threats.

  20. Grudgeal says:

    And the Stephen Blum counter adds another notch. I’d have figured the voice directors thought it bad form since Bourbon is a kind of major character in these chapters, but apparently not.

  21. Naota says:

    I’m noticing something very weird about the populated areas in Metro: there are children, but never families. There are hookers, but no mothers. There are little boys in abundance, but no little girls.

    Is there some message there? Is it an artistic choice to make everything seem that much more bleak and gritty? Some sort of unconscious bias from the developers? Were there originally supposed to be more types of citizens, but they ran out of time/money?

    I am not sure why this stood out to me (other than the fact that it’s just really odd), but it bugs me every time I think of it. So… Enjoy! Now it can bug you too!

    1. Ygor says:

      I believe there was at least one mother at the beginning (or a woman begging to be allowed to hospital). I could be wrong though.

      1. AJax says:

        There was also the woman gossiping with her grandmother/mother in that meat shop in the first station.

        I don’t remember any young girls playing or running around the stations though.

    2. ET says:

      I think the sequel fixed some of this.
      I might be remembering this wrong, but I’m pretty sure I saw little girls just as often as boys, and there were a couple more fleshed-out female characters.
      …but there was also the conga-line of topless women, and even more prostitutes.
      I’d say at least a small part of it is/was developer bias.
      Eastern european countries are still a bit conservative in the way that sexual norms, gender roles/steryotypes/etc are viewed.
      e.g. Russia and LGBT rights.

  22. ateius says:

    “It’s a shame we’re fighting generic shooter-game monsters instead of the mental threats the books were all about!”

    *three minutes later*

    “We got killed by a dream sequence. Who thought putting mental threats in this game was a good idea?”

    1. Rutskarn says:

      Alright, I think you’re misunderstanding our criticism. We compliment many aspects of the mental threat–I compliment how personal it is to Artyom, Shamus likes the implications that Bourbon sees something different, we’re all interested in the parameters of what it is and how it works.

      The problem is that the fail states aren’t communicated well to the player, and that finding one of these fail states means replaying the whole sequence over again, which means it loses a lot of its drama and strangeness–the very things that should make it cool.

      1. anaphysik says:

        Frex, a better implementation could have had the red light /damage/ you repeatedly, rather than kill you. (It doesn’t even need to do permanent damage or even be able to actually kill you – the red flashes and pained sounds do mighty fine on their own.)

      2. Naota says:

        I also find that the death just wasn’t well-communicated. It would’ve been perfectly sensible to have the player fall into a pit or be crushed by some other part of the environment mid-hallucination to explain why the scary half of the dream resulted in an instant death while the shiny half was harmless to you.

        When you’re randomly offered a choice between a banana and a pancake, it helps to show that the pancake is sitting on top of an antipersonnel mine when you go to take a bite if the intent is for one of these abstract choices to kill you.

  23. EBass says:

    I’m surprised actually no one has commented on what I feel is the biggest failiure of communication to the player, which makes me feel like an idiot.

    Namely that the devs don’t really do anything to distinguish between “The Dark Ones” and “Mutated Monsters”. I mean early on in the game a scared dude says “The Dark Ones will kill us all, we must defeat this threat”, and then you are immediatly attackhed by Pig-Snout mutants. Surely I can’t be the only one who felt that “The Dark Ones” was a catch all term for the aggressive mutants you just want to rip out your entrails?

    1. Grudgeal says:

      Nope, you weren’t. It took me a good long while of getting into the game before I realised they were distinct entities.

  24. Cybron says:

    It really is amazing how ALIVE the towns feel. I can’t think of any game I’ve played with towns that feel so active and not like they exist solely for the sake of the player.

Thanks for joining the discussion. Be nice, don't post angry, and enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be fun. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

You can enclose spoilers in <strike> tags like so:
<strike>Darth Vader is Luke's father!</strike>

You can make things italics like this:
Can you imagine having Darth Vader as your <i>father</i>?

You can make things bold like this:
I'm <b>very</b> glad Darth Vader isn't my father.

You can make links like this:
I'm reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader">Darth Vader</a> on Wikipedia!

You can quote someone like this:
Darth Vader said <blockquote>Luke, I am your father.</blockquote>

Leave a Reply to ehlijen Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.