Aug
5th
2015
Metro 2033: The book! · 7:59am Aug 5th, 2015
Don't worry, there are no spoilers in here. This is just my quick review of the book.
So I just finished the book Metro 2033. A wonderfully told story about the people and the cultures that sprout up after the nuclear apocalypse set in Moscow's metro stations.
The story took me on a wonderful journey that made me think about people in new ways, how we work, how we function. The ending of the book... no not just that, the entire book was so utterly different than the game's story... I highly suggest reading it if you ever get a chance.
PS: the game ruined the ending of the book, like completely. If you've played the game, then you won't recognize the book's story. So you can still enjoy it. XD
Speaking as somebody that loves the game series and reading...
Have to admit I couldn't stand the book.
I will however admit I think I'd be feeling quite differently if I'd read the book first. But as-is it felt a bit like a re-run of the good parts of the game, with near nothing of the stuff actually added being that interesting.
Oh, and I couldn't stand that milquetoast goody-two-shoes boy Artyum was in the book. The near silent from shyness but still deeply thoughtful and brave man from the games was frankly far more interesting to me.
I will admit the atmosphere and world-building was truly excellent, though. Book-Artyum just grated on my nerves too much.
3296242 hmm interesting. I actually felt the reverse about Artyum. I felt that in the games he didn't really exist as a character, which does help make the player feel more like they are actually in the game. But in the book I really enjoyed his philosophical take on things. He's not a warrior, although he can fight, he is a philosopher, his place in life is to learn and study the cultures of the metro, not to shoot bandits and monsters. And his journey is a spiritual one, which did not translate to the game very well.
Although I haven't read the sequel I've heard that Artyum changes as a character drastically, and if you got to the end of the first one, I can see why.
I love both the book and the games, but for entirely different reasons. If I had read the book first, chances are I couldn't have enjoyed the game's story. But since I played the game first, I found myself being able to explore and enjoy the world twice.
Thanks for the reply. XD
3296761
I really enjoyed how the game sorta played with the sterotype of the silent protagonist, and actually showed in a way what that type of person would really be like.
Because Artyom is clearly near cripplingly shy, despite being able to tear through litterally entire stations worth of bandits and mutants.
There's this one moment that stuck with me, for example, were you can talk with this person in your home station that has borrowed a certain book from Artyom. And on being asked if he can keep loaning it for a while longer, Artyom says 'OK' so softly you can barely hear it.
In his home, surrounded by his community, talking to a friend, and he can barely raise his voice above a whisper.
And that really gave me a jolt, because I can't even remember the last time I saw a game protagonist with that type of outright personality flaw slash weakness. I mean, he 'writes' a small novel on the mission screens and there he has this highly intelligent and even outright philosophical outlook, but in person he can barely say 'hi.'
Compared with the avarage FPS protagonist that barely winces when their entire world goes boom? Wow, was it a difference that made me connect deeply with Aryom, and actually care for him.
And well... let's say the naive chatter-box in the book wasn't even nearly as interesting after that. Got to that part in the book with the rat race before I just put the thing down and never picked it up again.
3296817 wow, I never thought about it like that before. I mean, I still can't connect with the game character like I can the book character, but that is an interesting way to put it. I'm a little saddened that you got just far enough that you were able to experience some of the best character moments for Artyum, but missed all the others of the best moments I've seen from Artyum. But again, these are practically two completely different stories.
The game lets me explore the world in first person, even if its a very different world, with different rules, it's still a fantastic setting.
In the book I get to explore the culture and the characters that survive here. The world is dark, gritty, and down right horrifying.
The only difference that really bothers me between the two, is how the ending of the game, and the book are very different. I must say that the books ending really hit me pretty hard, emotionally. The game's was epic, but it didn't exactly pull the rug out from under my feet.