The success of 2007’s story-driven shooter BioShock proved gamers wanted their minds engaged just as much as their trigger fingers. Now, in Big Daddy’s game-changing wake, many developers are putting as much emphasis on spinning a compelling yarn as they are scoring head shots. THQ and 4A Games’ promising new entry, Metro 2033, based on author Dmitry Glukhovsky’s popular Russian novel of the same name, is shaping up to be the next great story-driven first-person shooter.

With intense bullet exchanges and bloodthirsty creatures complementing a rich narrative and well-developed characters—rather than the other way around—the title is leveraging technology to support both its frantic action and atmospheric storytelling. The title will be one of the first games to really take advantage of the graphics advances Microsoft’s DirectX 11 brings to the table (see story on page 86 for more on DX11).

Unfolding in the mutant-infested Moscow subway system, following a nuclear holocaust that poisoned the surface world, Metro 2033—which takes place in the futuristic titular year—combines a wonderfully twisted tale with inspired enemies, colorful characters, cinematic level design and, of course, lots of baddie-blasting hardware.

NVIDIA’s content manager Anton Ravin gave us the lowdown on DX11's implementation. “The focus will be on DX11 tessellation, resulting in much more detailed and realistic-looking characters and monsters, as well as other great-looking effects possible with DX11, such as high quality depth of field.” Sure enough, within just a few minutes behind the pistol-clutching hands of protagonist Artyom, we got to see some of these characters and monsters in action. Huddled in a small, low-lit room, Artyom’s joined by several panicked allies from his makeshift subterranean society. The obvious reason for his friends’ distress is an unseen—but definitely not unheard—threat approaching their location through the ventilation system. As the pulse-spiking sounds of scratching talons and haunting growls begin to swallow up the room, Artyom’s armed buddies start to show genuine fear on their faces and in their actions; pained expressions stretch across their previously calm features and they pace nervously, bracing for the inevitable.

While their richly detailed emotions drove the scene’s scary vibe, it was nothing compared to what came next; the fright-fueling audio cues telegraphing the incoming attack were soon joined by the sight of grotesquely mutated creatures clamoring at the ceiling’s air vents. The snarling beasts were a disturbing dog–monster hybrid, complete with razor-like claws, even sharper teeth, spiky fur, and a craving for human blood. The ensuing melee yielded the expected ear-thumping explosions, death cries—from both humans and mutants—and buckets of spurting blood. Driven by the immersion-amping tech, it was actually that not-so-calm before the storm that really sold Metro 2033’s idea of an emotionally charged shooter.

We were impressed by the obvious terror conveyed by the villagers in this scene, but it was just as refreshing to see non-playable characters brought to life on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. Artyom’s close-knit underground home is brimming with vibrant life; playing children, bickering couples, barking vendors, and the elderly inject a real sense of community that provides the player with an investment in the game’s characters. Even the cheery fellow peddling us guns and ammunition sported a colorful personality and animations that make other title’s mostly static shopkeepers look like zombies. More often than not, especially in shooters, NPCs serve the rote purpose of handing you missions or filling in the scenery, but Metro 2033’s detail-drenched models make you want to fight for their safety.

Further supporting Metro 2033’s impressively rendered populace is NVIDIA PhysX effects. “Players will be able to see GPU-accelerated PhysX features such as various particle-based effects—gunshot debris, volumetric smoke and fog—and various PhysX cloth-based effects, such as cloth and debris flying through the tunnels and realistically interacting with environments,” says Ravin. “NVIDIA’s GF100 geometry performance will also be utilized to get rid of rough edges and make models smoother.”

We got a brief tease of this tech in a later subway tunnel battle that again saw us fighting a pack of four-legged foes. Admittedly, we were a bit distracted by the hordes of hungry monsters trying to tear away our faces (while we also just happened to be racing down subway tracks in an unpiloted open rail car) to really absorb all of Metro 2033’s finer technical details. However, with the help of a highly effective double-barrel hand cannon and some quick reflexes, we were able to eventually litter the tracks with the mangled corpses of our attackers, and take in some of the visual trickery Ravin was referring to. In the wake of the frenzied fight, smoke rose from our gun muzzles, realistic bullet holes were now present in the concrete walls, and post-battle debris kicked up dust in the claustrophobic environment.

We received a nice jolt of adrenaline while fighting off the game’s mutated menaces, but it was actually some of the subtler tech tricks that sold us on a return trip to Moscow’s subway system. Many of Metro 2033’s above- and below-ground environments require Artyom to wear a gas mask, lest his lungs be poisoned by the fallout-infused air. The masks, which occasionally need to be outfitted with fresh filters, display realistic cracks, which can quickly become lethal with a well-targeted claw puncture from an aggressive attacker. But even cooler, realistic-looking condensation creeps around the masks’ periphery the longer you wear it.

Pushing this interesting mechanic further is a military wristwatch that reads Artyom’s oxygen level; its glowing display must be physically looked at because no immersion-breaking HUD is cluttering the display with this vital information. These subtle-yet-effective touches go a long way in selling an interactive experience, especially one that’s just as concerned with narrative as it is a sky-high corpse count.

For seasoned players looking to achieve the ultimate frights-and-firefights experience in Metro 2033’s haunted underground, Ravin recommends utilizing NVIDIA 3D Vision support, which he promises has been polished to provide the best possible stereoscopic gaming experience. While we didn’t get to see this set-up in action, we’re guessing it could only elevate the already high fear-factor the game is going for.

Metro 2033’s compelling combination of traditional firefight-fueled action and use of more subtle, immersion-driving devices—such as using gas masks and interactions with characters capable of displaying real emotions—definitely gave us a satisfying taste of the developer’s ambitious goal to make a shooter that engages the brain as much as the thumbs.

Ravin’s bold closing promise of an unprecedented experience also didn’t hurt in encouraging us to reload our mutant-killers and refill our metro cards: “Cutting-edge DX11 effects combined with GPU PhysX features and top-quality stereoscopic 3D with NVIDIA 3D Vision will definitely deliver a gaming experience never seen before. There’s no shipped game to date that [benefits] more from DX11 than Metro 2033.”