Hopefully I can add a few things about the game that others have not allready.

Well I have completed the game and though I should finish up my thoughts on my play through. 

If you do a little research on the internet(s) you’ll find that the game is actually based on a book of the same title.  The Russian author, Dmitry Glukhovsky, apparently first started writing the book online as an interactive experiment in 2002.  He would write a chapter, post it online and people would comment on it, he would read the comments and then write the next chapter.  It was eventually published in print form and, apparently, is something of a phenomena in Russia. 

However, just as many movies based on video games have trouble jumping from one form of media to another . . . Metro 2033 the game looks to have lost something ‘in translation’ as it were.   But before I tell you what I didn’t like, let’s go over what I loved about this game.   

The developers, Ukraine based 4A games, did a wonderful job of bringing a rich lush world to life.  The detail in the levels is amazing . . . I wont go back and re-hash stuff from my First Impressions . . . but it was a pleasant surprise to find myself, level after level, stopping and just looking around and taking it all in.  I truly got the feeling of being in the game. 

The game mechanics that I talked about in my First Impressions:

-  the fact that you have to periodically recharge your head lamp and night vision goggles,
- you have to put away your gun to bring out your ‘journal’ to see your goals,
- you have to pump your pneumatic weapons,
- you have to change out your gas mask filter from time to time, etc.)
I still love.  I love them !  This brought me into the world so much more.  You constantly have to think going into a situation, is my air going to run out ? . . . is my head lamp going to go out in the middle of this fight ? . . . where is the nearest place I can hide and check my compass or recharge my lamp or change my air filter ?   This built the suspense all the more in a game already full of suspense. 

The survival horror aspect of the game isn’t quite as suspenseful as, say, Dead Space (where you are always wondering what is going to pop out of the vents and come after you), but the fact that you can hear the mutants coming, or much of the time see them coming, only gives you a little extra time to crap your pants before they start attacking you. 

The music is very strange, but is very moody and fits the world perfectly.  I don’t remember a game where the acoustic guitar is used in the main theme so much, but it gives a lonely (and very Russian) feel to the game.  You also have your standard orchestral themes during the suspenseful parts (not that they are bad, they are very good). 

The game also has a few disappointing aspects for me as well, many of which come from the fact that 4A Games did such a good job in crafting the world . . . only to deny you any access to it.  For instance . . . at one point in the game you are in a metro tunnel with a Ranger and you come upon an ‘Anomaly’ (we will call it).  You are taught what to do when this Anomaly comes near you, you learn some about it . . . it is presented as a game mechanic that looks like it will show up later (you know, when games take the time to ‘teach’ you about how to deal with something so that when it shows up later you’ll know what to do).  Well it shows up 60 seconds later and that’s the last time you interact with it at all (other then, perhaps, one other time).  They take the time to teach you about something in the world, peak your interest, give you some background, show you how to interact with it . . . then you never get the chance to interact with it again.  This happens several times with several things in the game and is perplexing to me.  Does this stem from the developers following the book closely or did they simply have to cut parts of the game out ?  They do such a good job of showing you a wonderfully crafted world . . . only to move on and show you something else with out ever giving you the chance to use what you learned. 

Also, a good chunk of the game is spent making your way toward Polis (the big city where you must warn people of the bad Dark Ones ramping up their attacks).  You stop in several stations before this where you can walk around and interact with the inhabitants and see the ‘city’ as it were, but when you finally arrive at Polis you roll into (what amounts to) the big city.  Being 4 metro stations closely connected, this place is huge !  There are people everywhere when you arrive.  Then you are escorted into a small room where you can buy weapons and ammo . . . and then you watch a series of cut scenes and promptly leave.  You never get the chance to look around the place you’ve been hearing so much about, that you’ve been heading toward for such a good part of the game. 

Again, I don’t know if this was the game following the book closely or the designers deciding to cut this out of the game for whatever reason.  But it feels strange because they make such a big deal of you finally making it to Polis for so much of the game . . . and then deny you more then 30 seconds of looking at it.  Literally, you get about 30 seconds of rolling into town and then . . . that’s it. 

There are other examples of this type of thing, but basically they hype up stuff or show you how to deal with certain situations . . . only to deny you ever doing so.  This was frustrating and made the game feel a little . . . disjointed and confused.  As a narrative, as a story that you experience, it’s wonderful . . . as a game it leaves a little to be desired only because they do such a good job in so much of the game, the parts that are lacking stand out all the more. 

Another issue I had was the moral choices.  This is a game mechanic that isn’t explained at all . . . you just have to pick up on it.  There are several times when you make obvious choices (not exactly ‘good or evil’, more like good or selfish).  But from time to time you hear these whispers and see a flash of light when you do stuff (sometimes when you hear the end of a conversation between people, sometimes when you just look at stuff).  Apparently, when you hear the whispers and see the subtle flash of light . . . that was a moral choice.  As I said these can just be looking at something or listening to people talk, which was a bit ambiguous to me.  Did I get the good or selfish point when I listened to these people talk ?  I still don’t know, and searching online a lot of people aren’t sure.  Your moral points affect the ending . . . that’s all I’m going to say.  But why wouldn’t you make this a little more prominent if it’s so important as to affect the ending of the game ?  Maybe it was suppose to be ‘secret’.

I enjoyed the game a lot, though I’m not sure I would have paid $60 for it knowing what I know now.  It was an immersive survival game that forces you to truly be proactive in your survival (not just kill everything, but truly find ways to stay alive).   If you can look past the flaws, and memorize a few button combos, I think you will find a wonderful story worth playing.  It’s a new spin on survival horror that I liked very much !

I like this picture.  It is our moving light controller in the Youth Sound Booth.  We use small lamps in our sound booth with saturated gells over the lights to cut down on extraneous light leaking from the booth.  It just looks so cool in this picture.   This has nothing to do with the rest of the post, other then I sometimes just need to see the beauty in the things that surround me every day.

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We came in late today, due to the snow, and we’ll probably head home a bit early (due to the melting snow re-freezing as I type this).  So it was nice to sleep in a bit this morning . . . but it’s put me behind all day long.

All these little things, all necessary, but one thing after another keeps popping up that I have to do . . . none of it on my to-do list for today.  When the database freezes, I cant just put that off till later.  I keep getting calls like that, all day long.  Usually I dont mind, but today I’m trying to concept out a video that we’re going to shoot Thursday and show Sunday.  I have the main ideas, but I have to work them into an overall concept and then get down to the specifics of the thing.

The big project is the D-TOX video for Sunday.  D-TOX is our theme for the year here at DFA.  Getting rid of all the spiritual (and physical) junk that’s built up over the years is the jist of the thing.  It also stands for Discipline through Training and Obedience . . . meaning we need to get back into God’s Word and stop being lax about it.

But to come up with a funny (yet dealing with serious issues) video that explains the theme for the rest of the year . . . well that takes some thinking time.  Time when I dont have any distractions but can just kind of focus on the video concept . . . uninterrupted.  I guess all the interruptions, needed as they are  just keep blocking me from making any progress on a task that I’m already behind on. 

I wish my brain could come up with these ideas faster.  And you know, each time I do a video (like a good one, not just a mindless announcement video thing) I get a little better at it.  But it’s such a struggle to get these things started.  Then I read this on Ben Arment’s blog (found HERE) . . . he writes:

“God doesn’t allow one, single experience to be wasted on you.  What you think might have been a worthless endeavor, a big mistake, or a pointless job was exactly what God needed you to experience for what’s coming ahead.

What if heartbreak and setback were qualifications for your dream? What if your dream required thick skin and you didn’t have it? Would you be okay with facing letdown after letdown if it helped prepare you?

Oswald Chambers says, “Before God can use a man greatly, he must wound him deeply.” Are you willing to accept pain for greatness?”

Not that I’m after ‘greatness’, and I dont see any of this as a ‘set back’ . . . but lately my job has been increasingly difficult due to many factors (that I cant go into here or now) and I guess today it just all came to a head when I just couldn’t even get this huge project STARTED.

Though it’s frustrating . . . every ‘setback’ is just making me a better person . . . helping me to do my job better. 

Though today was a frustriating day, I did get a lot acomplished and helped a lot of people.  And if this video turns out crappy . . . well then so be it.  I’ll just have to make sure the next one is that much better.

That’s right . . . don’t be stupid.

At my apartment complex, actually a row of duplexes that share a concrete pad as a parking lot, there is plenty of space for people to park.   That is, if you’re not stupid. 

The ‘parking lot’ is a square pad of concrete with a 6 foot driveway connecting it to the main road.  Everyone at the apartments (duplexes, whatever) parks along the outside edge of the pad (leaving room in the middle for people to pull out and turn around and such) . . . like any normal sensible people would.   In my two and a half years there, this has never been an issue.  You pull in and immediately see how you should park so as not to block the entrance.

My new neighbors have a son (about 24 years old), who comes over a lot but doesn’t actually ‘live’ there.  Their son has a girlfriend who comes over a lot too, when she can borrow his car anyways (she apparently has no car of her own as she is asking for rides all the stinkin’ time . . . but that’s another story). 

Girlfriend cant park . . . or maybe she is constantly drunk, I dunno’.

I’m not saying that she parks at a bit of an angle or a little too far away from anther car as to take up two spaces (both a bit annoying, but understandable).  I mean she parks in the driveway and blocks it.  Or she parks at such a strange angle, so far away from another car, that literally three spaces are taken up . . . thus leaving no place for me to park when I come home at 7:30 at night after finally finishing an A-V promo video with groceries and a huge bag of dog food in my arms forcing me to walk through the mud ridden front yard to get to my front door thinking ‘AGAIN I have to do this’.

So, after parking on the side of the road (half in the ditch, half in the road) and setting down my groceries inside, I knock on the neighbors door to ask girlfriend (once AGAIN) to move her car. 

No one answers.  I keep knocking, hearing people talking inside (it’s not the TV, I hear girlfriend and son talking to each other).  Still no one answers.

Being that this is like the 5th or 6th time I’ve had to ask girlfriend to move her car . . . and no one is answering the door . . . I park behind girlfriend (as that is literally the only place to park with out blocking the driveway) and go inside to make some dinner. 

The next morning (this morning), while I’m in the shower, Bailey starts barking like mad (and I assume it was girlfriend or son knocking at the door).  About 30 minutes later, I head out the door to leave for work. I notice that I have a note on the door (I assume from girlfriend, as it was very ‘girly’ writing) informing me that she had to drive through the yard to get out . . . and the next time I block her in she going to call a tow truck.

Oh really ? It’s on now.

You dont even LIVE here.  You park in such a way as to cause other people (not just me) to drive through the yard and ditch just to get to the main road . . . and you’re going to call a tow truck ?  Not that you have the authority to do so, as you don’t even live here.  But after people time and time again have to ask to you move the car . . . you still don’t get it. 

These are the people that should be legally barred from reproducing.  There’s enough stupid in the world already with out you making more.

I don’t know why this has me in such a mood.  I’m suppose to be forgiving, kind, a good example of Christianity to other people . . . I work for a church for goodness sake.  But THIS, THIS gets under my skin something fierce. 

Jesus forgive me but I’m looking forward to ‘talking” with girlfriend and letting her know exactly where she can ‘park’ her car. 

Yes, I have called the land lord and let him know.  He’s said mine is not the only complaint.  He’s going to give her ‘one more chance’ and then bar her from the premises . . . whatever that means. 

Patience, Kindness, Gentleness . . . these Fruit of the Spirit the Bible talks about I usually practice (or try to) on a daily basis.  But I struggle with this situation.  It’s just parking, I know . . . I have no idea why it bothers me so much.  But it does.  Lord help me . . . it does.

So the day didn’t start off  very well (see post below).  Then I started sneezing and snotting uncontrollably (allergies).  Then this problem I’ve been having with my digital cable started getting worse. 

Every now and again, the picture and sound will freeze for a second or two when I’m watching TV.  Doesn’t matter what channel, or weather I’m recording on the DVR or not.  This isn’t a big deal, but the past day or two it’s gotten much worse, freezing every couple of minutes or so.

So I decided to call Comcast to see if they needed to boost the signal or whatever.  Well, to make a long story short . . . not only did my Comcast rep get a technician scheduled to fix the problem but offered me all kinds of extra channels and an internet upgrade for 6 months.  Sure it’s just a promotion, but my internet goes from 6 to 8 megs, and I get almost every channel possible for just .94 cents more a month for 6 months.  I just need to cancel the promotion before December 19th, but there will be a reminder on my bill about it.  The rep was very helpful and actually got stuff done for me, and offered me this promotion as compensation for being bothered by the problem. 

That’s very cool of them. 

It’s strange to have such bad, and then such good, customer service experience in one day. 

It was 7am.  Not that early, but early enough. 

I woke up to the sounds of metal crashing into metal and people shouting.  From the sounds, my first groggy thoughts were that a car accident had happened.  As I peeked out the window to see if I needed to call 911 . . . I realized that it was actually a backhoe being unloaded from a trailer into the front yard.  They managed to make more noise unloading this thing then I thought possible.  Then they started it up and started digging in the yard and I realized it was possible to make more noise.  They were digging up the phone lines in the yard. 

The backhoe in my yard, unlike the one in this picture, has metal treads that sound like metal banding on metal every time it moves.  I cant even explain how loud this thing sounds, other then it sounds like a big diesel engine running and metal banging on metal constantly. 

Now 7am isn’t SUPER early, but it’s early enough.  Most utilities in this area don’t start working in the field until 8 at the earliest, usually 9.  For some reason Bell South / AT&T decided that they would start extra early.  And while I find this annoying not very courteous at all, I could have lived with it. 

I decided to call AT&T and just let them know that 7am was a little early to make so much noise (as it looked like they were starting a project that was going to take several days to finish and I wanted to be able to sleep in on Saturday).  I got the customer service number off of their web site, but had to wait until 8am to call as they weren’t open yet.

This is where my issue with them starts. 

I don’t have home phone service with them (I just have my cell phone), so every time I got through to a customer service representative they wanted my phone number so they could retrieve my account records.  After explaining that I wasn’t one of their customers I was basically told that they couldn’t help me. 

What ?  Are you serious ? 

You can send machines to my front yard to dig crap up at 7am, but you cant do anything for me unless I’m a customer of yours ?  ‘I’m sorry sir, but there’s nothing I can do for you’ was the response.  Well you know what, that’s not good enough.  After arguing with two different representatives, then being transferred to the repair department, and once again explaining the situation . . . I was again apologized to but told there was no way to help me if I wasn’t a customer. 

‘Who do I need to call to complain about your equipment waking me up at 7am, before your customer service is even open ?’ I asked. 

‘I don’t know sir’ was the answer. 

‘If I signed up as a customer, could you take my complaint then?’

‘Yes’ the lady answered.

I hung up.

So I signed up for new service.

I registered a complaint.

I canceled my service and made sure that I wasn’t being charged for anything.

The last customer service rep that I spoke with, to cancel my service, asked me why I was doing so.  After explaining the situation to him, he said that they absolutely could take complaints like that (with out me being a customer). In fact, he could take the complaint and make sure the local supervisor of repairs got the message.  He checked that my order for new service was canceled and apologized for all the loops that I had to jump through just to register a complaint. 

I’m probably just upset because it’s early, I haven’t eaten or had any caffeine yet . . . and oh yah, there’s this banging sound going on constantly outside my windows.  That could be why.