Post-apoc games with a "serious"setting and tone?

G

GreatestHits

First time out of the vault
Fallout satires the early cold war, but it doesn't make me want to get up and protest nuclear proliferation. STALKER portrays an extreme human-caused environmental catastrophe, but it's all for atmosphere(now ruined by CoP's cheery frat-boy stalkers) and cheap scares. FUEL depicts a world emptied by human-caused climate change, but I just cast it off as a mediocre racing game. I never really stop and think about how fucked up and prescient the settings of these games may be(mostly because they're not; they're too far-fetched and/or stupid). Are there any post-apoc or dystopic games whose settings elicit any serious emotional response from you?
 
You might try Metro 2033... I've only seen a few preview vids for it, but it looked interesting. A friend of mine said he felt that it gave the "post apocalyptic feel" better than Fallout did (as far as desperation/bleakness went).

I'll probably pick it up myself at some point when it goes on sale.
 
GreatestHits said:
I heard it's short and linear. Might be a rental.
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Linear and you'll get 6 - 10 hours from it depending on your skill level and difficulty.

With that said, i thought it was quite good. Well worth playing at least. It had a good atmosphere and i enjoyed it from start to finish.

It's not without it's faults, but i think they're minor scratches in a very polished game.
 
GreatestHits said:
I heard it's short and linear. Might be a rental.
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That's what she said.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself, haha. Sounds like it's worth playing through at least.
 
Wonderful post, korindabar. Nevertheless, if you don't have anything to say about the topic at hand, indulge us in a little break from your razor-sharp wit.

M2033 is linear, because it's a pretty traditional FPS. It wasn't supposed to have free-roam open world, it's a pretty straightforward narrative. The game is IMO great in many ways, terrible at others. Definitely an underrated and somewhat rushed game, but well worth it.

Borderlands is fun to play in co-op mode. The cartoony graphics, gun mechanics, great music and good level design also makes it an interesting although much more hack'n'slashy play.

And for a fairly realistic settings-wise dystopic shooter, try Far Cry 2. It's definitely a flawed gem, but full of interesting ideas.
 
Oh yes, and Singularity. Not a masterpiece, but it's got an interesting setting. Huge problems with texture streaming, tho'
 
UnidentifiedFlyingTard said:
whats wrong with linear games?
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<s>Nothing</s>
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The Jackal said:
Oh yes, and Singularity. Not a masterpiece, but it's got an interesting setting. Huge problems with texture streaming, tho'
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Oh yeah, massive texture problems. Not enough to kill the game but man it was distracting.
 
Like others have said, Metro 2033 could've been a bit better in the gameplay department. Or rather, even as linear games go... It still manages to feel overtly linear at times.

But as far as post-apoc games go, the game is a real winner in the atmosphere department. Can't say it made me particularly emotional or anything but it definitely succeeded in making it feel like humanity have no place in the world anymore.

The first time you reach the surface in the game is a pretty intense experience. Not many games manages to make the underground areas more welcoming, but Metro 2033 does it.
 
Metro 2033 is great, don't listen to the haters, or get distracted by the phrase "linear". However long it takes you to play it is great. There's also two endings; it's not apparent that there can be two, but there are two. And it's not that easy to find or get the second ending. The setting and atmosphere is great, and the home-made weapons are pretty cool.
 
I think Metro is really, really good. It wasn't the apocalypse I had in mind but the title wasn't lying about the setting. I liked the action a lot and there is a sneaky approach to the game aswell.
 
While Metro33 is awesome, there have been 2 things I really dissliked. First, its quite short ~ but I also payed only 33$ for it so I guess that evens it out, I heard the book has more then 2000 pages I am sure they could have squezed a bit more in the game particularly from the story. The other part I dissliked ... the creatures. No clue who was responsible for the design or the implementation but I found them neither scary, nor chalanging but just damn fucking anyoing ... I dont know if it was their look or that it feelt many times like a bad doom rip off. The part which was absolutely remarkable and awesome was the meeting with the old friendly guy in the tunnels which ... well you should play the game to experience it. But it was great. Also the travel to the underground vault which really gave you a feeling of "humanity is loost and thats all which is left". I wish Fallout 3 would have been as athmospheric like Metro33 with the same detail to the characters :(
 
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