Recent reviews by MaTTheW

This game is an absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ wreck compared to the first one. You would expect a mildly difficult game in its continuity to get better, but no. The voice acting sounds horrible, the soldiers on the first level sound like Irishmen, and Lavrentiy Beria's voice... It's like everything that made this game special got downgraded! I can't even beat the level where we are driving around at the Red Square. Weren't there any testers for this game in particular?

Nonetheless, I will avenge this game one day, I tell you. I won't let myself be a victim of the game's little tricks up its sleeve.

Blood pressure increaser character unlocking simulator

I may not have the best PC specifications but as I read through other reviews I must confirm that this game is poorly optimised. When I set my graphics down to the bare minimum the game just broke. After moving on to breaking some other props the game just crashed. Yes I get it, this is a prologue, or a 'tech demo' as some might say, and things are subject to change, but please, this shall not go without notice.

I'm not going to lie, at first I'd cracked the game before having any money on hand, but now that I'm financially stable, not long after the game turning 11, I've finally got it, and have just finished the game under 2 days. So, what is there to say about this game?

It's not a regular document checking simulator game that goes on forever until the game decides that 'this will be enough'. Even though your job may seem jerkwater and worthless - that is only for keeping your family's condition in a good shape - your decisions have an impact on the political state of the country. You can either help the EZIC, the enigmatic terrorist group taking on the government, or just ignore all of their demands and side with Arstotzka. From both of which you can get good endings but in the end, nothing will really change with the people's lives. It is not disclosed that the population is getting more freedom in the EZIC controlled 'New Arstotzka', so the game leaves that to your imagination. As each day comes, the criteria for foreigners increase, forcing you to put more attention into checking the documents, and the game always engrosses that, making the instructions abudantly clear. Sometimes you have to make some moral decisions that don't impact your in-game stats at all, but makes you question your own choices. All these little things give the game some life, and Papers Please flawlessly captured that.

this game has changed my life's every aspect

The only reason why I know this game is due to a Hungarian "youtuber" covering Stalin Subway: Red Veil. He was berating the game in the video, so I thought to myself, when I'd seen the game on sale for 1 euro only, out of pure curiosity, I would give it a try.
I'd to go out of my way to find some fix for the lighting and resolution issues - I found nothing to the latter one, so I played the game through with its ♥♥♥♥♥♥ default resolution.
The metro maps really made me question my existence, because I felt it was a repetitious waste, absolutely served no purpose in advancing the story except showing off how many soldiers are after us. Have I mentioned that there are some soldiers, standing in alleyways and on top of the stairs that you can't kill? A nice addition.

I got to say I was expecting something much much worse. It is a very janky game with (for me) an undecipherable story, but it is what makes this game an all time classic.

I recommend this to all opiate addicts

Well, after imagining having the game in my library, then getting it, after that taking subsequent breaks whenever a part of the game felt hard, I've finally completed the game!

Just besides the point - I'd read the junction, the book Roadside Picnic from which every Stalker title (games and the movie included) originate from, and it was amusing, and I'd always liked games that revolved around stalkers.
The game is janky, it has obsolete graphics design but it still has a soul. It has everything that the book included: artifacts, anomalies, and of course, the bleak and barren landscape of the Zone. There are interesting and well-wrought factions that supplement the emptiness of the Zone throughout the story.
I'm not going to lie, at the ending I've had a tantrum because of the spontaneous anticlimactic deaths that I've witnessed (the factors of not exploring and not being well-equipped for the final mission), but for the end it was worth it, Yes I may have not been the most observant player all through this...
Newer players might find the game challenging but you can get used to it not shortly after completing a few objectives.
I would highly recommend digging in the story and faction lore because as an outlier you may not understand everything at first.

Overall, the game is challenging, janky, but it has a special feeling which compensates most of the negativities.

Don't get me wrong, the game is very good but it's so short with only a few villains that do not contribute to the story at all that it feels like an overpriced DLC. On the other part, I get why they didn't explore this Nazi Zombie idea further in their newest games, but this game had to be made in order to advance the story.

In general, regardless of the negativities it's a nice game.

Well, after 34 hours and consistent breaks I took after beating a stage... I've got to say that this game was worth the price. Of course, I'd felt a little cringe when the scenes with Anna were coming up, but it still got me very emotional at Novosibirsk.

The gameplay is pretty immersive - no distracting HUD, there is an actual map that doesn't put thousands of questmarks in your face and of course, you decide if you want to do the said sidequests, which will change the outcome of the game and its ending.

You go through all kinds of vegetation, and other kinds of people; like the technophobic cult at the Volga level, or some pirates at the Taiga level... Really gets you thinking what was left of humanity outside the Metro. It gave me a huge inspiration, and I haven't talked about the DLCs (because I didn't play with them yet).

I don't know the complications when the game has launched on Steam, but for me, it is forgivable. Thank you, everyone behind the making of this game.