Let me get my mean reviewer mindset...okay.
Metro 2033 is just a hot mess of good ideas that fell short. To begin with, the graphics seem slightly dated. The human features all have a sort of dead porcelain doll stare to them, no emotion, wide eyes. The voice acting in this game-at least by the English actors-is horrendous. Some of the worst fake accents I've heard in some time, added to just plain voice acting in-general (once you hear one annoying little boy, you'll despise every little boy in the game, because they are all voiced by the same annoying little boy). Outside of scripted motions, AI movement is a bit choppy, and even during cutscenes there are odd motion glitches.
The gunplay in the game is absolutely nothing to write home about. I found myself more often just charging human enemies with a knife than wanting to engage them with firearms (and, hilariously enough, the Throwing Knife weapon tends to deal more damage than bullets, tell me how that works). The first gun you get in the game is comically called/played off as a "Bastard gun," because it overheats and chews through ammo, while being totally inaccurate. Probably the only weapon that really seemed as effective as it should have been is the double-barrel shotgun you get early in the game; forget the combat shotgun, bayonet or not, the CS is so incredibly WEAK that it's even outclassed by the regular Revolver, the first weapon you find in the game. Top that off with the already bad gunplay and you may as well be fighting with rocks.
The stealth mechanic is complete garbage, and it is basically always better just to run in, guns blazing, save for the underground mission on the Red/Nazi occupied bridge, where you'll be wasted within five seconds by a literal army.
They introduced this mechanic where the best ammunition you can find (Military Grade) is also the currency of the metro, however, you can also use this ammunition to deal more damage in an emergency. This would have been an amazing mechanic in the game...were it not so easy to find and buy new ammunition. Honestly, even on the hardest difficulty it's easy to keep yourself stocked with ammo. You can always pick up any kind of ammunition, and certain "special" weapons you can grab sell for a lot-as well as their ammo. Chances are you won't find ammunition for this weapon for another level or so, so it's easier to just sell them at the shops and restock the ammo for guns you have. In fact, you'll almost always want to grab a weapon that sells better, because chances are good that the weapon you dropped to pick it up will be found again soon, or a better one (for instance, AK-47's become extremely plentiful by about the halfway mark of the game, and yet they make such a big deal about you getting one from one of the characters, when you begin finding them one mission later).
On top of that, you never-EVER-find another shop after the 2/3rd mark of the story. You will actually meet up with the Rangers (Metro's version of "RUSSIA, FUCK YEAH" soldiers) and they will literally GIVE YOU a choice of the best type of gun for each slot of your weapons inventory FOR FREE, meaning you will have no purpose for any MG ammunition you have saved from the final shop after the first 2/3rds.
The good points would have to be the secret caches you can find, along with the music and atmosphere, but even this gets ridiculous when you eventually head to a nuclear weapons facility only to fight a giant mutated amoeba-spewing fungus.
