This was Guillermo's favourite dog

While we could be fooled into thinking the above quote was in response to pretty much everything that’s been said about video games by Australian politicians in the past two years, Oscar-nominated director and all round Pretty Cool Guy Guillermo del Toro actually said the above in defense of video games as an art form:

Video games are an art form and anyone saying differently is a little out of touch because they are a narrative art form

He continues, stating that he’s a big fan of titles such as Halo and Shadow of the Colossus.  We’ll choose to ignore the fact that he’s justified his opinion by saying ‘it’s an art form because it’s an art form’, ignore the fact that his comments are likely prompted by his upcoming but so far mysterious involvement with THQ and instead focus on the important message: people who don’t like video games are dumb-dumbs because a cool rich guy with a beard said so.  Brilliant!

Full story on 1Up, and selected other quotes from the actual Q&A session over at the Portland Mercury.

Get ready to make use of that bayonet, Bourbon

THQ have dropped a little knowledge concerning the upcoming DLC package for Metro 2033 and, before you all start rolling your eyes, it actually sounds kind of cool.  The developers have decided to build on the game’s strongest asset, the atmosphere, and are releasing a new game mode to make the most of it: Ranger Mode.

Ranger Mode will apparently decrease the amount of ammo strewn about the metro, while at the same time making all guns more powerful.  So while enemies will deal greater damage than before, the power increase will also allow players to make better use of the game’s stealth system for strategic takedowns.  There’s also an option to completely remove the game’s HUD, to add a touch of difficulty and make better use of the game’s on-screen elements.  Overall, it’s attempting to move the game in a slightly more realistic direction, a move which I heartily approve of.

For those not satisfied with just cranking the difficulty up the “Ranger Pack” will also include a new set of achievements, and add two new guns for your enjoyment.  The new weapons are the Heavy Automatic Shotgun, previously available as a pre-order bonus, and the Volt Driver, the post-apocalyptic rail-gun you can see Miller use in later levels.  The Volt Driver sounds a little out of place but I’ll be happy to get my hands on the Auto Shotgun, especially considering my pre-order code wouldn’t redeem.  Thanks for that, EB Games.

No details on the price yet, but if the asking price is fair I can totallly see myself buying this DLC.  It sounds like it will compliment the game quite nicely.  You can read over the official announcement here.

Take notes, kids, we're only 13 years away!

It’s amazing what one option can do to change your perception of a game.  For the recently released Metro 2033 from Ukrainian developers 4A Games, that option is a Russian language track.

I should probably explain.  My Metro 2033 review was supposed to be finished last week, and while I undoubtedly enjoyed the game, I’d drafted a whole section around the game’s voice acting and how unimpressed I was with the English dub.  So two playthroughs completed, all in English, and I figure I’m ready to complete my write-up.  Then, thanks to a heads up from several people online, I discover that this whole time the game has had the option for Russian language audio and I’d never seen it, thanks to never staying in the Main Menu and a particularly unhelpful game manual.

And with this one toggle, Metro 2033 has gone from being just alright to atmospheric brilliance in my books.  Why?  Well, let’s elaborate…

Metro 2033, based on the novel of the same name by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, is set in a post-apocalyptic Russia where humanity has been forced to take shelter inside the Moscow train system to protect themselves from the nuclear winter playing out on the surface.  The protagonist is a young man named Artyom, who sets out to save his home station of Exhibition from the attacks of an unknown enemy, referred to only as “the Dark Ones”.  To do so, Artyom must make his way through Moscow’s radiation infested tunnels, fighting to survive against both metro mutants and other survivors alike, decipher the Dark Ones’ goal and cobble together a workable defence.

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