I'm now 6 hours in. I had an absolute blast playing the game last night, because I'm finally in some of the missions that I can take my time, stealth kill, and explore.

I've had a chance to buy a stealth suit that includes night vision goggles, and I sold all my shotgun shells to buy a crazy sniper assault rifle hybrid with a scope.

One bullet takes most enemies down and they never see me coming.

You absolutely have to sneak around (crouched) and shoot lights if you plan on doing this. Oh, and if you use your flashlight, duh, everyone's going to know where you are lol.

This is the stuff I was waiting for and I can say that it's awesome. The graphics still blow me away, the fog and lighting effects are some of the best I've seen. I was watching a fire cast shadows over a nearby body and it was projecting it on a wall, dancing and flickering. It's freakishly good. I also love the fact that when you kill someone, their headlamp stays on and shines through the fog. Gives the game an even creepier setting and it just adds to the atmosphere, which is what is this game's strong point.

I still don't understand what people mean when they say the shooting is weak. I agree that the starting weapons are garbage (they're makeshift and they even tell you they suck) but apart from that, I find the shooting in this game to be incredibly satisfying. And I have no ammo issues and I'm not playing on easy mode either.

Another thing I noticed last night was how good the audio in the game is. Distant gun shots really sound distant; muffled and echoed, and so do things like a loudspeaker barking out propaganda. Ricochets sound so real I feel like I'm actually there.

I guess this game isn't for everyone, but I haven't had this much fun since F.E.A.R. and Dead Space. Metro 2033 is an awesome game, hands down.