Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Case Study No. 0710: The Librarians (Metro 2033)

Metro 2033: meet the Librarian monster cutscene
0:33
It's maybe one of my favorite cutscenes ever! Here you can meet a post-nualear Library monster. Read my review at: http://6barrel.com/blog/ 2010-03-25-14
Tags: metro 2033 cutscene Librarian
Added: 2 years ago
From: gamewatchman
Views: 11,593

[the player is walking through a darkened hallway, when a Librarian creature reaches through a hole in the wall and grabs at him]

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From wikipedia.org:

Metro 2033 is an action-oriented video game with a combination of survival horror, and first-person shooter elements. The game is based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. It was developed by 4A Games in Ukraine and released in March 2010 for the Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows.

[...]

Hope is renewed when Miller pledges his assistance to stop the Dark Ones and save Exhibition, along with the rest of the Metro. He proposes that a mostly intact military launch facility, known as D6 can be used to eradicate the Dark Ones with "the same fire that gave birth to their kind." The location of D6 was lost at the onset nuclear war, so the Rangers are forced to travel again to the surface and reach the Russian State Library, whose military archives hold documentation of D6's location.

Miller, Artyom, and Danila (another Ranger) set out for the Library. On the way, Danila is injured and taken back to Polis by Miller, leaving Artyom on his own to find the documents. As Artyom moves through the library, he encounters horrific ape-like mutants called 'Librarians,' quasi-intelligent creatures that were once human. He is forced to battle through many of these beasts, the sole inhabitants of the Library, but he succeeds in retrieving the documents. When Artyom leaves The Library, he is confronted by a Librarian. But before the Librarian can attack Artyom, Miller and another Ranger, Stepan, run it over in an armored car. They take Artyom to Sparta, an above-ground Ranger outpost, where Artyom meets the remainder of The Rangers: Boris, Vladimir, and several unnamed characters. He also meets Khan again, who with cryptic speech hints at the fact that the conclusion of his journey, be it bloody or not, rests only in his hands.

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From wikia.com:

Librarians are huge, quasi-intelligent creatures so named by the metro-dwellers due to their habitat - the Moscow State Library. Only encountered later in the game, they are some of the most powerful and frightening enemies Artyom will have to face. Fortunately, only a few of them are encountered, and only in the Library.

Librarians are much less deformed than other mutants of the Metro, and resembles ordinary gorillas in both posture and overall physical appearance, though they are much larger and have longer and thinner arms. They do however have a fearsome visage, as their faces, somewhat humanoid-like, lack lips and noses, and have powerful, shark-like jaws at their disposal. They are very territorial, and will confront anything that appears to be a threat; however, they are also very curious and if you stand your ground long enough - staring them in the eyes, they will back down and walk away. They are so powerful and territorial that they will even fight a Demon if it enters the Library.

They are quite nimble and capable of high jumps despite their size, and most importantly they have enormous physical strength, at least on par with the Demons, and more than enough to tear apart a human being with their elongated fingers. They are one of the most intelligent of the mutants found in the area.

A noteable intelligent action performed by them was blocking Artyom in a room by moving a large chunk of concrete over the door so Artyom could not retreat, and also placing ammo in a hole in the wall as a trap. If Artyom attempted to grab the ammo, it would grab Artyom through the wall and attempt to kill him, this can be completely avoided however by not grabbing the ammo before going to the other side of the wall.

Notorious for being some of the most dangerous monsters that roam the dilapidated Moscow, Librarians are difficult enemies, resilient enough to withstand many point-blank shots even from powerful weapons like the shotgun, and whose attacks can kill Artyom with a few vicious sweeps.

Common Librarians are covered in grayish skin, and are found all throughout the Library, mainly occupying the top floors. These Librarians are more passive and less dangerous than Black Librarians. They will curiously but also aggressively confront anything that comes within range of them, if they feel there is no threat, they will back down and walk away. Artyom can prove that he is no threat by standing his ground and staring it down until it walks away, but if Artyom turns his back on one, it will take its chance to attack.

In the military archives under the Library lurks a variant of Librarian (known as Black Librarians) notable for its thicker fur and darker skin, whose head is also deformed and covered in tumors, which is much more aggressive than its grayish cousins. Fortunately, they are often found sleeping and can be stealthily avoided. They are extremely territorial and will attack anything within range, they cannot be stared down and will kill on sight.

Trivia
* The achievement Heavy Reader is directly connected to the Librarian, and is obtained by killing one of these beasts. This can be easily done in the military archives, as Librarians are the only enemies there.
* Librarians can pose a problem when fought, especially at the higher difficulty levels, due to their toughness and damaging attacks. Always aim for their heads with powerful weapons such as the Tihar pneumatic rifle or the Helsing (overpressurized) or with the throwing knives.
* They appear to have some kind of instinct to protect the Library with their lives. If true, this would explain why they stick to said location instead of roaming the wasted Moscow.
* In the book, Librarians are depicted as quasi-sentient creatures that hunt and move in packs of two or more individuals. Also, they are intelligent enough to imitate human speech with frightening accuracy, though whether they understand what they say or not is unknown. This could suggest that Librarians were ordinary human beings before the destruction of Moscow, and that the severe irradiation of the city drastically mutated them.

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