These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
A-Team Firing: A common complaint against the game is the lack of feedback on whether shots hit or miss. Depending on skill level, this trope may or may not be in effect because of this. Might be somewhat justified considering the quality of the firearms you find.
Actually, even the bastard gun is surprisingly accurate so long as you take the time and care to line up your shots and don't lean on the trigger.
The Tower. It sums up Metro's bleak, oppressive setting perfectly. It's also playing during the game's prologue.
And any of the game's threeguitarpieces. Similar to what was done in STALKER, you can also hear guitarists playing around a fire at many of the non-hostile Metro stations.
Crowning Moment of Awesome: Trolley Combat. After one of the hardest stealth sections in the game (especially if you didn't know about the shortcut), you get to go on one of the machine-gun equipped carts that you were dodging five minutes ago and murder everything in sight. Whilst honking thehorn.
Goddamn Bats: Appropriately enough, Demons. Only encountered above ground, spend most of their time flying around above you, annoying as hell when they decide to dive-bomb you.
And the Lurkers. They swarm, take up ammo, and can dive into their instant-kill rat-holes at a moments notice.
Bourbon: Some call them demons, but I call them bitches.
It is actually a Narm Charm for a native Russian language speaker, at least in the respective dub.
In Russian, Bourbon calls them Cykи (Suki), which means bitches. Cyka (Suka) is the singular.
Sometimes, you will hear enemy humans yell "DAMN!DAMN!DAMN!"
Death of Boris
Stepan: BORIS! My Friend! WHY?... The Bastards! Boris I swear on your memory - they wont rest while I'm still alive!"
And yet Stepan doesn't mind that you loot his (Boris') corpse for ammunition and morphine.
Considering how no one complained all the times you did before, it may be common practice.
Nightmare Retardant: Lost Catacombs. Scary until Bourbon starts to hump the gate and scream like he's having an orgasm. Just watch any video with commentary, you'll invariably get a "He's really getting it on with that door, isn't he?"
Too bad the whole sequence degenerates into horror soon after.
Bourbon's ecstatic yelling creeped me right the fuck out. He was clearly going insane and succumbing to the malevolent influence of the catacombs. It's easy to make fun of in hindsight, but when you're immersed in the game it's one hell of a scare.
Enthralling Siren anyone? He claims to have heard "a beautiful song" and begs the gate "to sing to him alone".
Scrappy Level: The Library. There's a part where you're on a fetch quest, your enemies are Librarians, and there's no real sense of where to go because you may end up backtracking to the beginning of the section. Also, hoped you decided to stock up on ammo, because Librarians eat bullets like candy.
Just knife the damn things and run behind columns to get your health back. This even works on Ranger Hardcore.
NPCs actually instruct you to stare the Librarians in the face and back away when they approach, which means you can slip by without fighting them. Unfortunately the game can be inconsistent with this regardless of where your crosshair is facing.
I don't recall ever being given this advice in English; they said something about having told me earlier how to deal with them, but the line of dialogue explaining that I should stare them down was never delivered.
Also in the book, when Artyom says farewell to his stepfather, who stays to defend VDNKh, even though the tunnels will be collapsed, to contain the "threat" of the Dark Ones
The "shrine to hope" in Cursed. After Khan tells you that you have to go on without him he takes you through a small hole in the wall and you come out in a small, circular room filled with candles and the pictures of the fallen of Cursed. It actually gave this troper a flicker of hope after all the darkness and despair he'd seen while playing the game.
Even more so if you look at the door before finishing the two tasks to safe Cursed. There are 3 ghosts of soldiers standing in front of it. They won't kill you only push you back if you try to go through that door. They essentialy prevent you from trying to sneak away while the rest defends the station. It's easy to see them as ghosts of those who died defending curse, still helping the living.
Some of the background dialogue while you're leaving your station (forgot which one) at the beginning of the game. Including a dad telling his son his mom will really enjoy his drawings when she eventually comes back and a woman asking you from the other side of the door you're knocking on to find a key because you know she's bedridden (and she thinks you're her husband). Of course, some are kinda funny, like a man cracking his door open to tell you he's a bit busy (and you can see a lady friend in the background...).
