Easily one of the best and most satisfying games I've ever played. It works so well in many departments. Gorgeous graphics and lighting, immersive atmosphere, smooth and polished gameplay, amazing mechanics, gratifying sound design and many great details that make both games a delight.

Stealth in Metro is another level of enjoyable. Offing people one by one from the shadows with a fully pumped Tikhar is just something else. And the way bullets impact bodies, enemies recoiling based on where they're shot at, falling down if they're hurt, pieces of armor breaking away. Details like this that add weight to your weapons and make shooting feel all the more realistic and satisfying.

Getting through the missions is just the right amount of challenging. Having to manage your ammo, making sure your flashlight is well lit, watching the timer on your gas mask and carefully blasting your shotgun at Nosalis hoping you don't miss because you only have 3 more shells makes you feel very involved in the action.

The only thing I can fault the game for is the mostly horrible voice acting because of which I really couldn't take the story seriously, but it didn't really distract me from all the amazing stuff Metro offers.

(Due to the lack of an entry for the whole Metro Saga, I've posted my thoughts on the Exodus page)

I often feel survival horror shooters that can truly pull me into their world and lore are few and far between. It’s one thing for a survival horror to have you completely glued to the screen when it leaves you feeling helpless, with no recourse to anything other than hiding and running, and some games do that remarkably well - looking at you, Alien: Isolation and The Dark Descent! But to be able to instil that sense of dread despite having an arsenal of weapons at your disposal takes some special talent.

In my eyes, the Metro trilogy excels at that, and having played through them recently, I can honestly say even though this series does seem to get quite a bit of praise, I’m not sure it’s enough. These titles showcase some of the most compelling environments and game design I remember experiencing in recent years, and if anything, I’m kicking myself for not having got to them sooner, especially since a lot of this genre and core gameplay loop is near and dear to my heart.

I’ll try not to spend too much time extolling the virtues of each of the three games, but I do have to give proper praise to each. So bear with me.

Metro Redux - 2033

I know it’s an overused and often meaningless word these days, but immersion really is the overarching thread throughout the whole trilogy, and it all starts with Metro 2033. From the moment I experienced that in-game tension and looked at that sleek, super clean HUD, I knew the devs were trying to evoke an atmosphere that you could lose yourself in, and they do an awesome job at that. The environments are often narrow, dark and claustrophobic, and there aren’t any damage or stealth indicators of any kind present on screen. All this of course makes the game harder, but aesthetic aside, that’s a big part of why it draws you in as effectively as it does. Additionally, enemy AI is impressive for the time, level design is effective, and once you get the hang of it, shooting feels solid and precise. To top it all off, the gameplay loop is sublimely constructed: the act of scavenging the environments for resources such as bullets and gas mask filters, or simply take a step back and soak up the atmosphere and stories from the people you find scattered throughout the Metro tunnels - each of them trying to get by as best they can against an incredibly bleak post-apocalyptic backdrop -, is something I never got tired of. Top notch stuff.

I had some issues with the game: I wish there was a better, clearer way of comparing weapons, playing the game in the original Russian language makes you miss a ton of useful, meaningful background dialogue due to the lack of subtitles, the turret control scheme is godawful (fortunately you barely have to endure it), and that they still haven’t fixed a bug that can force you to replay the entire Dead City chapter is, at best, puzzling. But these issues don’t make much of a dent on a game that is otherwise remarkable in its attempt to emulate a believable, almost tone-perfect world that made me want to be in it over and over again. 8.5/10

Metro Redux - Last Light

Overall a further step up from the first instalment in the series in most respects. Gameplay wise, the most obvious difference to me were the stealth mechanics. You can now perform stealth kills and takedowns, and there’s a bigger emphasis on using darkness to your advantage by doing things like unscrewing bulbs. These mechanics were effectively implemented to the point that your experience clearly benefits from engaging with them whenever possible. At the same time however, this new direction kind of clashes with the tonal shift towards direct combat, which now often feels a lot more action-oriented and less survival-based. Using the same difficulty setting, confrontations as a whole felt more forgiving and thus not as tense - although part of this feeling is due to Last Light’s mechanical improvements. And because of its bigger focus on high octane shooting arenas, the lack of a proper cover system is more notorious here than it was in the first game. Some folks will likely welcome this change, but overall I was more partial to 2033’s narrower, more methodical approach. There are also fewer chances to strategise with weapons since you don’t have the same opportunities to swap them at the beginning of each mission due to how progression is structured.

This probably reads like a weird conclusion to a paragraph that started out by saying I preferred Last Light over 2033. But I do. For starters, the art direction in the sequel is impeccable. Exteriors are clearly an upgrade, and overall the game is much stronger in its visual appeal, with clearly richer and more varied environments and a couple of genuinely creepy moments. The game also adds a few nice little touches (such as having to clean blood off your gas mask) that make you effortlessly sink deeper into your surroundings. Most of the movement and shooting is improved and, as a consequence, Last Light simply feels mechanically better to engage with. The background dialogues, while still suffering from the lack of subtitles, add an incredible amount of layer and context to the Metro world, even more so than I felt on my second playthrough of 2033 with English dubs. And though the story may be divisive due to its focus on simplistic political overtones and human problems, I felt the more personal, intimate tone lent itself quite well to this universe and backdrop. I do think there are some pacing issues present in the first half, but the second part really goes back to the original feel in terms of ‘bigger picture’ (though the canon ending seems unnecessarily difficult to achieve due to a largely nonsensical morality system). I also really enjoyed the Kshatriya DLC for the Stalker-like experience it had to offer, but I wish there was more of it and more layers in its approach.

On the whole, I loved Last Light. It’s not perfect and it may even feel philosophically contradictory at times, but most of what it tries to do, it does it particularly well, and it managed to cement the Metro series as one of the most enjoyable gaming universes I’ve experienced as of late. 9/10

Taking out the trash, doing the dishes, folding laundry, and playing Metro 2033. When first looking at that list, one doesn’t seem to belong. However, Metro fits perfectly as playing the game started to feel like a chore. It has been a game from the previous generation I had wanted to visit for quite a long time, and unfortunately it didn’t meet the expectations I had set for it. The game isn’t completely terrible and has some good moments, but overall it didn’t do much of anything for me.

Metro 2033 starts with a pretty intriguing hook but fails to deliver much of anything with a story. I remember areas of the game, but very little of the “why” I was doing what I was tasked with completing. The linear story just has you move from checkpoint to checkpoint and station to station. As you move through you meet new side characters, but most of them leave you pretty early on before you can really get a sense of who they are. They had promising starts but ultimately nothing comes from them.

The most variety in gameplay you have is whether or not you want to use stealth or start an all out fight. The areas don’t give a lot of options for stealth, but it is a possibility. Most of the firefights with humans all I was thinking was, “why am killing these people?” The best I could come with had to do with the fact they were Nazi’s and nobody likes a Nazi, not that there needs to be a lot of reason behind fighting Nazi’s, and with most games that would fine. With Metro on the other hand I expected more.

By far the best part of this game is the environments. Walking into a new station and interacting with the people is what made this game. The feeling of joining in conversations or helping out some of the civilians is something that truly made this unique. In between these stations are long and dark tunnels, and while playing the tunnel sections can be a drag and down right not a whole lot of fun, it’s getting to explore them that brings out a little more character from this game. This is the only part I feel the developers really nailed what they were looking for.

All in all the combat is sluggish, the lackluster enemy design, and nonexistent story really bring down what I was hoping would be a great experience. I only finished this game so that I can move on to the next one, which I have heard improves on a lot of the low points in this game. The world carries the negatives and makes this game a little more than passable and not just another FPS on the market. The game took me about 6-7 hours to get through but felt more like 10 or 12. Even though I had no idea what was going on in the last 20-30 minutes it was enough to keep me excited to give the Metro: Last Light a shot down the road. 2.5/5

The Metro Redux bundle was one of my first purchases for my Xbox One. I still recall sitting on the bed of my college apartment, well past midnight, watching the download bar creep forward. I didn't know much about what I was buying, but there weren't a ton of appealing options at that time and I wanted something to play on my fancy new console.

Right away, it became clear to me that this was unlike anything I'd ever played. As someone who grew up on Super Mario, sports games, Halo and Call of Duty, I wasn't prepared for the grim, tense, oppressive atmosphere. I wasn't prepared for the punishing scarcity of resources, or the more grounded gunplay. Nevertheless, I grit my teeth and pushed on, much like Artyom, and somehow I actually made it deep into the game. I was just a couple missions from completion, when I ran into my first soft-lock. Down to my last filter, I would spawn, rush to try to complete the mission, suffocate, and do it all over again. I could've reloaded the chapter, but I was so frustrated that I just abandoned the game and never went back to finish it.

It's a testament to the quality of the game that when I finally did revisit it, 11 years later, so many of its missions, characters, and story moments were etched in my memory. Even minor, inconsequential characters. Its believable depiction of a post-nuclear humanity clinging to survival in the tunnels of the metro, the grotesque mutations that the radiation has wrought on the wildlife and the devastation of a sprawling city turned radioactive wasteland, will stick with you long after you've returned to the surface. It certainly has its rough edges, but it's a story and a world well-worth experiencing.

Metro: Redux – the release that combines Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light - was my second game ever for PS4, but it was only recently that I got to play it. It soon made me wonder why it took me so long: the murky, strangely beautiful, post-apocalyptic aesthetic and worn-down characters make for a nervy but exciting place to be and it succeeds in creating its own specific, desperate post-apocalyptic look and feel.

As Ayrtom, a seemingly gifted young man, who is born into the aftermath of a nuclear war, we navigate our way through the claustrophobic, crumbling rabbit-warrens of the Moscow metro system encountering beasts, rival human factions and nightmarish visions along the way. Somewhat bouncing from NPC to NPC, and through different chunks of Moscow (under and over ground) we endeavour to discover more about the fate of the metro inhabitants, and the fate of others…

As well as my fascination with the aesthetic and the straight forwardness of the linear (ish) storyline, I also found its FPS combat some of the most fun I’ve had: calculated at points, dark-souls hard at others, but often well balanced between stealth and frantic, guns-blazing action on the other. It was a nervy-fun combat I have not experience since the original Half-life. Some of the imagery is mysterious yet mystifyingly beautiful, some of the flashbacks to pre-nuclear war are harrowing, and the metro-made weapons are imaginatively inventive, and there are some intense enemies such as the tough-as-Russian-nails ‘Librarians’ who can be confronted using a rather more peaceful method that I can only refer to as mettle-testing stare downs.

Some minor gripes include listening to the same voice actor most of the time (though well done) and some clearer distinctions between weapons would be good as I often found myself having the same loadout most of the time – though this is better in Last Light. Also, Ayrtom, does have a voice for narration between chapters but is mute during cut-scene or dialogues within gameplay which seemed like a missed opportunity to flesh out a character.

Having said that, the games are tremendous accomplishments from a developer whose office apparently had to deal with power cuts and whose publisher went bankrupt mid-production. There is no doubt the games are highly underrated still: the intriguing story (Last Light’s is slightly longer, and more interesting) and setting mixed with its own brand of tension and lively gameplay and combat, do certainly make it a refreshing change from the go-to, big-title FPS games on the market.

The only thing I knew about this game going into it was that it was by some of the team who made STALKER. I hadn't played that game because it's not really my type of thing, so I was hesitant about Metro. It turns out, though, that Metro is really more like Bioshock than STALKER, which suits me just fine. The English translation is sometimes pretty bad, I encountered a few bugs (the worst of which was getting stuck in a wall and having to reload a checkpoint), and the way the story is conveyed can be pretty ham-handed. That being said, the developers do a great job of world building. Between the art design and overheard conversations, the environment does most of the storytelling, and it does it quite well. It's always refreshing to play a game made by a non-American developer, especially when, like Metro, their game presents their culture instead of just trying to mimic American culture.

As for the mechanics of the game, there are some interesting weapons, the most original of which are the pneumatic weapons that require you to pump them occasionally to keep the air pressure topped off. There are also a couple of unique enemies, the best of which is the Librarian, a monster who won't attack you as long as you look him in the eye. And then there's the gas mask mechanic, which requires you to wear a gas mask when you are outside the Metro tunnels. The masks require filters, which need to be replaced after five minutes, so going outside the tunnels creates a nice tension. The action is tight and exciting, and there are a number of different difficulties to suit your preferred playstyle. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the way the story wraps up, but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and look forward to playing the sequel, Metro: Last Light.

Do you remember being a young teenager, starting a video game and being so enthralled by it that you simply couldn't walk away? My most vivid memory of this is Call of Duty 3 on the Playstation 2 back in 2006. Staying up all night to play through the incredibly addictive campaign until my eyes would simply no longer remain open no matter how hard I tried. However thanks to Metro Redux this memory is now fresh in my head once again. These days at the ripe old age of 29, although I still adore games, I find it much easier to put down the controller and return to a game at a later stage. Metro Redux changed this though. I found myself reverting back to my former childhood gaming addict ways.

In 2033 Moscow, the world has fallen into a post apocalyptic state following nuclear war, the human race was wiped out, save for anyone that managed to get to the metro at the time of the nuclear bombing. People now live in the underground metro stations (which are essentially makeshift towns and outposts) with a mix of Nazi, Communist and Independent factions. The surface is filled with many mutated creatures and beasts which rule the land, sea and air. Our protagonist Artyom is a Citizen of one of the independent stations on the outskirts of the metro system. Artyom encounters Hunter, a special ops solider of sorts, he explains to him that the stations are under attack by menacing beings known only as ''the Dark Ones''. Hunter bestows on Artyom the task of travelling to the central station of Polis, where he is too seek the help of the people there to fight back against the Dark Ones before its too late. however to reach Polis, Artyom must not only abandon his family and friends of his home station, but he must also traverse Nazi, communist and bandit stations in order to eventually reach Polis.

The game creates an atmosphere that is not quite terrifying, but always seems to have you on edge or feeling slightly uneasy, every piece of dimly lit metro you must traverse becomes a stressful task, though for all the right reasons. The stealth in this Game is the best I've played in a game that is not completely stealth orientated. Unlike games like Wolfenstein where you would try to be stealthy and inevitably end up in a fire fight. the stealth route in metro is very achievable in most cases. The survival mechanic is well executed, it never has you feeling like keeping stocked up is an impossible task however careful resource management is needed, this isn't a bad thing though, this perfect balance of mechanics keeps you constantly searching for tactics to optimize minimal use of equipment, these paths are nearly always present but you never seem to be handheld and lead towards them, they will involve a little research and attention to detail. Bullets can be used as currency and guns can be modified in a very steampunk like way. The characters you encounter throughout the game all have deep and meaningful backgrounds. by the end of the game I found myself reminiscing on the comrades and friends I'd lost along the way with vivid recollections of their personalities.

Artyom throughout the game is merely an empty vessel that doesn't speak, although this is great for the immersive experience and makes you feel like you are the character, it's quite cleverly executed for the most part but I did notice some dialog scenes just felt a little clunky and sometimes reminded me of the dialogue in the original Pokemon games where a character would just arrogantly talk over you. This is simply not enough however to take away from the over all experience, 2033 is fantastic but Last Light is definitely the game that has aged best. Last Light also contains quite a bit of DLC to make use of after, many of the DLC missions are cleverly drawn out and can keep you occupied for hours and hours if you take your time. This is a game Series that every first person shooter enthusiast should be playing and it's one that will be close to my heart for a long time to come.