Finally beat Metro 2033 Redux on PS4. I've owned Metro 2033 since back in the day but never got around to play it until now, among others because of technical problems with the original version. Well, I don't regret having waited so long. Not because the game was shit but because it holds up remarkably well, at least in the Redux version.
First things first: the game looks, sounds and feels fantastic. I kinda assumed that Metro would feel a bit crude, like the Stalker series, and that it would show that this was the work of a rather inexperienced studio with limited resources compared to western AAA games. To my surprise the game, at least in the Redux version, feels like a genuine AAA title, just with a Ukrainian/Russian touch. Sure, the scale is smaller than in, say, Call of Duty games but what's there is of superbly high quality. I don't know about the quality of the English voice acting because I set the VA language to Russian - which I don't understand very well but I really wanted authentic atmosphere.
And speaking of atmosphere: Metro 2033 is amazing in this regard and it's probably the game's biggest strength. Whether you're walking around one of the stations that are safe havens to survivors, exploring abandoned tunnels and facilities, walking around the surface or fending off waves of mutants - the game is always engaging and super immersive. It's also very diverse and well-paced, only during one not-so-great stealth section did I grow a tad frustrated and lose a bit of interest.
And the lore and story are also pretty amazing. Sure, it's "just another post-nuclear scenario with mutants" but the Moscow setting gives it a unique touch and generally the Russian culture that the game is oozing sets it beautifully apart from all western shooters. And the game delivers its narrative pretty effectively. Artyom's (the hero's) journey feels long and tough and is a sequence of exciting events during which he meets and witnesses the deaths of interesting and likeable characters - what I liked is that Artyom acknowledges the improbability of some of his experiences, contemplating whether it is fate that is guiding him. And collectable diary entries provide some interesting insights into the lore and the hero's mind - who is in-game sadly a mute, which is my main complaint about the game's narrative design.
As for the gameplay: it's a very good and solid shooter that doesn't shy away from calm sections and experimentation. Fighting monsters is often arcade'y fun, fighting humans is a tad more tactical and reminds me of the Stalker series. There are interesting touches like having to regularly switch gas mask filters in hazardous environments, manually charging up batteries for flashlights or nightvision goggles or even pumping up pneumatic weapons every couple of shots. You can customise your guns in exchange for currency, e.g. attach scopes, silencers or other mods that affect how they work (e.g. keep pneumatic weapons from "leaking"). The in-game economy admittedly doesn't feel very polished but just the fact that it's there makes the game feel more interesting. Also, the maps usually offer all sorts of nooks to explore and alternative routes for a tactical advantage. It's really great.
I should mention that I played the game in "survival mode", which is how the original Metro 2033 was designed, and on normal difficulty. In "spartan mode", which plays more like the sequel Last Light, there's apparently less resource management. That said, I regret a bit that I played the game on normal difficulty because it was very easy and I feel that it kept me from fully experiencing the weight of the "survival" mechanics. I rarely died, rarely had to use medkits (which just accelerate the automatic healing in critical situations) and the only resource I ever really had to care about were the gas mask filters. Ammo was not a problem and by the end of the game I was drowning in currency. In retrospect I probably would have chosen Hardcore difficulty. Oh yeah, on top of that there's "Ranger" difficulty that doesn't just make the game harder but more realistic and makes both, you and the enemies easier to kill. Damn.
Finally: the game has been masterfully adapted to consoles. Whether you're caught up in frantic battles with mutants or stealthily sniping hostile humans, the aiming feels just right and puts many AAA shooters to shame. Furthermore, the game also solved managing all your equipment and actions almost perfectly, with two buttons that, when held down, open menus that offer super quick access to everything, whether it's changing weapons, switching filters or charging up your batteries. It's amazing. Also: the loading times are ridiculously short in the PS4 version.
The single biggest fuck up I've experienced in this game was a bug that sometimes occurs when pumping up a certain gun: three or four times the controls would just glitch out on me after pumping up my gun and I had to load the last checkpoint to fix this, so I stopped using that particular gun, just to be safe.
Anyway, briefly put: I loved it and am sure that I will do another playthrough at some point. For now I'm heading straight for Last Light Redux, though.
