Developers 4A Games had taken to a book to make a game based on the relentlessly used theme of post-apocalyptic scenarios back in 2010. While the game itself was tapping the potential of an overused theme, the execution of the game was very impactful, especially with their game's heavy emphasis on the environment. The 2010 title – Metro 2033 – and its sequel – Metro: Last Light – were redone recently, receiving not only a cosmetic makeover, but also including all the past DLCs and two new slick game modes.
The reworked version of the games are quite aptly named with a suffix of Redux. The bundle itself is called Metro Redux. The changes done to the Redux versions of the game may not be prodigious, they aren't most certainly anything to overlook. From added DLCs, to porting assets from Last Light to 2033, Metro Redux boasts of numerous changes and additions, but what really catches our fancy is the visual sprucing that both the games have received.
'There are no frame rate drops on the PS4 either. The PC version of the game gives the option of going up to 4K resolutions which is welcome news for the lot out there with Ultra HD TVs. At least 4A Games knows how to feed the respective gamer's hubris accordingly. '
'Metro 2033 Redux', 'Metro: Last Light Redux', 'Metro Redux' are inspired by the novels 'Metro 2033' and 'Metro 2035' by Dmitry Glukhovsky. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. 'Metro 2033 Redux', 'Metro: Last Light Redux', 'Metro Redux' are inspired by the novels 'Metro 2033' and 'Metro 2035' by Dmitry Glukhovsky. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners. Metro: Last Light Redux. Alternate ending. To get the 'Redemption' (good) ending, you must perform as many good actions as possible and kill as few humans as possible, like sparing the lives of soldiers who surrender voluntarily and saving women and children.
4A had released the Metro games on the older generation of consoles and the perfect opportunity to remaster a title was on the new generation and they have certainly managed to pull off a splendid job of getting things right. Metro 2033 wasn't available on the PS3 so we can't have the older console to contend with the PS4 when it comes to the improvements that were made in Metro 2033 Redux.
We kick things off with the resolution output of the consoles. The PS4 churns out its native resolution of 1080p while the initially planned launch of the X1 version with 900p was given a slight boost with the resolution going upto 914p. This difference may be very miniscule but it seems the developers have gone with making the experience of the game smoother by providing consistency in frame rates which is quite visible as you cruise through the game with no drops.
There are no frame rate drops on the PS4 either. The PC version of the game gives the option of going up to 4K resolutions which is welcome news for the lot out there with Ultra HD TVs. At least 4A Games knows how to feed the respective gamer's hubris accordingly.
Both the consoles run the game at a stable 60 frames per second with adaptive v-sync enabled to take care of the rare occasions when frame rates decide to jive things up a bit. The same story goes for the PC version too. Metro games are known to push the boundaries of GPUs, so maxing the game out can be a formidable challenge for GPUs like the R9 270x or the GTX 760, although they do come very close; this performance is also affected by the CPU since the game utilises multi processors quite extensively.
PS4
'One of the most visible improvement in the Redux version of the game is the presence of alpha processing and particle effects, both of which have been immensely improved. As a result, campfires look beautiful and so do situations involving smoke and motes of dust.'
Metro 2033 Redux actually borrows a lot of assets from Last Light to make it look better. The game is evidently further worked upon by 4A. Last Light Redux version of the game largely maintains the same outlook as the original game, albeit with the obvious changes to account for the new hardware that the game is meant to run on. The Redux versions of both the games are great improvements when it comes to textures and changes in set pieces and ambient objects.
The shadows are better, reaction to light sources is more accurate, textures are rendered in good detail, but the mainstay of the remastered version is the lighting system, which is both an improvement and a downside to the Redux version of the games. The PC version of Metro got a day 1 patch which introduced volumetric lighting, which lends the game an immense aesthetic boost when it comes to dealing with light sources like torches and floodlights, especially in a dull and somber environment like the Metro games have.
One of the most visible improvement in the Redux version of the game is the presence of alpha processing and particle effects, both of which have been immensely improved. As a result, campfires look beautiful and so do situations involving smoke and motes of dust.
Even with high resolution options available in the PC version, anti-aliasing is limited to toggling super sampling, although there seems to be post processing AA in effect regardless. The game also doesn't let users handle advanced graphical settings with various options like SSAO, anisotropic et al. What really miffed PC users was the fact that both, Metro 2033 and Last Light, wouldn't run on their systems. As a game that has seen a full fledged release, this is quite a shameful thing even though it is bound to be fixed very soon.
'Metro games - Metro 2033 specifically - had a gloomy, dark and foreboding outlook that promised vile things lurking in the shadows that accentuated the apprehensions of the players and that added to the experience of the game immensely. With the Redux versions of the game, that twitch inducing anxiousness that put you in doubt, is gone; to a great degree if not fully. This is where the redux versions feel lacking and mar the experience somewhat.'
One of the most visible improvement in the Redux version of the game is the presence of alpha processing and particle effects, both of which have been immensely improved. As a result, campfires look beautiful and so do situations involving smoke and motes of dust.
Even with high resolution options available in the PC version, anti-aliasing is limited to toggling super sampling, although there seems to be post processing AA in effect regardless. The game also doesn't let users handle advanced graphical settings with various options like SSAO, anisotropic et al. What really miffed PC users was the fact that both, Metro 2033 and Last Light, wouldn't run on their systems. As a game that has seen a full fledged release, this is quite a shameful thing even though it is bound to be fixed very soon.
'Metro games - Metro 2033 specifically - had a gloomy, dark and foreboding outlook that promised vile things lurking in the shadows that accentuated the apprehensions of the players and that added to the experience of the game immensely. With the Redux versions of the game, that twitch inducing anxiousness that put you in doubt, is gone; to a great degree if not fully. This is where the redux versions feel lacking and mar the experience somewhat.'
Overall, while the Redux versions of the game portray a plethora of improvements, especially with regard to Metro 2033, the game looks quite ‘bright'. Now generally, this is a perk as you're able to make out what things lie about near you and otherwise and with a special mention of the lighting system which makes the game look much neater than its earlier counterparts, but it ruins the ambience of the game in some ways. Another point to note that the image quality for Metro 2033 on Xbox One is better than on the PS4 but the latter trumps the former in the case of Last Light.
Metro games – Metro 2033 specifically – had a gloomy, dark and foreboding outlook that promised vile things lurking in the shadows that accentuated the apprehensions of the players and that added to the experience of the game immensely. Tunesmedic 1 9 0.
With the Redux versions of the game, that twitch inducing anxiousness that put you in doubt, is gone; to a great degree if not fully. This is where the Redux versions feel lacking and mar the experience somewhat. Is the Redux version worth getting? I can't say definitely.
For someone who has already played the games before, the Redux version may seem like a spectacular improvement over its predecessors in terms of graphical quality and all the content in a neat package, but may be a let down by the lack of the same disquieting environment as in the original games.
For a newcomer to the series, this is a really an option worth considering.
What do you get when you mix a Ukrainian developer, a best-selling Russian novel, two games, and the PlayStation 4? It's not a trick question: we're referring to Metro Redux, of course. 4A Games' pair of previous generation escapades have been remastered and reworked for Sony's latest system – and, in many ways, the package is an absolute triumph. Based upon author Dmitry Glukhovsky's book, you'll step behind the gas mask of character Artyom, as he grows from innocent young boy trying to save his home into a fully fledged soldier attempting to protect his species from extinction. The death and horrors that you encounter along the way set the scene for one of the most engagingly oppressive post-apocalyptic series in gaming.
This package includes both Metro titles: 2033 and Last Light. The latter was released on the PlayStation 3 last year, but its first-person predecessor is making its debut on a Sony system, and there hasn't been a more opportune moment for it to do so. In fact, the inaugural entry was a bit of a quiet success when it deployed in 2010: it wasn't universally adored, but those who did like it, really liked it – this author among them. The problem is that it didn't look too great on the Xbox 360 – especially compared to its PC counterpart – but that's no longer the case anymore. Ffworks 1 0 10 – convert multimedia files between formats. Entire areas have been retextured to take advantage of the new hardware available, and it looks breathtaking, with some particularly strong lighting. This is better than your average port.
Metro Last Light Redux Ps4 Walkthrough
And it feels like a new game in more ways than one. A common complaint pointed at the original was its sluggish, wonky control scheme, but the developer has gone back to the drawing board and tuned things to be on par with its successor. Weapon attachments have also been implemented, as well as the updated user interface that was included in the sequel. Elsewhere, arguably Last Light's greatest addition has been implemented as well: the manual mask wipe. Condensation, blood, and other miscellaneous mucosa can impair your vision, requiring you to 'wipe' your gas mask off mid-game. It's such a tiny thing, but it's neat to see the feature implemented across both titles in the brand now.
But that's still not everything that's been enhanced in the original outing. Even the terrain has been tweaked, taking areas that may have once been a nuisance to traverse, and smoothing them out. There are some more subtle changes as well, like the addition of rooms that may not have been previously explorable, or tweaks to the time of day in certain environments and sections. Unsurprisingly, all of these tweaks are favourable: the game plays better, looks better, and feels better than ever before – it's the perfect place to start your journey into Russia's abandoned subway system.
Given that it's the newer of the two titles, Last Light has not undergone such a heavy adaptation. The game certainly looks better than it did on the PS3 last year, to the point where it seems like it's running on a high-end gaming computer, but there are less of the subtle tweaks outlined above. The performance has been smoothed out, as the frame-rate was particularly bothersome on Sony's previous generation machine, but other than that – and a few welcomed lighting improvements – the title is largely the same. This version does, of course, include all of the release's DLC, which adds a decent amount of content to the affair. You also get the controversial ‘Ranger' mode, which caused a stir last year when it was announced as a pre-order incentive, and then described as the 'the way that the game is meant to be played'. Whoops.
Brand new difficulty tiers have also been introduced across both games – ‘Survival' and ‘Spartan' – allowing you to choose your own preferred style of play. The former repurposes the resource constrained tension of 2033, offering up less ammunition, while the latter delivers a more frantic combat pace, with more bullets for you to pump into the horrors that you encounter. Another big universal change is that much of the dialogue has been re-recorded, as a lot of it – especially the children – was pretty much horrendous in its original guise. Unfortunately, things haven't improved a whole lot across the board, though some speech samples are better.
There are some other changes that are less successful, too. When walking the harrowing hallways of the first game, we couldn't help but notice that the music has been adapted in certain scenarios. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be such a bad thing, but the sparse, original version of the score has been substituted for something ever so slightly more generic. It's not necessarily a negative change – just an unwelcome and unnecessary one. Fortunately, Last Light's audio – which was one of our soundtracks of the previous year – has been mercifully unaltered.
When all's said and done, though, this is a perfect entry point if you're new to the Metro franchise – and still a compelling package if you're not. Running at a silky smooth 60 frames-per-second in 1080p, this looks and feels fantastic, and while those of you that are big PC gamers may have already enjoyed that experience on your uber-rig, 2033 has been tweaked enough to deserve a return. If you're not keen on buying the full package, then we definitely recommend picking up the inaugural entry individually from the PlayStation Store – but considering the Blu-ray is selling for a slender sum, we reckon that it's worth purchasing the full set.
Conclusion
Metro Redux takes two popular post-apocalyptic affairs, and enhances them for Sony's next-gen system. These are more than just mere ports, though, as both titles have been heavily reworked in order to feel fresh and new. The impact is more impressive in 2033's case, as it practically looks and plays like a brand new game, while still retaining the core of what made the original such a unique experience. Last Light's improvements are less significant, but performance enhancements make this the definitive version of the title – especially if you originally enjoyed the outing on the PS3. All in all, whether you're new to the franchise or not, the abandoned underground has never looked this inviting.
Great8/10
Metro: Last Light Redux Ps4
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Review copy provided by Deep Silver
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