Metro Redux

The inexorable rise of the high definition remaster shows no signs of slowing down in the era of Playstation 4 and Xbox One. With demand for up-scaled and polished classics well established since the transition to HD ushered in by the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s no surprise that publishers are keen to cash in on established hits one more time, especially now that raw grunt of the new hardware has finally made 1080p and 60 FPS performance a reality.

So far the HD remaster treatment has been reserved for the last generation’s big hitters – most notably The Last of Us and Diablo III, with the highly anticipated re-release of Grand Theft Auto 5 on the way. It’s something of a surprise then to see rough gems like 2010 Russian-developed FPS Metro 2033 and its 2013 sequel Metro: Last Light, largely overlooked on their original release, receive a visual upgrade for the Metro: Redux package.

The Metro games are based on a series of novels by Russian author Dimitry Glukhovsky, depicting the fate of the survivors of a nuclear holocaust who have retreated to Moscow’s subway system to escape the irradiated surface. The twenty years that have passed since the disaster have seen this post-apocalyptic society fragment along ideological lines with individual stations claimed by factions including the mercantile Hansa, the communist Reds and the neo-Nazi Fourth Reich, all vying for supremacy in a shifting patchwork of alliances. Metro 2033 begins with lead character Artyom undertaking a routine patrol in his role as a security guard at VDNKh station some 21 years later. Needless to say, things don’t stay routine for very long. 

Although a linear, tightly scripted FPS, Metro 2033 differs markedly from Call of Duty, Halo and other genre stalwarts. The game has that distinctly utilitarian feel that characterises many titles from former Eastern bloc nations, including The Witcher and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The player is given relatively little direction in terms of where to go, some of the narrative appears to have been lost in translation and the overall presentation can feel a bit rough around the edges, though many of the bugs that plagued the original release have been quashed for this Redux version.

Like the aforementioned titles, Metro 2033 benefits from a richly detailed game world, supremely immersive – and unremittingly bleak – atmosphere with rough and ready gunplay that’s a far cry from the slick, sanitised experience of most big budget shooters. The Redux version of the game offers a choice between two different game modes, ‘Survival’ and ‘Spartan’. Survival mode recreates the original Metro 2033 experience, where ammunition is severely limited, guns frequently jam or overheat and the tension is ratcheted up as each gunshot must be placed with supreme accuracy lest Artyom be overwhelmed by the horrors he faces off against in the tunnels. Spartan, meanwhile, is more akin to Metro: Last Light’s gameplay and the plethora of ammunition and equipment bestowed upon the player transform the game into something of a cakewalk. Ultimately, Survival mode is a more gratifying experience but one that’s not without frustration due to a fairly steep difficulty curve.

Interestingly, Metro Last Light can also be played in Survival mode. The sequel, originally released in 2013, did much to smooth away some of the rough edges of its predecessor though it arguably lost some of the series’ unique character in the process, replacing survival horror style ammo conservation with run and gun gameplay against human enemies. Playing Last Light through on Survival restores some of this flavour, although some rebalancing of the difficulty ensures that it’s not quite as fraught an experience as the original version of 2033. Otherwise, the sequel remains a highly entertaining game with more varied combat and set pieces, a more easily navigable plot and a less linear format that encourages the player to explore the rich environments in depth.

The PC version of Metro 2033 has long been held up as one of the most demanding titles ever released for the platform, with the game used as a standard performance benchmarking test for new hardware until very recently. While the PS4 code doesn’t quite match the visual spectacle of the game on a top-end PC, it does offer a very significant improvement – a clear generational leap – over the original Xbox 360 console version. This is apparent in the Redux version’s higher resolution textures but is most noticeable in the improvements to lighting and particle effects which contribute so much to the game’s oppressive atmosphere.

The graphical upgrade to Metro: Last Light is less pronounced, with only a year having elapsed between the original release and the remaster. Thanks to the sequel’s more optimised engine and improved character animations, it just shades it as the better looking and performing of the two titles. In any case neither game is too far behind the PS4’s current graphical high water mark, Killzone: Shadow Fall and are something of a visual feast for anyone looking to show of the capabilities of their new console.

Overall, Metro: Redux represents excellent value for fans of single player FPS games, particularly those left feeling jaded by the genre’s dominance by identikit military shooters in recent years. Anyone looking to cleanse the palate before the now traditional winter deluge of FPS releases could do a lot worse than investigate the depths of the Moscow subway with Artyom. For the price you get a pair of accomplished games with a distinctive setting and atmosphere, yet different enough from each other to more than warrant playing through both. Metro 2033’s Russian character, seemingly less diluted by the sensibilities of the mass market, and rough edges give it an idiosyncratic charm that makes it the pick of the two games, but there’s a great deal to admire about both.