Metro 2033 Redux REVIEW | Some thoughts about the game
Disclaimer: This review is done for the Ranger Veteran (Survival) difficulty which may be quite a different experience from the other available options.
Metro 2033: Redux Playthrough playlist: • Metro 2033 Redux
Metro Last Light: Redux Playthrough playlist: • #1 Metro: Last Light Redux Blind Playthrough
Pros:
Immersion: Immersion is by far the best thing this game has to offer, you very much feel like you're right there beside Artyom exploring the Metro. The gas mask also contributes a lot for this as it requires you to keep paying attention to its condition as well as showing you blood splatter effects, damage, rain and wind... It might seem like a small thing, but it does really make a very big contribution. Having to constantly be concerned about your ammunition, filter time available, consumables and medkits also keep you on your toes and motivate you to explore and find more resources so it just brings you even closer to the game world.
Gameplay: The gameplay in Metro 2033 is very solid. The game seems to encourage the player to be sneaky, especially when dealing with human enemies but also gives you the option of going for the more murdery style. Both ways feel great and have nice mechanics supporting them.
Sound: Sound effects and music are very fitting and contribute a lot for the creation of excellent atmosphere. They are superb along with the visual effects the player is exposed to. It's one of the major factors in creating a tense environment, which is really adequate for the game style.
Graphics: Not much to say here. They're great. The only thing I can remember which might be at some fault is the face models and animations which in the big picture are really not a big deal. Where the graphics matter, they deliver.
Cons:
UI - choosing consumables and QTEs - (Specific to Ranger Veteran difficulty): Choosing consumables can be quite challenging. There is no visual indication for what you have equipped and equipping them is even trickier. You need to go by sound and memory and just dragging your mouse around while pressing TAB. As for the QTEs, they exist in the game, but you never get a cue for them, so you have to guess by what's happening on the screen and spam E (maybe they could simply be removed?).
Story: This is the big hit on the con side. I didn't connect with the story a lot. I didn't understand much about the Dark Ones, where they come from, their intentions, etc. I feel the player could get a much better introduction to the lore as well as keep being fed hints and clues regarding the situation along the way. The way it's done feels quite rushed, suddenly this is very important and we need to nuke stuff! Even though it's the biggest negative of the game for me, it still doesn't detract from the experience you get playing the game, it's still very enjoyable even if you, like me, don't really connect with the story all that much.
Story-ending: This is heavily linked with the previous point. Since I didn't really connect with the story, the ending felt very anti-climactic. After exploring the world helping people and trying to get help for my own station I suddenly need to mass kill the Dark Ones by launching missiles at the city. I couldn't really feel much when the game ended, it felt weird.
In summary: I'dd give Metro 2033 Redux a 7.5/10. Honestly the thing that brings it down the most really is the story. As I said before, it doesn't detract all that much from the game, it just makes me think of how much more enjoyable it could have been had the game gotten better pacing and alignment with the story events so that the player was better introduced to the lore and motivations behind the actions we're taking. Regardless, it is an excellent game and one I would very easily recommend. It's an awesome experience, absolutely excellent immersion in the game world, solid gameplay for whichever style you prefer, tense and dark atmosphere with some humour along the way, all in all, a great experience. This game along with Metro: Last Light just make me more excited about doing a playthrough of Metro Exodus (don't worry, it will also be on the channel :D).
I want to thank everyone for watching. It was a great deal of fun playing the game and making the videos, I hope you guys also had fun watching them. Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on the game and/or the video series, I would very much like to hear your opinions :) Any suggestions for things I can improve on regarding the channel are also very welcome! I hope to see you all again in other series, if you want to get notified on new uploads feel free to subscribe to the channel, I have a lot of good stuff to share with you all!
Cheers everyone!