Metro 2033 Redux
I played Last Light redux first and I have to say that Metro 2033 redux is better than Metro Last Light redux. I'd rate this game somewhere between 7 and 8, because some aspects of it are great while others are not. This game lacks cinematics, grandiose moments and is strictly linear. It doesn't have weapons with fun mechanics and the character lacks any skills. I didn't drop it because of the plot. I wanted to see it till the end because the environments were the best part for me. I've never read the book so I can't compare it. Compare Metro 2033 with Rage, another post-apocalyptic FPS. Rage had crafting and mechanics such as the defibrillator to resuscitate in emergency cases. Metro 2033 on the other hand is more about a journey, exploration, horror and much more slow paced progression. It almost feels a spiritual journey, whereas Rage is all about action and gunfire.
After playing both Metro 2033 and Last Light I can see why I find Metro 2033 better. It's the level design. In Last Light they tried to open up the level design for secondary paths, which ended up confusing me. Metro 2033 is strictly linear. The storytelling is also quite different in terms of pace. In Last Light it was so damn slow, dragged, that I wanted to quit. It was only when the Dark One showed up that I became more immersed in it. In Metro 2033 the cutscenes, the underground encampments, the dialogues. All feel somewhat smoother than in Last Light. In Last Light I noticed striking similarities with F.E.A.R. Now in Metro 2033 I noticed that they seemingly have borrowed the idea of cutscenes where the player is still controlling the character in the same way of Half-Life 2.
The environment art of the library in chapter 5 deserves a perfect score. It's certainly one of the best environments from all games that I've played. The lighting department did so well there that I could almost mistake it with modern raytracing engines. This game was released way before DX12 and the massification of RT in games. The soundtrack during the last part (climbing up the tower) of the game is just epic. I don't know how to describe it so I'm gonna say this: "The great day is finally coming. Everything you did throughout the game is coming to a conclusion". That's how I felt about it.
Whoever was behind the textures was really good. At times I'd ask myself "Are the textures 4k? Because they have so much detail even up close". The same can't be said about the facial animations. I have to say that the facial animations in Half Life 2 were much better.
I continue with the same critics that I've made about Last Light. The game is really bad at pointing you objectives and you never know about the moral system during the course of the whole game. The level design is strictly linear to the point that if you go through a door there is no turning back. It happened to me in Polis. I forgot to buy ammo and I didn't want to replay the whole chapter because of this. I'm also not a fan and strongly dislike the mechanic to have to constantly recharge your flashlight and the ridiculous spread of the guns.
I played the entire campaign without ever knowing about grenades. The controls have a key bind called "secondary". I never knew what secondary was. Maybe this is a translation mistake? Or is this a cultural difference? Because I didn't knew that grenades were secondary.
I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the players reached the bad ending. Maybe they made a game that expects the player to have read the book before. There is also a game design or programming failure that contributes to this. The stealth is so flawed and you often is forced to kill enemies and lose moral because of how impossible it is to not be detected in some places.
Bugs: I don't know why this game crashes so often with tessellation and PhysX on. After the scene with the cart crash in the train line I just had to turn both off because the game wouldn't continue without crashing.
