Metro Redux (PS4)

Metro Redux is essentially an HD remaster package of two (PS3/360) games Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. These games are heavily influenced by the best selling novel Metro 2033 by russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. (I have yet to read it though plan on reading both it and it's sequel Metro 2034 after playing these great games.)The basic premise for the series is that in 2013 there was a nuclear war that essentially ended human civilisation as we know it. Russia has been turned into a land of the dead with radiation and mutant creatures having taken dominance. The sole human survivors were 40,000 people that fled into the deepest parts of Moscow's Metro carving out little settlements at each station, scavenging on the surface for anything of use to survive.You play the role of one such survivor called Artyom 20 years later in both games. The series plays as a mixture of survival horror and a flat out first person shooter. There is a great variety of weapons to choose from including standard revolvers, shotguns, and rifles to more scavenged built air powered rifles that fire balled bearings.Ammo for these guns will largely be found through exploration around the dilapidated buildings, corpses and railcars in the Metro. In the quiet moments between when in some of the metro station towns gas masks filters, ammo, guns can all be purchased as well as upgraded with different scopes and barrels.These quiet moments are some of the series best parts with lots of dialogue between settlers to listen to, describing their lives in the metro, their worries, their fears. It's a fascinating insight into this dystopian society that brings life to the otherwise dead world.The visuals to both games are fantastic with some beautiful lighting, and fantastic art and environment design. I understand they have both had a visual upgrade, especially 2033 though having never played either I can't give any details to the differences but the games look good regardless.The voice acting is also of high quality, especially the character Pavel in Last Light. There is one issue though in that a couple of the voice actors are used repeatedly as some of the background characters or soldiers which gets quite repetitive.Metro Redux is nothing if not value for money, two full games including all of Last Light's added mission pack downloadable content adding up to a good thirty hours of gameplay, more if you aim for the platinum trophies.To sum up this is a fantastic collection with interesting narrative, great atmosphere, fun weapons as well as some genuinely freaky moments. If you haven't played these games I recommend you do.+ Sorrowful dystopian atmosphere.+ Excellent visuals, art design.+ Compelling dialogue in the station towns.+ Great value for money.- Some overly used voice actors for many parts.

First off, this game bundle consists of two games that originally released for the last gen consoles and the PC. Metro 2033 for PC and Xbox 360 and Metro: Last Light for PC, as well as PS3 and Xbox 360. So this bundle is a great chance for anyone who missed out on the initial releases and has been eager to try these games out (on the current generation). Or anyone who already knows how great these are, and has the extra cash to spare. I count myself to the later.I'll go into detail about the changes in both games, but only as far as I have played them, since I have not finished them just yet. If you wish to know more in detail about the settings of the games, you'll have to look elsewhere.Metro 2033:The good:+ Largely improved Visuals. The Resolution now runs at 1080p and the frames are at an almost constant 60fps (there have been some tests about this, but if it ever did drop, then only 2 to 4 frames, and I for one haven't noticed this once). Also, the lighting engine has been completely overhauled, which is noticeable especially in the indoor levels.+ New (Imported) Gameplay-mechanics. I write imported, because a lot of mechanics are not exactly new, but have been brought over from Last Light. These include the ability to wipe your visor from any dirt or blood, a display for your stealth-level (whether you are seen or not), sound queues about the enemies' level of alertness, as well as some modified weapons (not sure if there are any completely new weapons, but I have not come across any yet). Also, you can now use your knife at the press of a button (in the standard game it was a seperate weapon you had to get out).+ Improved Character Models. Some Models have been replaced with models from Last Light, for greater detail+ Two gameplay modes. The player can now choose whether he wants to play the game in "Survival Mode" or in "Spartan Mode". The former is a more action-oriented mode, where one finds more ammo and has more hitpoints. Survival Mode is the other direction, where the player needs to manage their resources. This choice of gameplay modes is also available for Last Light.+ Stealth Gameplay is less quirky. Emphasis on less. While the stealth passages are somewhat manageable now, they're still not very easy. But I guess that's a matter of preference and playstyle. I sometimes had the feeling that the enemies were randomly alerted to my presence, but like I said, might just be I'm no good at stealthing :) One way or the other, it IS an improvement over the original Metro 2033, where it sometimes was just a matter of luck whether you were spotted or not.The bad:- Still the occasional clipping error. Every once in a while I'd have an enemy who got stuck in some wall or obstacle, but this happened very rarely.That's pretty much it for Metro 2033. Overall greatly improved.Metro: Last LightThis game did not get such an in-depth treatment like Metro 2033. But why change something thats not "broken"?The good:+ This game also runs at 1080p and 60fps. The Visuals haven't been improved very much, but this game is not very old, so there wasn't really that much to improve upon.The bad:- The AI didn't see much of an improvement. I haven't noticed a big difference really, but then again, that might change later into the game.My Verdict:I got this game at £27.89 (pre-ordered), which is incredible for what I got. I can certainly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the series. Oh, and both games come with seperate Trophy/Achievement lists, so that's cool too.This was my first review, so I'm thankful for any constructive critique. (English isn't my first language either :) )

It's OK