izigame.me

A lot of purists will tell you to just buy the original version of Metro 2033 if you can but truth be told, just get ANY version of 2033. you literally cannot go wrong-both versions are great games with largely the same gameplay and same story. the differences between the two boil down to a slightly darker overall art style in the original and some tweaks to level design and characters models, and the ability to customize weapons with attachments in the Redux, in the OG you just had to find the right weapon in the world and be happy. The brighter art style of the Redux is clearly just to show off some of the good texture work that goes unnoticed in the original. In all honesty, I prefer the Redux 90 percent of the time. The original lacks plenty of quality of life and immersive elements, such as being able to wipe your mask off. Redux has a clearer stealth system with less frustration and overall better presentation and storytelling; the original has actual cutscenes and shows Artyom's full body at numerous times, whereas the redux goes for a Half-Life style of presentation where the perspective never leaves Artyom's eyes. The benefits to the original are darker, more atmospheric lighting, and much better sound effects.
The story is simple, you are Artyom, a dweller of Exhibition Station, a neutral station in the Metro, where other stations are ruled by factions such as The Red Line (the commies), or The Fourth Reich (the nazis), the Spartan Order (also known as the Rangers, basically a neutral police faction), or The Hanseatic League (aka, the Hansa, the largest and most influential trade faction) Most, especially Hanza, aren't really explained in the game. the Reds and the Fourth Reich are self explanatory, just second iterations of these two political ideologies, however Hanza is largely unknown to you through this game (and the others in the series, its entirely possible to just not know who the Hanza are if you don't read the novels); I had to turn to the book to learn who they actually were. Most factions are obviously your enemy, but Hanza is interesting, as they do present a big threat, but they aren't your enemies, its more their paranoia and suspicion that Artyom has to deal with. You are Artyom, a young man in his early-to-mid 20s and who longs to see the outside world, collecting postcards depicting cities and places all over the world. When your station is compromised by mutants after the arrival of the Ranger Hunter, a friend of your adoptive father, Hunter embarks on a mission, and gives Artyom his Ranger dogtags, telling him to warn the Order of the Dark Ones, a psionic species of creatures that took over the surface after nuclear armaggeddon. Thus you embark on your journey with a single goal, get to the Order and give them Hunter's warning. To do this you'll do through various ordeals, such as sneaking behind enemy lines, dealing with mutants, bandits, etc, and surviving treks to the surface. The story unfolds similarly to Half Life or HL2, with each level feeding into the next in a linear path that feels more like a long journey than a traditional story, as well as the Redux version (this one) never leaving Artyom's perspective.
Graphically, its dated but thanks to good lighting and textures, it holds up fine.
Sound design is great, atmosphere is appropriate and the voice acting is largely good--this game uses a lot of Barbara Goodson, and while she is an iconic voice actor, her voice is super distinctive and doesn't quite work for the various kid roles they gave her; everyone else in the English cast is generally excellent. The one thing is guns don't sound brilliant-most lack punch, with the revolver, using a stock sound effect that you can hear in The Martix, oddly being the punchiest.
Stealth can feel a little underbaked and buggy at times, and the AI is not smart, but those are relatively minor. The original has much smarter AI, but loses the fun of being able to stealth through entire encounters, as without a silent takedown system (except throwing knives), the enemies tend to discover you quickly and force you to drain resources, something that makes later levels much more challenging.
Gameplay is immersive and fun, and never too difficult, as long as you're exploring as much as you can, especially on the Ranger modes. The Redux version of the game also offers a choice between the original 2033's "Survival" gameplay or it sequel, Last Light's "Spartan" gameplay. Like most people i recommend survival, the resource management and such adds tension to the story that it lacks otherwise.
Playing all three current Metro games sequentially provides a great, immersive world and overall storyline for Artyom as a character.

My biggest criticism of the game is with its morality system, moreso its effect of the ending. At various points in the story, Artyom is presented with a moral dilemma. None of them are hard to choose (give a begger a bullet, take ammo as payment from a starving group) and some of them are just given to you for exploring, making it easy to get the good ending of the game where you stop at the last minute from doing something terrible. the problems are A, the bad ending is canonical, meaning if you want the best experience for the whole series, you can't go for the points and B, since some points are just given to you for finding a specific body or room, its really too easy to get the good ending.
The rest of the review is full of spoilers and such so if you've decided to get the game, great, just don't read on.
I've edited this review multiple times in the last week as ive been doing my second PC playthrough, third overall, and have been reading the books finally. I recommend it if you like this game, there's a lot more to learn about each faction and such through the books, just be wary that the books are absolutely not the same as the games, save 2033 somewhat. Metro 2033 actually adapts the book rather well (with obvious concessions so as to make the game actually fun). The book, once it gets going, starts with the same conversation between Artyom's stepfather (Alex in game, Sukhoi in book) and Hunter, albeit just in different circumstances. Like the game, Exhibition Station (VDNKh), has been under attack, but not from nosalis packs, from the Dark Ones specifically. Like the game, Artyom had, at a very young age, left open the hermetic seals open at the Botanical Gardens, letting the Dark Ones in (something more explored in Last Light), and like the game, has to go to Polis station to find Melnik (Miller being the character and a nickname, in Metro Exodus, he refers to himself as 'Colonel Melnikov'). The actual plot is pretty similar too, from reluctantly going alongside Bourban to meeting and befriending Khan, a tunnel mystic.
If i have a complaint about the entire series, its the fact that characters aren't shared between games, especially Exodus, which gives the player an entire crew of Spartan Rangers, albeit with only 2 that return from older games. In Metro 2033, you'll meet Miller and Ulman, alongside Pavel, Stepan, and Boris (all of whom die trying to either help Artyom accomplish his mission, or during the course of their own duties.) Miller and Ulman go on to star in Last Light, but only Miller is in all three. Pavel dies trying to get you to Black Station, and Boris and Stepan die during the capture of D6. Last Light will introduce Anya (Anna) to the main three but those are the only three that go from these first two games to the last (Artyom, Miller, and Anya,) as Exodus introduces several characters that just should've been involved earlier.