Geiger counters. Monsters. Mad men. These are often the signs of post-apocalyptia. Different series often use different approaches to cultivate the experiences they want players to have. There are three games/series that recently come to mind on the subject: Fallout, The Last of Us, and Metro 2033. Bethesda and Oblivion’s Fallout games feature the joyride approach, letting the player roam around in a giant irradiated sandbox. The world of The Last of Us was steeped in peril, weighing ammo consumption against survival on harder difficulties.
Perhaps the more strategic of these three, the Metro franchise, added a new degree of difficulty to the fray. The player can pull the trigger until their weapon of choice, but at the cost of the currency used in-game. Winning the battle may come at the cost of buying suitable upgrades later on. Both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light both faithfully offer an alternative experience in which ammo competes as both a resource and commodity, equipment gradually breaks, and the radiation poses a threat besides that of a minor inconvenience. In the current remake climate, remade games have to bring something new to the table: a barebones version will hold some appeal, but many gamers retain the original copy. Metro Redux seems poised to add more to the original experience for both entries.
Metro Redux is Metro 2033 with some new bells and whistles. For one, the game now runs on the Last Light Engine, meaning the environments are now more destructive, the weather is now more dynamic, the stealth mechanics are refined, and the AI is more attuned to your presence.
I recently got the chance to speak with Huw Beynon, Global Brand Manager at Deep Silver about the upcoming remakes who gave me a much clearer picture of how the new changes affect gameplay, namely how the differences between 2033 and Last Light affect both games:
“Basically 2033 is known as more of a survival-horror experience, and with last light we went a little more action-oriented which was well-received by most but some of our core fans felt that we left the roots a bit, so now we have survival mode and spartan mode. Survival mode plays more like Metro 2033 and Spartan is more like Last Light, and you can play both games in either mode. So if you played Last Light and thought it was a bit too action-oriented, you can now replay it in survival mode and it will be much closer to that Metro 2033 experience. If you came to the franchise with Last Light and want to play 2033 without the bone-crushing difficulty it was famous for, you can do that.“
Other changes include the shift from an analog watch to digital depending on the play type, as well as the improved UI and control scheme from Last Light. Returning to the new versions are the oxygen masks that are also found in the game. Players can now also use lighters to clear away spider-webs and even wipe blood and other things off of the front of the visor. The game also includes a ranger mode that removes all HUD features from the game, unlocked from day one. Additionally, the levels have also been re-stitched, allowing for more seamless transitions from level to level.
For newcomers, the Metro series was written by Dmitry Glukhovsky. While the first entry was adapted from the book, Dmitry collaborated with 4A Games to make a separate story for Last Light, as 2034 was a direct sequel to the first book. With that in mind, it’s safe to assume the HD remakes of these two titles are in the same hands of the people responsible for carefully crafting them the first time around. Look for Metro Redux later this summer on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
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