For the sake of brevity,this is a review as someone who played the original. You can still experience the original on Steam and the 360.
Why should I play this game (or original) over Last Light?
Besides spoiling the original game, it's hard to go back when the sequel was a more open-area linear game. 2033 is a linear, somewhat on-rails, experience.
This isn't to say 2033 is BADFor the sake of brevity,this is a review as someone who played the original. You can still experience the original on Steam and the 360.
Why should I play this game (or original) over Last Light?
Besides spoiling the original game, it's hard to go back when the sequel was a more open-area linear game. 2033 is a linear, somewhat on-rails, experience.
This isn't to say 2033 is BAD because of how linear it is. It's something that will bother you if you go backwards. There's also a well-developed atmosphere and setting developed that feels all the more personalized in 2033 over LL.
Redux or Classic?
The obvious change is the graphical engine and textures. Not that the original is outdated. You also get LL mechanics and two play-style modes (Survival & Spartan). One is the original experience and the other a more relaxing, gun-ho experience. Some of these improved the game while others have not meshed well with the original.
Positive Changes (Besides Graphics)
1.) LL's stealth mechanics and general gameplay. This means you can knock out enemies and your knife CAN kill people unlike the original. You can stealthily kill enemies without alerting them if you screw up. Avoiding to kill any human enemies is now plausible without the tranquilizer gun; you can knock out humans and it won't count against you.
2.) Mutants are more of a threat. Maybe it's better AI or the mutants do more damage, but the mutants gave me a challenge compared to the original where the humans were the main threat, even on non-hardcore mode (a mode for extra damage and no HUD).
3.) The new safe-system. If you find a pair of keys (marked by two red-lines diverging at 45 degree angles), you can open up a safe and get some sweet loot. I think this adds a little bonus for veteran players to find something new and reward exploration.
Negative Changes
1.) Despite being the "definitive edition", the game has cut-content and in-game changes. For example, at one point in the game you fight a Panzer tank in a chase sequence. The devs decided to remove that encounter; now you fight a group of Nazis as you flee. The section is still just as annoying when you're trapped in a turret and die to no fault of your own.
2.) In the original, you would conserve ammo to purchase the Stealth or Heavy suits. Each catered to a specific play-style with their own perks. In this game, they took those options away and force you to wear one armor and then later wear the other.
At first, this change infuriated me; the game is already linear enough compared to LL, so why remove any involvement of player-choice? However, after replaying it, I felt that you were already coached into getting one armor over the other at certain points in the game, so removing the payment obstacle makes sense.
But this somewhat positive change also comes at a damning cost. Instead of altering the game to work around those original design decisions, you now have a ridiculous surplus of military-grade ammo throughout the game.
At the end of the game, I had 600 military ammo. It's a joke, and I was playing on survival mode on the Hardcore setting. In Ranger mode, the ammo supply was more reasonable and I never felt OP towards the end. If you played through the original, start on Ranger mode (you can bring out your clipboard to review your inventory; so don't worry).
3.) Some AI mechanics just don't work with 2033's linear design. A.K.A. The Demons and Scopion-Spiders.
Demons would pick you up in LL and lug you around the battlefield if you weren't mindful of them. In LL, you were in more open areas to get tossed around in, so you could reasonably avoid them.
However; in 2033, the narrow paths makes the Demons unbearable when you get tossed around from one side of the creek to the other. Or you get constantly dropped and picked up without a way to avoid it.
The Spider-Scorpions also show up in this game, and they're absolutely broken. Again, because their mechanics don't belong in linear corridors. They cannot avoid you shining your light on them and pumping them full of lead.
4.) Atmosphere problems. I know some might find this comment petty, but I don't like some of the graphical "improvements". Certain areas feel way too bright and the textures on some NPCs just look better and more realistic in the original that worked with the depressing, realism atmosphere. And it's not some aesthetic change: Some set-pieces like the lost souls are hard to see with the new lighting system, and other small changes hamper the horror experience.
Anyway, the rest of the game does look beautiful and it does look like the Metro I first grew up with, but I do miss these minor, nostalgia-based aspects of the original game.
Do I Recommend the Redux?
Yes. It's hard to sell the original's problems as the Redux is ultimately more tightened in its mechanics and provides the best way to experience first game. It's still a good survival horror game, but with new seams torn.… Expand
Metro: 2033 ReduxYour Score0 out of 10User Score
