It is 2034, and the survivors of nuclear war still live in the tunnels beneath Moscow. Metro: Last Light Redux is the remastered edition of 4A Games' story-driven shooter, rebuilt on a newer version of the 4A Engine and bundled with every piece of downloadable content the original game ever received. You return as Artyom, now a Ranger of the Spartan Order stationed at D6, sent back into the dark to find the last of the Dark Ones before the Metro tears itself apart.
A Civil War Beneath the Ruins
The station-cities of the Metro have never been united, and the discovery of D6, a pre-war military vault with enough weapons and supplies to decide the future, pushes them toward open conflict. The Red Line wants it, the Fourth Reich wants it, and the Rangers who hold it are badly outnumbered. Artyom's journey runs through all of these factions, from the neon bazaar of Venice to the propaganda halls of the Reich, the Red Line's prison camps and the flooded ruins of the Theater district. Along the way you meet Pavel, a charismatic Red Line officer whose friendship is never quite what it seems, the mystic Khan, and Anna, the Order's best sniper, who does not think much of you at first.
Based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels, Last Light is less about winning a war than about living inside one. Stations have their own music, arguments, drunks and children asking what the surface was like. Stopping to listen is often the most rewarding thing you can do.
Stealth, Scavenging and the Surface
Combat in the Metro rewards patience. Most human enemies can be avoided or taken down quietly: shoot out lights, throw a knife from the shadows, or slip past a patrol while they argue about rations. When it does come to gunfire, you fight with hand-built weapons like the Bastard, the pneumatic Tikhar and the Helsing crossbow, each customizable with scopes, silencers and stocks you find or buy. Military-grade ammunition is both your best bullets and your currency, so every high-caliber shot is a purchase you are choosing not to make.
The surface is a different kind of danger. A gas mask with a limited supply of filters stands between you and the poisoned air, and you will find yourself wiping blood and rain from the visor mid-fight while Watchmen circle and Demons sweep the sky. Swamps, ruined churches and a crashed airliner all have their own creatures and their own stories, if you have the filters to explore them.
What the Redux Edition Changes
The Redux release is more than a resolution bump. The campaign was rebuilt on the same engine revision as the Redux version of Metro 2033, bringing improved lighting, weather and destruction effects, and it runs at 60 frames per second. Fans of the original will notice the smaller improvements too.
- New melee animations and full-body player animations, so Artyom's hands, legs and shadow are visible in the world instead of a disembodied weapon floating in front of the camera.
- The ability to check your watch and your ammunition supplies on the fly, which matters far more once you turn the HUD off and need to know how much filter time is left.
- Every previously released DLC episode built into the game: the Faction Pack, Tower Pack, Developer Pack and Chronicles Pack, adding around ten hours of single-player content that lets you play as a Reich sniper, a Red Line heavy and a Polis stalker, and follow Pavel, Khan and Anna through chapters the main story only hints at.
Spartan, Survival and Ranger Mode
Redux introduces two Play Styles that reshape the whole campaign, chosen at the start and matched to how you like to play. On top of either, the Ranger Mode difficulty returns for players who want the Metro at its most unforgiving.
- Spartan
- The pacing of the original Last Light: a capable Ranger with reasonable ammunition, responsive weapon handling and the freedom to switch between stealth and open combat as each situation demands. This is the way to play if you want the story to keep moving.
- Survival
- The slow-burn approach of Metro 2033. Ammunition and filters are scarcer, reloads and weapon handling are slower, and enemies hit harder, so every encounter becomes a question of whether you can afford to fight at all. It turns a shooter into survival horror.
- Ranger Mode
- No HUD, no crosshair, no ammo counter, and lethal damage in both directions. You count your shots by feel, read the time on your wrist and trust the beam of your flashlight. Many long-time fans consider this the definitive way to experience the Metro.
Step Back Into the Dark
Whether you finished Last Light years ago or you are about to meet Artyom for the first time, this is the most complete version of his story: every DLC episode, every mode, and a Metro that looks and moves better than it ever has. Charge your flashlight, check your filters, and see whether the last light in humanity's darkest hour can still be found.
