One thing I love about Metro is that Ranger Hardcore doesn't just make enemies more lethal, but you as well. Everyone does more damage and I love difficulties like that
That's one thing that makes ranger hardcore so good. You can take out nearly every enemy with a headshot. Also because of the limited ammo you start to think if a gunfight would be worth it. Many mutant envounters won't even trigger a fight
yeah I started with that in 2033 and didn't change in last light then when I tried the easier difficulties it was like a different game it was unplayable for me. I didn't have the hud in my first playtrough and wasn't aware there was one 😂
@@thesnapper9421 I mean if it were an action game but metro has very heavy survival horror inspirations with an fps coat of paint on it. Yeah you can one tap enemies but the knowledge looms that if you alert too many, you can be very easily overwhelmed, forcing you to play smarter and using your advantage and consider if it's worth it to pick a fight for some resources.
@@thesnapper9421 if challenge just means bullet sponges to you then yes. In a survival horror shooter where ammo is rare it wouldn't make sense to just make the enemies take more bullets. It's about picking your fights wisely and realism which is rarely done in recent shooters. Prime example would be the division where a higher difficulty just means the enemies need more bullets to kill, which in return just prolongs fights instead of making it more interesting and challenging.
Let's talk a little bit about the trailer for Exodus, "Artyom's Nightmares". In that short trailer, Artyom got more characterization than he ever got in the previous two games: he ran from dangers and hid, but whenever he saw someone else was in danger - he broke cover and rushed to help, and every single person he failed to help forever remain in his mind, represented as memorabilia on candlelit shrines in his mind - and there are so many of them. That depiction hit so hard and to me, makes Artyom's Nightmares one of the greatest video game trailers ever.
I just wish we could've gotten more characterization akin to that in Exodus itself, y'know? Artyom being a silent protagonist, which, btw, often times leads to awkward hilarity when others prompt him to engage in conversation, having dreams, visions, or nightmares sprinkled throughout the game to reflect Artyom's state of mind, would've made for some interesting characterization. Not to mention how these sequences could've casted Artyom's, the player's actions in a whole new light, depending on which outcomes they got. Oh, well. Apparently, a fourth game is in the works. Maybe next time we'll actually get a better executed narrative.
The atmosphere in 2033 is second to none, especially on your first playthrough. Best recommended for a cold and dark winter night for that extra immersion when you can snuggle in under a blanket and crawl through the tunnels while a cold wind is howling outside of your window.
Absolutely right I played that game on a very rainy and stormy day And goddamn I felt the atmosphere with the beautiful rhythmic sound of rain hitting the glass of my windows
gotta take 10 hits of rainbow acid and wear Spartan armor with a makeshift Tihar that was made by you. Only light available is from the monitor/screen. Quite literally Last Light. Now you got yourself the adventure of a lifetime......or the worst possible experience of your life.
Lol I got exodus playing on my pc rn I best every game at least 6 times no joke oh and I have the original metro 2033 on steam and the redux I didn’t know they took it off
No you know you love the games when you know every single thing about them and have put several thousand hours into all 3 and then watch a three hour video on it😂
Artyom actually lost his mom after the bombs, in the metro during a rat invasion. They swarmed the station where Artyom and his mom lived; Artyom was the only survivor and he was saved by the man that became his adoptive father.
@@eightleggedanarchist metro 2033 read by rupert degas is one of my favourite audiobooks of all time, the atmosphere dripping from that reading is insane
Unfortunately, the games have a lot of inconsistencies, but it can be excused via plagiarism and not having enough time or storage space on older gaming devices. Either way, I would LOVE a 1:1 of the books in a video game or movie, but I still appreciate some of the details they kept close to their hearts during 2033.
Die Hard Metro enthusiast here; read all 3 novels, played all three games several times over, all on the difficulties that minimize your HUD access and generally make the game more intense and demanding, and I’ve got to say, you nailed this. Every selling point and aspect of the games I would’ve pointed out, whether for praise or critique, you raised. I’m glad that this video is out there now, these are absolutely top tier games that deserve recognition for being damn good SINGLE player games in a multiplayer age. Thank you!
I always felt that Last Light’s “Call of Duty” feel was justified with character development for Artyom. Like in the first game we see Artyom transform from frail to powerful, but Last light just felt like a further emphasis on Artyom’s now famous courageous and “movie like” bravery. It all just reinforced Artyom’s character development for me.
As someone who played all three games and beaten them, I completely agree with you. Some people might not like the Call of Duty sellout feel of Metro 2035/Exodus but I firmly believe that was by narrative design. Because by that time, even though it was only a couple of years, Artyom is so experienced with his status as a Ranger, it only makes sense that he is more than just “competent” by that point.
fun thing was Artyom was part of Exhibition militia. He had training. He just went through so much shit, he went way above being a grunt in the "tea" station
The problem with that is that 2033 was designed to be a horror/sim shooter in the vain of STALKER, the idea being that the difficulty of the game is supposed to reflect the perceived difficulty of the protagonist's situation and greatly improve the player's immersion and sense of accomplishment. The reality is the reason why Last Light is a Call of Duty clone has nothing to do with character development but rather "accessibility" i.e. we're going to betray the original creative intent and purpose of the franchise/the niche audience in order to sell more copies to normies. This is why they also dumbed down the difficulty in the 2033 Redux and added mechanics not present in the original game specifically to make the game easier for people like you, it's also why they removed the original games from storefront in order to force people to buy the remakes (predatory/forced obsolescence). You also see this behavior in AAA consumer trends where companies will all copy each other on mass and flood the market with the same garbage usually filled to the exploitative/predatory monetization models i.e. loot boxes/season passes. You're just another shill who has to cope about the fact that a corporation felt the need to dumb shit down for you so you'd mindlessly consume because you're too stupid and/or attention deficient to actually play games that weren't meant for 12 year olds who still think it's edgy to scream the n-word at people on xbox live whilst their mother cooks their hot pockets for them. Stay on Fortnite
One of the only franchise series where all 3 titles are absolute *chefs kiss* masterpieces. Played all of them multiple times and with this, I believe it's time for another play through of them.
The stamina issue in “ Exodus” is b/c as a person who lived most his life underground the only time you ran was towards cover, away from bullets, or them radio dogs to reload and shoot. So this is his first time running to just run.
people play halo and doom eternal and forget that artyom's just a man with 200 pounds of equipment, ammo, and armor that weighs him down. it's a wonder he can sneak around like a cat, let alone run a marathon.
There is a line in the book about the whole ammo = money thing. I don’t remember it exactly, but it went something like “A piece of ham - 5 human lives. Oh, you want this leather jacket? It’s on sale today - just 30 human lives”
It makes a lot more sense in several ways than something like bottle caps. And that's not a knock against fallout. Fallout has the benefit of a bit of a disconnect that makes bottle caps acceptable. Metro doesn't have that though, so ammo makes sense because it's one of the most important things to life down there. So measuring everything against that makes sense.
@@Quandry1 Bottle caps in Fallout 1 actually had logic behind it as they were used by water merchants and each bottle cap was worth a bottle of water, so they were an accepted currency backed by a valuable resource that everyone in the region uses. Fallout 2 got rid of them because of the NCR is growing powerful and minted their own money. Finally, Fallout NV had several forms of currency NCR Dollars, Legion coins, and the return of bottle caps because trade companies descended from FO1 water merchants were trading in a region that is contested by two major powers and using a neutral currency backed by a valuable resource (Like bottlecaps) is better than using money of a power that might lose the war and be worthless. Fallout 3 and 4 brought back bottle caps with no justification because Todd is an uncreative hack when it comes to Fallout lore.
@@ABUBBA22 bottle caps were used because they were a finite resource and were not actually backed by water in all places. There was no guarantee you could recieve water for that bottle cap, only New California gave it this weight for any reason. but they relied on it more because the technology to make them was mostly lost and because of their finite nature they were relatively conterfeit and inflation proof as well as readily recongizable which made them relatively stable. But the cold truth is that was only thought up at all because it was an excuse to have a kind of money in a world where having actual money didn't really make sense but they wanted a simplified barter system for the game that would function like money. All the rest you are not telling me anything new. I know all that. Except no, not all trading companies descended from the water merchants. Several of them came from other places or other goods. The justification for any of it was always loose and only sort of tied into the setting for a switch up on a game mechanic that they felt would be interesting. finally if you want to call Todd howard a hack for using them in other places then you have to call Obsidian Hacks as well for using them as the primary currency in New Vegas and coming to that decision purely on their own because their interactions with new California were few until right before the game takes place itself. So they came to the same decision that Todd Howard did for other wastelands in other parts of the country and if he's a hack for doing so then so are they.
Also in the books they describe the suits that they wear,different type of masks(when they loot someone) ,weapons,melee weapons,even the night-day creatures
That softlock on volga wasnt really a softlock, I found it was just because at some point, the movement for the boat went from the stick to the triggers
Though Metro 2033's "karma" system could be seen as rudimentary and often ambiguous, I respected it because by default you're on the "bad" route. So many games make you put effort into being "bad" or "evil". I always loved how 2033 flipped that and made you put effort into being "good", because in reality, we're all pretty shitty people. It's our humanity and our choice to put effort into being better people that's the harder journey.
I was pissed because I killed a slave that was on fire and wailing in agony out of mercy and that alone gave me the bad ending for the desert in Exodus. I like that I have to try to be good but I don't want morally ambiguous actions like that to make me risk getting the bad ending. Thank God I got the good ending in the end but I would have hated the game if I missed out on it because of an act of mercy.
I like that it's relatively subtle. When a karma trigger occurs you just get the brief audio/visual stinger. You don't really know if it's a good/bad choice on your first playthrough, just that it was some kind of choice. While it still carries the flaws of karma systems in games, especially with morally ambiguous choices that aren't clean cut morally goo/bad, it's refreshing not to have the game put massive text onscreen saying "you did a bad thing, here's 40 bad boy points and a bounty's on your head now." It encourages self-reflection. What triggered the effect? Was it the right choice? Do I need all right choices to get the good ending or merely get a value above a threshold? Ambiguity reduces clarity, but not seeing the whole picture also reduces the likelihood of players metagaming the system, at least until a dataminer sifts through the code.
12:30 Hunter was Uncle Sukhoi's friend from his days as a Spartan/soldier. Artyom only got the mission because Hunter was desperate and Artyom wanted to get out of VDNKh.
About using ammo as currency. A shot of alcohol is called a shot because back in the wild west days the amount of alcohol in a shot glass was worth the same as a bullet so people would often pay for it with a bullet.
@@steelrain714 it is true. 1 shot of whiskey cost the same as 1 shot of .45 long colt. So SOME saloons would accept them as payment. Its a documented thing.
@@anthonylangley6843 there is not enough evidence to prove that this happened, and even if it did happen it is was never popular enough for it to be the reason for shots to be called shots. Another piece of evidence disproving this is the fact that the term "shot" (when relating to alcohol) has been in use since at least the 17th century.
One of the best stories in gaming and an endlessly immersive FPS. I'm always telling people how good this series is because it's absolutely legendary and so underrated only because of people not playing it
Hey man just to let you know, Dmitri Glukhovky wrote Last Light. That's why it seems like it was based on a book like 2033 did. He was the writer of the books and all 3 games including Exodus which is a continuation of the end of Metro 2035 Also, Artyom meeting the dark ones as a child isn't a retcon, it's just something that was left out of metro 2033 the game. The book however did make a big deal out of Artyoms memory of visiting rhe botanical gardens with his mom before the apocalypse, and then going there with his friends, letting rhe dark ones in Artyom has dealt with immense guilt through the events of each game/book. In 2033 the guilt of letting rhe dark ones in, and in Last Light, and 2035 the guilt of destroying them and dooming humanity in the process (even though the book 2035 does mention the events of last light and the dark ones returning) 2035 is in fact mostly about artyoms guilt driving him to the surface to find signals from other regions of the earth. Metro Exodus does touch on this at rhe start but the 1st hour of Exodus is basically a short cliff notes version of 2035. A ton happens in 2035 and it's actually a fantastic book. Almost as good as 2033 if not better
You can stop the filter drain by taking your mask on and off and waiting until you almost suffocate and then putting it back on again and repeating. Kinda cheap but I did do that when I played last light on ranger hardcore.
@@Sigil_57 Yeah it really helps if you want to go digging through all those nooks and crannies. And once you start it just becomes habit. But you do find alot of filters in those corners so realistically you dont really have to do that for more than the first couple levels.
This video might be 3 hours long, but for me it's 3-4 days long. The soothing tone of voice from Avalanche drifts me to sleep at night after approx 20 mins. Thank you! Keep up the good work.
Same. I found his RE Retrospective Series when I was prescribed too much Adderall, a full time college student, and working overnights in a grocery store. This man's voice and editing style, blackout curtains, and THC vapes were the only things that got me through that year.
Nice. Metro's always made me wonder with its helmet and I realize why now. The Spartan helmets from stalker mods are literally Metro's helmets! It's the same helmets worn by nosorog exoskeletons in stalker anomaly, and in 3rd person it's almost right outta metro.
It's the Metro Counterpart of a I believe IRL Gost 2 (GAU-Index) Altyn helmet. There are more, the grunts mostly wear kolpaks (basic kevlar biker helmet) to maybe even more irl counterparts.
This one of of the few series that i can remember almost everything about, some areas are just so memorable and well done that its hard to not feel immersed. Like you actually visited a unique place and had memorable experiences
Something interesting about the different versions of Metro 2033, is that in the original had Artyom actually equip knives and grenades in his hands, whereas the Redux version was just a toggle of which secondary is equipped, which is then used with a hotkey. Not really a huge deal most of the time, aside from the obvious immersion breaking aspect of using the HUD to display info that was previously diegetically displayed in game, but in the Redux version of the Ranger Hardcore difficulties where the HUD is completely removed, it actually makes selecting a secondary much more difficult than it needs to be, mostly on PC. You have to hold the inventory button to cause the weapon switch screen to appear, but it's visually disabled since it's Ranger Hardcore, and then __move the mouse__ in one of the four cardinal directions, listening for a small sound to play to determine if the correct secondary is selected. It's a shame that they decided to do away with the way 2033 originally handled it, though it likely was a side effect of the Ranger Hardcore difficulty not actually being part of Last Light by default on launch, being relegated to pre-order DLC for those who bought it from Gamestop, so that change eventually affected the Redux version of 2033 since it ran on the newer, Last Light version of the engine. Also, minor thing with the talk about the 2033 ports, it never released on PS3. It was meant to, but that version of the game was kiboshed before release so the original version of the game only ever came out on 360 and PC; PS3 wouldn't get a Metro game until the Last Light, and PlayStation owners couldn't play 2033 until the Redux collection.
I remember really struggling with that on my first RHC playthrough. Then it got to the point, where I remembered exactly what direction each throwable was in. So I could blind select them with ease. It actually felt even more immersive once I got that down.
The stretched image in Metro 2033 and Last Light comes from your ultrawide monitor. A have a monitor with the resolution of 2560x1080 and put the game to 1920x1080, like it was for you, the game was stretched. Then I launched the game on my second monitor which is 1920x1080, and the game looks like it should. This is only an issue if you play the game on an ultrawide monitor in 16:9. Also, Artyom has a different watch debending if you play on Survivor or Spartan mode, that's why they were different in your console comparison Your video got me in the mood to play all these game all over again.
Literally watched them all within like 3 days when the Exodus video came out and now with this you're already making me want to watch it all over again in this combined package! . . . GIVE ME MY FREE TIME BACK!!! WHY MUST YOU MAKE VIDEOS THAT ARE SO ENTERTAINING!?😂😂😂 I'm supposed to be studying! Not listening to your buttery smooth voice😂
Metro is one of the few series that never miss, Everything from 2033 to Exodus and it's dlcs are in the art tier of games, up there with bioshock and RDR2. Truly a master trilogy.
I actually really like the monster fighting sections when on ranger hardcore, feels so good when you pull trough it, and the visual of fighting dozens of monsters is just so cool
I was 13 yrs old when metro 2033 was released.. I convinced my mom to pre order it for me and it was the first game i ever pre ordered, it wasnt very known, at least not in my friend circle, like no-one knew about it. Didnt see many posts about it online either. I was absolutely blown away by the graphics at the time and the immersion, and as a 13yr old it scared the living hell outta me at times, still have my 360 physical copy, never will there be a better series that always deliver❤
The last time I played Metro 2033 and LL was is 2016, because of this retrospective I just played both of them on Ranger Hardcore (for immersions sake, and it was soooo fun!) and I just bought Exodus last night. I am already on the Volga River and I am so far enjoying my time! I actually got scared for once when I saw those ghoul-looking mutants
Pavel said he hates them but the reason nobody comments on them is because they don’t spread throughout the metro, they stay in the pitch black portions and literally can’t come out from those places without burning up. If you’re talking about the “regular” spider that you don’t fight and just live in corpses and webs, then yeah they’re weird and creepy as shit but we have spiders that are about that big irl like banana spiders etc.
As long as the Publisher doesn’t push them to turn it into CoD, Warzone or not. They’ve proven that they have respect and love for the series, and strive to push the series in a good direction.
@@matematikgokseldir they said that the multiplayer might even be a standalone game, and that it will in no way affect the main story. With the amazing work on their previous games I trust the devs
@@jagdflieger4861 yeah I trust too and I wasn't know that multiplayer might be standalone. If it be a plus to singleplayer experience, it is just perfect. My hype is refreshed, thank you.
This is one franchise that I feel like it deserves even more recognition than call of duty, exodus was such a joyful experience, if you take the time to sit down and listen to all dialogue and interact with the NPC's you'll experience rdr2 levels of story telling, you'll start the game with that feeling of "eh" and end it with a manly tear sliding down your cheeks
Yeah the ending I got made me almost as sad as the ending I got to rdr2 made me. I instantly thought of rdr2 when I beat exodus and reflected on all of the train conversations like they were rdr2's camp convos
I didn't dig Exodus when first playing it. I'm now on my second playthrough on Ranger Hardcore and so far it's much more fun than my first playthrough. Still, i think for me metro profited from its linearity in the first 2 games
I have a counterpoint to your view on the bosses: They're overlooked because while they doo feel slightly out of place, there are microcosms in them that people ignore as simple "mechanical moments". Like the bear fight, when the little fellas are attacking it and leaving it open, it can be seen as a moment to attack. But when I played Metro LL, it showed me that, in the world of Metro, it doesn't matter how big your claws are, or how thick your hide is. If you have a moment of weakness, and if your composure breaks for a moment, your status will turn from apex predator to prey in a second. Nothing and nowhere is safe, and you cannot risk taking a breath.
I still recommend to read the books. The first game is shockingly accurate to the book, but it's a ton of fun to re experience those events through the original words because the author really did an incredible job. The Library had me just as on edge in the book as it did in the game.
Right? And the changes to the first game I think suit the pacing perfectly (except Bourbon, I think I’d prefer keeping the book version of him and his death). I think I do miss the Revolutionaries the most but I think Pavel fills that role great in the second game.
@@slingshotmcoy Yes!! Another thing the book does better is the biomass. However the biomass scene actually made me laugh. I think Khan was done exceptionally well in the games - the vibe feels the exact same.
Hell yes a new long video to fall asleep to, and a perfect series to listen to. I picked up metro exodus without playing either of the other games not knowing there was others, I was obsessed with it and loved it. Once I beat it multiple times I learned there was other entries to the title, I then played all the games in order. I have to say my all time favorite was metro last light redux, the overall feel to it with the gritty dark color scheme with the limited amount of ammo really made you feel like you were Artyom. Anyways, I can’t say if this is a great video or not since I haven’t watched it yet but I’m sure it will be great just like the others I have listened to from this channel. Keep up the good work!
I started Metro 2033 years ago but left it somewhere in the middle for whatever reason. Then not long ago I decided to pick it back up and finish it. I then proceeded to binge Last Light and Exodus. I love these games so much. Interacting with your equipment and weapons provides such a visceral, engrossing feeling. It's not the only reason these games are great, but it is an important part of the equation.
To be honest i remember the ending to the Metro 2033 got me confused and at the end i aimed at the dark one for a second before realising it's not trying to hurt me and then it hit me that they were never my enemy and i shot the guiding system like if i was using aimbot. It was so quick that i didn't realise what i did at first.
@@Mavrocket it didn’t. Not only did Rockstar not do the remaster all 3 of those games came out over a decade ago and were objectively classics for their time. A 3rd party doing a terrible job updating them isn’t going to change that. The Metro series is good but it isn’t anything compared to GTA. No series is. GTA has had 5 games in a row that reviewed extremely well and broke sales records. GTAV by itself has outsold the Metro Series, Souls series and Halo series combined. There is no comparison
@@a.g.m8790 OK dude, didn't mean to rain on your fan boy parade... I enjoyed all of the GTA titles, too. However, consider we are also talking about different genres, here.
@@a.g.m8790 You could also consider that GTA has been around since the 20th Century... I don't know if you're old enough to know and remember the original, but some of us have been around long enough to have played a demo of GTA 1 on a shareware disc included with our PC Gamer or CGW subscription...
This is the first video I've seen on your channel. I am currently downloading my Metro Redux (2033 & Last Light) to revisit them bc of how inspired this video made me feel. Thank you, I know this couldn't have been easy. I will be checking out more on your channel.
Hearing you praise the book as your second favorite had me deeply nodding in agreement, I still don't understand how the writer managed to pack so many complicated subjects/themes like philosophy, esoteric mysticism, science fiction and horror into such a digestible story.
Shame 2034 and 2035 weren't as good as 2033. I think 2034 is an okay to just good book but I do have my reservations of cutting Artyom to a single small paragraph and one of the 'new' characters adds basically nothing to the story while another doesn't add much. 2035 I have little positive to say about it. Miller becoming a right C*** for no reason whatsoever, Artyom's "character arc" being totally bizzare, and other various issues like being able to cross a mile aboveground basically naked and without any sort of mask with limited repercussions. I did like the little extra world building, the Metro 2 line and it's addings on and the several stations we read about.
While Ranger Hardcore doesn't give you button prompts, it does give you audio queues on some objects or NPCs to tell you that you can interact with them.
I'm watching the video still, I'd just like to say that, despite how brutal the original Metro 2033 PC version can be and how hard it is to get a legal copy of it, I cannot stress enough how I recommend it to fans of Stalker or the Metro Redux, it is 4A's original and unfiltered vision and it's just a blast to play, despite the fact that it's clearly aimed at gaming veterans. also, dont enable Advanced DOF in the video options, it breaks some lighting shaders :)
I always come back to these games when I can't think of anything to play. The combat is great, the story isn't patronizing or overbearing, and the environments are just fucking awesome.
The port sections of your videos are super cool because I usually try to never buy a game twice. It's cool to see the different forms the games were released in.
I talk about this game with very little information lore wise but I bought it on a steam sale (the whole franchise) and I fell in love with it. It was one of the only games that gave me a feeling of submerssion, it got me hooked. It wasn't the type of "oh, shoot and go to the next level" but I was actively enjoying the story, sometimes even catching myself holding my breath in some instances
I never understood this concept, why would someone click and watch a portion of a video that is hours long about a game if they cared about spoilers? Plus I wouldn't go play it for myself and "come back", ah yes, let me just play something that's 5-60 hours long then come back.
Jared is honestly one of the few game reviewers I actually like because he's up front and honest about his biases and things he likes and doesn't like and even gives reasons to his preferences.
I absolutely agree with you when it comes to Exodus, by far my favorite title in the franchise.. At least once a year I sit down and blow through all 3 games back to back (and like you only the hardest of difficulties) with the exception of Exodus, which I play new game+ so I can enjoy the weapons I had previously.. When playing the games back to back..by the end you feel as if you just binged watched an epic saga and your on the edge of your seat frantically looking for the release dates for the next season or release lol.. Edit.. And the DLCs for Exodus are alotta fun! Getting more story with "the yankee" was much appreciated..
I love this. I remember going to GameStop years and years ago and looking for something for my 360. I asked the person who worked there if there was anything I should look for in particular. Immediately they said “Metro 2033”. No hesitation. Fantastic hidden gem that’s worth every penny. Love these retrospectives since they remind me of the incredible details and story behind it all! Thanks for making these man!
@@filipstudeny you really can't, though. There's entire videos that break it down (plus my own experience on the game to boot) that shows you need to spare everyone for the morally good ending. Exodus is the same way, they stuck with the system because players are able to figure that out quicker on their own compared to the OG 2033.
@@filipstudeny killing people when it could've been avoided literally drains your karma, what you're saying is contradictory to the actual system in place for the games. On top of that, it's not worth lying about since it's juet a game no less like huh?
Not true, you can get the good ending without non-lethally taking down any enemy. You simply have to get the various moral points through the game, such as watching specific events, listening to conversations, playing guitars, etc.
I have the exact same obsession about those little details that add the submersion. It also adds small challenges that stop things from feeling stale. You’re always having to manage your gear to survive but not in an annoying way.
Dood I totally feel yah on Miller's end.... I don't normally get emotional at video games like I can with movies but after Miller's arc where he starts knowing the secret, constantly believing all the lies he was told, getting everyone caught by the cannibals and when he is giving you that last shot to save Artyom and when Miller called Artyom son and I literally had tears coming out when Artyom wakes to find him gone. And his speech is just sooooo well written and after paying attention to the story so much that the ending had in me tears and not more than maybe 2 or 3 games have ever done that. .... I will say though that gun shot issue you had there is something I did not experience a single time. Played it on PS5 myself though so that might just be a PC thing?
Beautiful game series. Also because its linearity is often mentioned, i think the fact that it plays mostly in a metro underground setting, it really doesnt even feel "restricted" like other linear games can be. Everything feels so natural and immersive.
The biggest gripe for me was in cutscenes Artyom would normally have a helmet on with a faceplate but in game we had to put a gas mask on. It confused the heck out of me because I was like “am I wearing the mask under the helmet or is my mask that faceplate? If so then that faceplate is one I picked up off the ground or off some dead body. That was a small continuity problem I had but other than that I loved the whole series. To the point where I’d play 2033(old one because I got it before it was taken off, then last light, and I’ll eventually do exodus on the hardest difficulty. I loved this game immensely.
The series as a whole seemed to have the bizzare fear of showing us Artyom's face, or using his voice outside of his journal entries, which made various moments very odd. I admit talking too much or at bad moments ruins the setting but a mute character is an odd choice. Although at the very end of Exodus in the "good" ending Artyom does talk outside of his journal which i've always taken to mean he's stepping to the front of the 'picture'.
You might not see this or already know, but the issue with the bad ending in "Metro: Last Light" is, that the "karma system" is always active for every kill/knock out, so you can get all the highlight good deeds, but still fail if you choose to slash and mow down every other person in the game. Go through the game trying to be the change Artyum wants to be in the world. He regrets taking the lives of all the dark ones in the last game and has dedicated more time to exploration rather than missions for the rangers between the two games, and in which im sure he contemplates and wishes he could take back what he did, so when given a chance he would struggle to outright just take the life of another knowing that things arent always so black and white and that one could always not be coming from a place of malice, but fear as he did before. Try to be good and give a second chance even to the enemy, still they are the enemy so you dont want to die by their hand so kill if need be and they instigate but if you can ignore/disable. The little one takes note of your every move., and so these small interactions with the enemies weigh on his decicion to help you in the last fight of the game.
Avalanche: Talks about Miller's hair fetishistically. Miller: "Artyom, I need you to draw me like one of your French girls. It's critical to the mission!"
In regards to getting the bad ending in last light over and over... I have to ask if you made sure to save the mother bear... That is the one of the big karma point opportunities in the game like sparing Povile.
i remember how in the first run i was aiming for the good end and thought the watchmen attacking her are the babys the entire time and i was standing in front of her after the fight and thought its the babys protecting her - but well shit happens :D
One thing that’s cool about every Metro game is that they’re available for and play very well on the Mac, even the Redux versions. Somebody at 4A really must love developing for the Mac, and I’m so very grateful for their work and passion, and have rewarded them with my cash.
Honestly I just played through 2033 and was like man...if they could adapt this to VR I don't know if I'd be able to do it honestly. The atmosphere is too good. So I youtubed it to see if maybe someone made a HLA mod and low and behold what do I see 😭 I may need to try it
I stumbled over your Stalker series and now I'm watching every video. Very good cutting technique, good writing of your script and on top of that, you have a pleasant voice. Mad props! You gained a new sub💪🏼
i’ve come back to this video at least once per year since it came out. ever since i played last light on my 360 all those years ago its been one of my favourite series
Everything you said about fighting the mutants, I see as positive. It makes mutants truly terrifying, as they should be. I never feel cheated, as much as I feel as if these fights are exactly how it would happen irl. Getting hit after you shot them? Yeah, they got claws and weigh a ton lol. I know it may be frustrating and seem like bad game design, but if we're going to say its bad design, then we have to say Pathologic 2 isnt an amazing game, but an unfair pile of bad game design. Obviously, Pathologic is a phenomenal game, and truly genius when put beside every other game released in the past 20 years. I know Metro isnt perfect when attempting to create fair but punishing situations, but it's pretty damn great at making me feel helpless to the point of wondering if I'm even allowed to win lol
Thanks for the video. The Metro series is pretty good, but I think that there's a few defining factors that keep it from being great. Number one is the way that character interactions are constructed from a technical perspective. There's all these weird pauses and then characters nearly talking over each other at random parts of the conversation where it doesn't make sense to interrupt somebody. The second one is the sheer amount of glitches and bugs. The biggest one I encountered was in the first metro, on one of the rail shooting missions My character would automatically put the night vision goggles on as soon as the scene started. Leaving it impossible for me to find the enemies. I restarted my PC and tried everything I could. I even went back about 15 times and tried to just beat the level with the night vision goggles on but it was impossible. I finally had to restart and lost hours upon hours of gameplay. The final one is the stealth or lack thereof. The enemies are way too sensitive, if you drop a pebble out of your pocket all the enemy starts screaming that you're there no matter how far away they are from where your actual location is. If they could just fix those what I assume to be relatively easily fixable technical problems this would be a complete masterpiece. Oh and a random tidbit, if you find yourself continuing to run out of filters on the higher difficulties, if you don't mind the annoyance, you can just put your mask on for one second, then leave it off for the five or six seconds that makes up the countdown to radiation death timer, put it back on for one second to reset the timer, then take it off for another five or six seconds, rinse and repeat until you're out of the danger zone. I actually ended the game with a filter surplus that way for the first time in my four or five playthroughs on ranger hardcore
The reason you cant get the good ending in Last Light is because youre killing the human enemies. Every kill gets you negative karma, outside of the D6 battle sequence.
Honestly after watching the Metro and STALKER videos on two of my favorite franchises I wonder if you’ll ever decide to do a Fallout retrospective type video cause I would absolutely love to see your thoughts on them through the ages cause you have amazing commentary on these game subjects.
Metro exodus has a better ray tracing implementation than just reflections Ambient occlusion makes a big difference in a game like this that allows light to bounce.
Can I just say that your voice is smoother that the goddamn butter in my toast and I’m not weird for falling asleep to your videos. They’re such high quality and so in depth they’re perfect.
If I am being honest, Last Light is my fav because it went into the politics of the metro more then 2033, in 2033 I felt teased with it and Last Light just flat out gives it to you
I stared to play this kinds of games 1998 with Fallout 2, later fallout, Stalker, Wasteland, Wasteland 2, Underrail, Age of Decadence and a few others and i think Metro 2033 has the best mix of them all. Truly a Masterpiece.
I won't watch this until I finish the series, but I just want to send my appreciation for your in depth video retrospectives. It's among the best game content out there!
My first time playing Last Light I got the good ending, and my only advice is to knock people out or otherwise non-lethally deal with them as much as possible. The only people I remember actually killing were the nazis, the bandits in the rail car level, and Lesnitskys squad. Also save the mother bear after fighting it
Played the games,plus dlc ,2 or 3 times. Read also the books and after that played the games again. One of the most amazing fps out there. Even if u are not intro reading books,the Metro books will blow your mind.
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
One thing I love about Metro is that Ranger Hardcore doesn't just make enemies more lethal, but you as well. Everyone does more damage and I love difficulties like that
That's one thing that makes ranger hardcore so good. You can take out nearly every enemy with a headshot. Also because of the limited ammo you start to think if a gunfight would be worth it. Many mutant envounters won't even trigger a fight
yeah I started with that in 2033 and didn't change in last light then when I tried the easier difficulties it was like a different game it was unplayable for me. I didn't have the hud in my first playtrough and wasn't aware there was one 😂
Doesn't that just take away from the challenge and defeat the whole point of a hardcore mode?
@@thesnapper9421 I mean if it were an action game but metro has very heavy survival horror inspirations with an fps coat of paint on it. Yeah you can one tap enemies but the knowledge looms that if you alert too many, you can be very easily overwhelmed, forcing you to play smarter and using your advantage and consider if it's worth it to pick a fight for some resources.
@@thesnapper9421 if challenge just means bullet sponges to you then yes. In a survival horror shooter where ammo is rare it wouldn't make sense to just make the enemies take more bullets. It's about picking your fights wisely and realism which is rarely done in recent shooters. Prime example would be the division where a higher difficulty just means the enemies need more bullets to kill, which in return just prolongs fights instead of making it more interesting and challenging.
A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ON EXODUS: You are able to run for MUCH longer without running out of stamina if you holster your weapon before sprinting!
It was very important bc Ghost put it all in caps
@@RogueSabre IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YES
o
😊😊😊😊
😊
Let's talk a little bit about the trailer for Exodus, "Artyom's Nightmares". In that short trailer, Artyom got more characterization than he ever got in the previous two games: he ran from dangers and hid, but whenever he saw someone else was in danger - he broke cover and rushed to help, and every single person he failed to help forever remain in his mind, represented as memorabilia on candlelit shrines in his mind - and there are so many of them. That depiction hit so hard and to me, makes Artyom's Nightmares one of the greatest video game trailers ever.
I just wish we could've gotten more characterization akin to that in Exodus itself, y'know? Artyom being a silent protagonist, which, btw, often times leads to awkward hilarity when others prompt him to engage in conversation, having dreams, visions, or nightmares sprinkled throughout the game to reflect Artyom's state of mind, would've made for some interesting characterization. Not to mention how these sequences could've casted Artyom's, the player's actions in a whole new light, depending on which outcomes they got. Oh, well. Apparently, a fourth game is in the works. Maybe next time we'll actually get a better executed narrative.
Pavels betrayal legit hurt me. That's when you know a game is immersive. When you take an in-game betrayal to heart.
The first time I got to that point I literally gasped, felt like my heart stopped for a couple seconds.
Never trust a communist
Then the slow understanding of how he was manipulating you the whole time and how some stuff he did you pick up on in the 2nd playthrough
@@tankotoxic1413 yesss!
I understand chuvak.
The atmosphere in 2033 is second to none, especially on your first playthrough. Best recommended for a cold and dark winter night for that extra immersion when you can snuggle in under a blanket and crawl through the tunnels while a cold wind is howling outside of your window.
like right now
Absolutely right
I played that game on a very rainy and stormy day
And goddamn I felt the atmosphere with the beautiful rhythmic sound of rain hitting the glass of my windows
Gotta play it alone in the dark with headphones, ideally hungover or a little sick
That part where you're making your way to Bourbon is one of the best parts of the game.
gotta take 10 hits of rainbow acid and wear Spartan armor with a makeshift Tihar that was made by you. Only light available is from the monitor/screen. Quite literally Last Light. Now you got yourself the adventure of a lifetime......or the worst possible experience of your life.
You know you love a game series when you've played all the games and then watch a 3 hour video retrospective about it
For real you ain’t lying
and got platinum trophy in all 3, own them on multiple consoles and PC, and have listened to all the audio books twice
Lol I got exodus playing on my pc rn I best every game at least 6 times no joke oh and I have the original metro 2033 on steam and the redux I didn’t know they took it off
No you know you love the games when you know every single thing about them and have put several thousand hours into all 3 and then watch a three hour video on it😂
Speaking nothing but facts my boy
Artyom actually lost his mom after the bombs, in the metro during a rat invasion. They swarmed the station where Artyom and his mom lived; Artyom was the only survivor and he was saved by the man that became his adoptive father.
My favorite audio book I own is metro 2033, cool to know some other people have read it
@@reiddajuicemanRead by Rupert Degas, right? He got me legit spooked at THAT scene in the Library! Best audiobook I have ever listened to
@@eightleggedanarchist metro 2033 read by rupert degas is one of my favourite audiobooks of all time, the atmosphere dripping from that reading is insane
Unfortunately, the games have a lot of inconsistencies, but it can be excused via plagiarism and not having enough time or storage space on older gaming devices. Either way, I would LOVE a 1:1 of the books in a video game or movie, but I still appreciate some of the details they kept close to their hearts during 2033.
@@eightleggedanarchist where did you bought it? You've picked my interest to try the audio book
Die Hard Metro enthusiast here; read all 3 novels, played all three games several times over, all on the difficulties that minimize your HUD access and generally make the game more intense and demanding, and I’ve got to say, you nailed this. Every selling point and aspect of the games I would’ve pointed out, whether for praise or critique, you raised. I’m glad that this video is out there now, these are absolutely top tier games that deserve recognition for being damn good SINGLE player games in a multiplayer age. Thank you!
I always felt that Last Light’s “Call of Duty” feel was justified with character development for Artyom. Like in the first game we see Artyom transform from frail to powerful, but Last light just felt like a further emphasis on Artyom’s now famous courageous and “movie like” bravery. It all just reinforced Artyom’s character development for me.
As someone who played all three games and beaten them, I completely agree with you. Some people might not like the Call of Duty sellout feel of Metro 2035/Exodus but I firmly believe that was by narrative design. Because by that time, even though it was only a couple of years, Artyom is so experienced with his status as a Ranger, it only makes sense that he is more than just “competent” by that point.
fun thing was Artyom was part of Exhibition militia. He had training. He just went through so much shit, he went way above being a grunt in the "tea" station
Yeah by the time you get to exodus I feel like Im playing as a spec-ops soldier, not that im complaining. Artyom is badass
The problem with that is that 2033 was designed to be a horror/sim shooter in the vain of STALKER, the idea being that the difficulty of the game is supposed to reflect the perceived difficulty of the protagonist's situation and greatly improve the player's immersion and sense of accomplishment. The reality is the reason why Last Light is a Call of Duty clone has nothing to do with character development but rather "accessibility" i.e. we're going to betray the original creative intent and purpose of the franchise/the niche audience in order to sell more copies to normies. This is why they also dumbed down the difficulty in the 2033 Redux and added mechanics not present in the original game specifically to make the game easier for people like you, it's also why they removed the original games from storefront in order to force people to buy the remakes (predatory/forced obsolescence). You also see this behavior in AAA consumer trends where companies will all copy each other on mass and flood the market with the same garbage usually filled to the exploitative/predatory monetization models i.e. loot boxes/season passes.
You're just another shill who has to cope about the fact that a corporation felt the need to dumb shit down for you so you'd mindlessly consume because you're too stupid and/or attention deficient to actually play games that weren't meant for 12 year olds who still think it's edgy to scream the n-word at people on xbox live whilst their mother cooks their hot pockets for them. Stay on Fortnite
@@nicholascauton9648 This is how I know you're a shill, Metro 2035 and Exodus aren't actually connected...
One of the only franchise series where all 3 titles are absolute *chefs kiss* masterpieces. Played all of them multiple times and with this, I believe it's time for another play through of them.
Exodus was trash
@@rocopoco1361 BRUH WAAAAT
@@milkman9560 it was. Very disappointed. It lacks the atmosphere of the first two games. Plus the ending is so bad.
@@rocopoco1361 well at least you gave a reason. Not often to people give a reason without insults. Thank you
The stamina issue in “ Exodus” is b/c as a person who lived most his life underground the only time you ran was towards cover, away from bullets, or them radio dogs to reload and shoot. So this is his first time running to just run.
who cares it’s a video game , not being able to run 2 steps with his heart exploding is frustrating and slow
@@JimmyJames10-k7v😂😂
people play halo and doom eternal and forget that artyom's just a man with 200 pounds of equipment, ammo, and armor that weighs him down. it's a wonder he can sneak around like a cat, let alone run a marathon.
@@JimmyJames10-k7v Actually he can, if he holsters his weapon.
@@theblegar1commenter765was about to say the same thing. Putting your weapon away lets you sprint far longer.
There is a line in the book about the whole ammo = money thing. I don’t remember it exactly, but it went something like “A piece of ham - 5 human lives. Oh, you want this leather jacket? It’s on sale today - just 30 human lives”
It makes a lot more sense in several ways than something like bottle caps. And that's not a knock against fallout. Fallout has the benefit of a bit of a disconnect that makes bottle caps acceptable. Metro doesn't have that though, so ammo makes sense because it's one of the most important things to life down there. So measuring everything against that makes sense.
@@Quandry1 Bottle caps in Fallout 1 actually had logic behind it as they were used by water merchants and each bottle cap was worth a bottle of water, so they were an accepted currency backed by a valuable resource that everyone in the region uses. Fallout 2 got rid of them because of the NCR is growing powerful and minted their own money. Finally, Fallout NV had several forms of currency NCR Dollars, Legion coins, and the return of bottle caps because trade companies descended from FO1 water merchants were trading in a region that is contested by two major powers and using a neutral currency backed by a valuable resource (Like bottlecaps) is better than using money of a power that might lose the war and be worthless. Fallout 3 and 4 brought back bottle caps with no justification because Todd is an uncreative hack when it comes to Fallout lore.
@@ABUBBA22 bottle caps were used because they were a finite resource and were not actually backed by water in all places. There was no guarantee you could recieve water for that bottle cap, only New California gave it this weight for any reason. but they relied on it more because the technology to make them was mostly lost and because of their finite nature they were relatively conterfeit and inflation proof as well as readily recongizable which made them relatively stable. But the cold truth is that was only thought up at all because it was an excuse to have a kind of money in a world where having actual money didn't really make sense but they wanted a simplified barter system for the game that would function like money.
All the rest you are not telling me anything new. I know all that. Except no, not all trading companies descended from the water merchants. Several of them came from other places or other goods.
The justification for any of it was always loose and only sort of tied into the setting for a switch up on a game mechanic that they felt would be interesting.
finally if you want to call Todd howard a hack for using them in other places then you have to call Obsidian Hacks as well for using them as the primary currency in New Vegas and coming to that decision purely on their own because their interactions with new California were few until right before the game takes place itself. So they came to the same decision that Todd Howard did for other wastelands in other parts of the country and if he's a hack for doing so then so are they.
Also in the books they describe the suits that they wear,different type of masks(when they loot someone) ,weapons,melee weapons,even the night-day creatures
That softlock on volga wasnt really a softlock, I found it was just because at some point, the movement for the boat went from the stick to the triggers
Though Metro 2033's "karma" system could be seen as rudimentary and often ambiguous, I respected it because by default you're on the "bad" route. So many games make you put effort into being "bad" or "evil". I always loved how 2033 flipped that and made you put effort into being "good", because in reality, we're all pretty shitty people. It's our humanity and our choice to put effort into being better people that's the harder journey.
I was pissed because I killed a slave that was on fire and wailing in agony out of mercy and that alone gave me the bad ending for the desert in Exodus. I like that I have to try to be good but I don't want morally ambiguous actions like that to make me risk getting the bad ending. Thank God I got the good ending in the end but I would have hated the game if I missed out on it because of an act of mercy.
@@StrengthScholar0 I killed a Satanist and that made it so I couldn't get the good ending in the first area
I like that it's relatively subtle. When a karma trigger occurs you just get the brief audio/visual stinger. You don't really know if it's a good/bad choice on your first playthrough, just that it was some kind of choice. While it still carries the flaws of karma systems in games, especially with morally ambiguous choices that aren't clean cut morally goo/bad, it's refreshing not to have the game put massive text onscreen saying "you did a bad thing, here's 40 bad boy points and a bounty's on your head now." It encourages self-reflection. What triggered the effect? Was it the right choice? Do I need all right choices to get the good ending or merely get a value above a threshold? Ambiguity reduces clarity, but not seeing the whole picture also reduces the likelihood of players metagaming the system, at least until a dataminer sifts through the code.
@@jacktheripper7735 Rightly so.
@@DDRHeretiC How though?
Metro was one of the best series I played in a long time! The story had me enveloped in all the mysteries of the Metro.
I've seen you around man, have a good day
12:30 Hunter was Uncle Sukhoi's friend from his days as a Spartan/soldier. Artyom only got the mission because Hunter was desperate and Artyom wanted to get out of VDNKh.
Just took a mean dump bro!!
About using ammo as currency. A shot of alcohol is called a shot because back in the wild west days the amount of alcohol in a shot glass was worth the same as a bullet so people would often pay for it with a bullet.
no... thats just not true
@@steelrain714 it is true. 1 shot of whiskey cost the same as 1 shot of .45 long colt. So SOME saloons would accept them as payment. Its a documented thing.
@@anthonylangley6843 there is not enough evidence to prove that this happened, and even if it did happen it is was never popular enough for it to be the reason for shots to be called shots.
Another piece of evidence disproving this is the fact that the term "shot" (when relating to alcohol) has been in use since at least the 17th century.
@@steelrain714 cool. And I say shots came from the wild west because they were worth the same as a bullet. Deal with it.
@@lordofthefrogs1646 ok as long as you just deal with being wrong
One of the best stories in gaming and an endlessly immersive FPS. I'm always telling people how good this series is because it's absolutely legendary and so underrated only because of people not playing it
Hey man just to let you know, Dmitri Glukhovky wrote Last Light. That's why it seems like it was based on a book like 2033 did. He was the writer of the books and all 3 games including Exodus which is a continuation of the end of Metro 2035
Also, Artyom meeting the dark ones as a child isn't a retcon, it's just something that was left out of metro 2033 the game. The book however did make a big deal out of Artyoms memory of visiting rhe botanical gardens with his mom before the apocalypse, and then going there with his friends, letting rhe dark ones in
Artyom has dealt with immense guilt through the events of each game/book. In 2033 the guilt of letting rhe dark ones in, and in Last Light, and 2035 the guilt of destroying them and dooming humanity in the process (even though the book 2035 does mention the events of last light and the dark ones returning)
2035 is in fact mostly about artyoms guilt driving him to the surface to find signals from other regions of the earth. Metro Exodus does touch on this at rhe start but the 1st hour of Exodus is basically a short cliff notes version of 2035. A ton happens in 2035 and it's actually a fantastic book. Almost as good as 2033 if not better
I liked it but didn’t like how the later books handled the supernatural elements
They’re still some of my absolute favorite books/games
You can stop the filter drain by taking your mask on and off and waiting until you almost suffocate and then putting it back on again and repeating. Kinda cheap but I did do that when I played last light on ranger hardcore.
Dude there were parts of that game that FORCED me to do that. I made the mistake of trying to enjoy my environment too much lol
@@Sigil_57 Yeah it really helps if you want to go digging through all those nooks and crannies. And once you start it just becomes habit. But you do find alot of filters in those corners so realistically you dont really have to do that for more than the first couple levels.
This video might be 3 hours long, but for me it's 3-4 days long. The soothing tone of voice from Avalanche drifts me to sleep at night after approx 20 mins. Thank you! Keep up the good work.
Same. I found his RE Retrospective Series when I was prescribed too much Adderall, a full time college student, and working overnights in a grocery store. This man's voice and editing style, blackout curtains, and THC vapes were the only things that got me through that year.
Nice. Metro's always made me wonder with its helmet and I realize why now. The Spartan helmets from stalker mods are literally Metro's helmets! It's the same helmets worn by nosorog exoskeletons in stalker anomaly, and in 3rd person it's almost right outta metro.
worth mentioning the dev team took unused elements from the stalker games and incorporated them. Thats why lurkers in anomaly are actually pretty ok.
.l p.
It's the Metro Counterpart of a I believe IRL Gost 2 (GAU-Index) Altyn helmet. There are more, the grunts mostly wear kolpaks (basic kevlar biker helmet) to maybe even more irl counterparts.
@@aweillekevin4201 there was also a small amount of devs who worked on stalker which worked also on metro 2033 for 4A Games
This one of of the few series that i can remember almost everything about, some areas are just so memorable and well done that its hard to not feel immersed.
Like you actually visited a unique place and had memorable experiences
Metro gamers on moscow vaccation: "nah, no need to see the russian national library." *PTSD intensifies*
Something interesting about the different versions of Metro 2033, is that in the original had Artyom actually equip knives and grenades in his hands, whereas the Redux version was just a toggle of which secondary is equipped, which is then used with a hotkey. Not really a huge deal most of the time, aside from the obvious immersion breaking aspect of using the HUD to display info that was previously diegetically displayed in game, but in the Redux version of the Ranger Hardcore difficulties where the HUD is completely removed, it actually makes selecting a secondary much more difficult than it needs to be, mostly on PC. You have to hold the inventory button to cause the weapon switch screen to appear, but it's visually disabled since it's Ranger Hardcore, and then __move the mouse__ in one of the four cardinal directions, listening for a small sound to play to determine if the correct secondary is selected. It's a shame that they decided to do away with the way 2033 originally handled it, though it likely was a side effect of the Ranger Hardcore difficulty not actually being part of Last Light by default on launch, being relegated to pre-order DLC for those who bought it from Gamestop, so that change eventually affected the Redux version of 2033 since it ran on the newer, Last Light version of the engine.
Also, minor thing with the talk about the 2033 ports, it never released on PS3. It was meant to, but that version of the game was kiboshed before release so the original version of the game only ever came out on 360 and PC; PS3 wouldn't get a Metro game until the Last Light, and PlayStation owners couldn't play 2033 until the Redux collection.
I remember really struggling with that on my first RHC playthrough. Then it got to the point, where I remembered exactly what direction each throwable was in. So I could blind select them with ease. It actually felt even more immersive once I got that down.
@@AvalancheReviews I weirdly enough played my first playthrough of every metro game on RHC difficulty
I played on Xbox one and never knew I could equip a third weapon until I saw a playthrough after I beat METRO 2033
Audio cues in ranger hardcore is all you get when selecting.
Yeeeesh
The stretched image in Metro 2033 and Last Light comes from your ultrawide monitor.
A have a monitor with the resolution of 2560x1080 and put the game to 1920x1080, like it was for you, the game was stretched.
Then I launched the game on my second monitor which is 1920x1080, and the game looks like it should.
This is only an issue if you play the game on an ultrawide monitor in 16:9.
Also, Artyom has a different watch debending if you play on Survivor or Spartan mode, that's why they were different in your console comparison
Your video got me in the mood to play all these game all over again.
Same
Literally watched them all within like 3 days when the Exodus video came out and now with this you're already making me want to watch it all over again in this combined package!
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GIVE ME MY FREE TIME BACK!!! WHY MUST YOU MAKE VIDEOS THAT ARE SO ENTERTAINING!?😂😂😂
I'm supposed to be studying! Not listening to your buttery smooth voice😂
Metro is one of the few series that never miss, Everything from 2033 to Exodus and it's dlcs are in the art tier of games, up there with bioshock and RDR2.
Truly a master trilogy.
Totally agree.
I actually really like the monster fighting sections when on ranger hardcore, feels so good when you pull trough it, and the visual of fighting dozens of monsters is just so cool
Everytime someone ask me why i like stalker or Metro. I just give them a link to your videos. Your so good at explaining it.
That's a big compliment! There's some great media out there covering this stuff. Thanks man!
@@AvalancheReviewsthanks man I think I found new games that I feel it's immersive and difficult games ranger hardcore my first time playing
I was 13 yrs old when metro 2033 was released.. I convinced my mom to pre order it for me and it was the first game i ever pre ordered, it wasnt very known, at least not in my friend circle, like no-one knew about it. Didnt see many posts about it online either.
I was absolutely blown away by the graphics at the time and the immersion, and as a 13yr old it scared the living hell outta me at times, still have my 360 physical copy, never will there be a better series that always deliver❤
The last time I played Metro 2033 and LL was is 2016, because of this retrospective I just played both of them on Ranger Hardcore (for immersions sake, and it was soooo fun!) and I just bought Exodus last night. I am already on the Volga River and I am so far enjoying my time! I actually got scared for once when I saw those ghoul-looking mutants
The best way to play these games is back to back to back. Absolutely fantastic story writing.
Hell yeah, another full series compilation from my favourite, underrated, buttery-smooth-voiced content creator!
Pavel said he hates them but the reason nobody comments on them is because they don’t spread throughout the metro, they stay in the pitch black portions and literally can’t come out from those places without burning up. If you’re talking about the “regular” spider that you don’t fight and just live in corpses and webs, then yeah they’re weird and creepy as shit but we have spiders that are about that big irl like banana spiders etc.
Sorry I responded to the wrong comment
I hope this dev is allowed to still continue making single player focused FPS games. Tired of most trends in Western AAA FPS games.
4A Games is working on Metro 4(?) recently, but I'm not sure Metro 4 will be good.
As long as the Publisher doesn’t push them to turn it into CoD, Warzone or not. They’ve proven that they have respect and love for the series, and strive to push the series in a good direction.
@@24fretsoffury Metro is my favorite game series, but 4A Games announced Metro 4 will include multiplayer. This makes me worried.
@@matematikgokseldir they said that the multiplayer might even be a standalone game, and that it will in no way affect the main story. With the amazing work on their previous games I trust the devs
@@jagdflieger4861 yeah I trust too and I wasn't know that multiplayer might be standalone. If it be a plus to singleplayer experience, it is just perfect. My hype is refreshed, thank you.
This is one franchise that I feel like it deserves even more recognition than call of duty, exodus was such a joyful experience, if you take the time to sit down and listen to all dialogue and interact with the NPC's you'll experience rdr2 levels of story telling, you'll start the game with that feeling of "eh" and end it with a manly tear sliding down your cheeks
Yeah the ending I got made me almost as sad as the ending I got to rdr2 made me. I instantly thought of rdr2 when I beat exodus and reflected on all of the train conversations like they were rdr2's camp convos
I didn't dig Exodus when first playing it. I'm now on my second playthrough on Ranger Hardcore and so far it's much more fun than my first playthrough. Still, i think for me metro profited from its linearity in the first 2 games
I have a counterpoint to your view on the bosses: They're overlooked because while they doo feel slightly out of place, there are microcosms in them that people ignore as simple "mechanical moments". Like the bear fight, when the little fellas are attacking it and leaving it open, it can be seen as a moment to attack. But when I played Metro LL, it showed me that, in the world of Metro, it doesn't matter how big your claws are, or how thick your hide is. If you have a moment of weakness, and if your composure breaks for a moment, your status will turn from apex predator to prey in a second. Nothing and nowhere is safe, and you cannot risk taking a breath.
I still recommend to read the books. The first game is shockingly accurate to the book, but it's a ton of fun to re experience those events through the original words because the author really did an incredible job. The Library had me just as on edge in the book as it did in the game.
3rd book sucks. Too much politics..
Right? And the changes to the first game I think suit the pacing perfectly (except Bourbon, I think I’d prefer keeping the book version of him and his death). I think I do miss the Revolutionaries the most but I think Pavel fills that role great in the second game.
@@4mbrose The surface was so much more terrifying in the novels too. It's almost peaceful in the game, which is still great in it's own way.
@@slingshotmcoy Yes!! Another thing the book does better is the biomass. However the biomass scene actually made me laugh. I think Khan was done exceptionally well in the games - the vibe feels the exact same.
this game feels like your reading a detailed story but your the main character and you still have choices its pretty fun
Hell yes a new long video to fall asleep to, and a perfect series to listen to. I picked up metro exodus without playing either of the other games not knowing there was others, I was obsessed with it and loved it. Once I beat it multiple times I learned there was other entries to the title, I then played all the games in order. I have to say my all time favorite was metro last light redux, the overall feel to it with the gritty dark color scheme with the limited amount of ammo really made you feel like you were Artyom. Anyways, I can’t say if this is a great video or not since I haven’t watched it yet but I’m sure it will be great just like the others I have listened to from this channel. Keep up the good work!
I started Metro 2033 years ago but left it somewhere in the middle for whatever reason. Then not long ago I decided to pick it back up and finish it. I then proceeded to binge Last Light and Exodus. I love these games so much. Interacting with your equipment and weapons provides such a visceral, engrossing feeling. It's not the only reason these games are great, but it is an important part of the equation.
Absolutely top notch review, pinpointing things that average person would skip past. This is how a review is done. I'm subscribing.
To be honest i remember the ending to the Metro 2033 got me confused and at the end i aimed at the dark one for a second before realising it's not trying to hurt me and then it hit me that they were never my enemy and i shot the guiding system like if i was using aimbot. It was so quick that i didn't realise what i did at first.
The most consistently excellent game series of the 21st Century.
Nah that’s GTA
@@a.g.m8790 I think the GTA "Remaster" Trilogy ruins that streak unfortunately...
@@Mavrocket it didn’t. Not only did Rockstar not do the remaster all 3 of those games came out over a decade ago and were objectively classics for their time. A 3rd party doing a terrible job updating them isn’t going to change that. The Metro series is good but it isn’t anything compared to GTA. No series is. GTA has had 5 games in a row that reviewed extremely well and broke sales records. GTAV by itself has outsold the Metro Series, Souls series and Halo series combined. There is no comparison
@@a.g.m8790 OK dude, didn't mean to rain on your fan boy parade... I enjoyed all of the GTA titles, too. However, consider we are also talking about different genres, here.
@@a.g.m8790 You could also consider that GTA has been around since the 20th Century... I don't know if you're old enough to know and remember the original, but some of us have been around long enough to have played a demo of GTA 1 on a shareware disc included with our PC Gamer or CGW subscription...
This is the first video I've seen on your channel. I am currently downloading my Metro Redux (2033 & Last Light) to revisit them bc of how inspired this video made me feel. Thank you, I know this couldn't have been easy. I will be checking out more on your channel.
Metro Exodus in every way is my favourite Metro Game. The crafting system in it is just great. Maps are cool and unique.
humanimals ruin the experience for me, fighting generic zombies is definitely not what metro was about
First game i actively screamed at the screen begging for the protagonist to succeed, i never cried so hard at an ending of any form of media
Video is 3,5 hour long and still 2 mln ppl watched IT. Legend
Hearing you praise the book as your second favorite had me deeply nodding in agreement, I still don't understand how the writer managed to pack so many complicated subjects/themes like philosophy, esoteric mysticism, science fiction and horror into such a digestible story.
Shame 2034 and 2035 weren't as good as 2033. I think 2034 is an okay to just good book but I do have my reservations of cutting Artyom to a single small paragraph and one of the 'new' characters adds basically nothing to the story while another doesn't add much. 2035 I have little positive to say about it. Miller becoming a right C*** for no reason whatsoever, Artyom's "character arc" being totally bizzare, and other various issues like being able to cross a mile aboveground basically naked and without any sort of mask with limited repercussions. I did like the little extra world building, the Metro 2 line and it's addings on and the several stations we read about.
While Ranger Hardcore doesn't give you button prompts, it does give you audio queues on some objects or NPCs to tell you that you can interact with them.
I'm watching the video still, I'd just like to say that, despite how brutal the original Metro 2033 PC version can be and how hard it is to get a legal copy of it, I cannot stress enough how I recommend it to fans of Stalker or the Metro Redux, it is 4A's original and unfiltered vision and it's just a blast to play, despite the fact that it's clearly aimed at gaming veterans.
also, dont enable Advanced DOF in the video options, it breaks some lighting shaders :)
I agree the atmosphere of the original 2033 is way better
This is so weird, but I got given 2033 by steam like 4 years ago. I don't remember why though.
i got it free on steam not long ago, i think it was part of marketing for exodus
same, i got it free when i got the set
I always come back to these games when I can't think of anything to play. The combat is great, the story isn't patronizing or overbearing, and the environments are just fucking awesome.
The port sections of your videos are super cool because I usually try to never buy a game twice. It's cool to see the different forms the games were released in.
I talk about this game with very little information lore wise but I bought it on a steam sale (the whole franchise) and I fell in love with it. It was one of the only games that gave me a feeling of submerssion, it got me hooked. It wasn't the type of "oh, shoot and go to the next level" but I was actively enjoying the story, sometimes even catching myself holding my breath in some instances
Everytime a youtuber covers a game's story and says they'll be spoilers and skip to play it for ourselves i just laugh cuz im far too broke for that
Same
I never understood this concept, why would someone click and watch a portion of a video that is hours long about a game if they cared about spoilers? Plus I wouldn't go play it for myself and "come back", ah yes, let me just play something that's 5-60 hours long then come back.
Jared is honestly one of the few game reviewers I actually like because he's up front and honest about his biases and things he likes and doesn't like and even gives reasons to his preferences.
I absolutely agree with you when it comes to Exodus, by far my favorite title in the franchise..
At least once a year I sit down and blow through all 3 games back to back (and like you only the hardest of difficulties) with the exception of Exodus, which I play new game+ so I can enjoy the weapons I had previously..
When playing the games back to back..by the end you feel as if you just binged watched an epic saga and your on the edge of your seat frantically looking for the release dates for the next season or release lol..
Edit.. And the DLCs for Exodus are alotta fun! Getting more story with "the yankee" was much appreciated..
I love this. I remember going to GameStop years and years ago and looking for something for my 360. I asked the person who worked there if there was anything I should look for in particular. Immediately they said “Metro 2033”. No hesitation. Fantastic hidden gem that’s worth every penny. Love these retrospectives since they remind me of the incredible details and story behind it all! Thanks for making these man!
In meto last light to get the good ending you have to actively spare/use non-lethal take downs in most sections of the game.
Nope you can kill as much as you like you just have to get enough good karma points and spare Lestnitsky and Pavel
@@filipstudeny you really can't, though. There's entire videos that break it down (plus my own experience on the game to boot) that shows you need to spare everyone for the morally good ending. Exodus is the same way, they stuck with the system because players are able to figure that out quicker on their own compared to the OG 2033.
@@JennyGormanRitter Nope, I was able to kill my way through the games and still got good ending, you just need collect every good karma point
@@filipstudeny killing people when it could've been avoided literally drains your karma, what you're saying is contradictory to the actual system in place for the games.
On top of that, it's not worth lying about since it's juet a game no less like huh?
Not true, you can get the good ending without non-lethally taking down any enemy.
You simply have to get the various moral points through the game, such as watching specific events, listening to conversations, playing guitars, etc.
I have the exact same obsession about those little details that add the submersion. It also adds small challenges that stop things from feeling stale. You’re always having to manage your gear to survive but not in an annoying way.
The english voice acting is what makes these games even more better. I tried Russian but it just sounds better with English
Also Exodus will always be my favourite, first 2 games are great but Metro suits an Open World really well
Nah
Metro was one the best video game storys I've ever experienced. This game would be AMAZING as a VR experience.
Hell yea
Dood I totally feel yah on Miller's end.... I don't normally get emotional at video games like I can with movies but after Miller's arc where he starts knowing the secret, constantly believing all the lies he was told, getting everyone caught by the cannibals and when he is giving you that last shot to save Artyom and when Miller called Artyom son and I literally had tears coming out when Artyom wakes to find him gone. And his speech is just sooooo well written and after paying attention to the story so much that the ending had in me tears and not more than maybe 2 or 3 games have ever done that. .... I will say though that gun shot issue you had there is something I did not experience a single time. Played it on PS5 myself though so that might just be a PC thing?
Beautiful game series. Also because its linearity is often mentioned, i think the fact that it plays mostly in a metro underground setting, it really doesnt even feel "restricted" like other linear games can be. Everything feels so natural and immersive.
The biggest gripe for me was in cutscenes Artyom would normally have a helmet on with a faceplate but in game we had to put a gas mask on. It confused the heck out of me because I was like “am I wearing the mask under the helmet or is my mask that faceplate? If so then that faceplate is one I picked up off the ground or off some dead body. That was a small continuity problem I had but other than that I loved the whole series. To the point where I’d play 2033(old one because I got it before it was taken off, then last light, and I’ll eventually do exodus on the hardest difficulty. I loved this game immensely.
The series as a whole seemed to have the bizzare fear of showing us Artyom's face, or using his voice outside of his journal entries, which made various moments very odd. I admit talking too much or at bad moments ruins the setting but a mute character is an odd choice. Although at the very end of Exodus in the "good" ending Artyom does talk outside of his journal which i've always taken to mean he's stepping to the front of the 'picture'.
You might not see this or already know, but the issue with the bad ending in "Metro: Last Light" is, that the "karma system" is always active for every kill/knock out, so you can get all the highlight good deeds, but still fail if you choose to slash and mow down every other person in the game. Go through the game trying to be the change Artyum wants to be in the world. He regrets taking the lives of all the dark ones in the last game and has dedicated more time to exploration rather than missions for the rangers between the two games, and in which im sure he contemplates and wishes he could take back what he did, so when given a chance he would struggle to outright just take the life of another knowing that things arent always so black and white and that one could always not be coming from a place of malice, but fear as he did before. Try to be good and give a second chance even to the enemy, still they are the enemy so you dont want to die by their hand so kill if need be and they instigate but if you can ignore/disable. The little one takes note of your every move., and so these small interactions with the enemies weigh on his decicion to help you in the last fight of the game.
Avalanche: Talks about Miller's hair fetishistically.
Miller: "Artyom, I need you to draw me like one of your French girls. It's critical to the mission!"
Metro series is one of the best single-player stories ever. I love them . Especially metro exodus very special game
In regards to getting the bad ending in last light over and over... I have to ask if you made sure to save the mother bear... That is the one of the big karma point opportunities in the game like sparing Povile.
Not laughing at you at all but i was laughing when i saw you spelled pavel as Povile.
i remember how in the first run i was aiming for the good end and thought the watchmen attacking her are the babys the entire time and i was standing in front of her after the fight and thought its the babys protecting her - but well shit happens :D
One thing that’s cool about every Metro game is that they’re available for and play very well on the Mac, even the Redux versions. Somebody at 4A really must love developing for the Mac, and I’m so very grateful for their work and passion, and have rewarded them with my cash.
hello fellow struggler. In this dark world, i just thought i'd let you know that God loves you and that you should also always love yourself
I remember playing metro in 2019 on a computer from 2005... The game ran on like 20 fps average. Still loved it
Y’all ready for the new one ?
getting a vr headset for my bday so i can play it lol
Honestly I just played through 2033 and was like man...if they could adapt this to VR I don't know if I'd be able to do it honestly. The atmosphere is too good. So I youtubed it to see if maybe someone made a HLA mod and low and behold what do I see 😭 I may need to try it
I stumbled over your Stalker series and now I'm watching every video.
Very good cutting technique, good writing of your script and on top of that, you have a pleasant voice.
Mad props! You gained a new sub💪🏼
What with the ukraine war going on playing metro has a different feel to it now. Also hope stalker 2 is still coming out even after the delay.
I've got my fingers crossed that GSC stays safe and can keep working on it once things ease up over there.
Yeah, hope we can recreate metro for russians in real life. So they will be immersed even better.
And Ukraine is spelled without The.
i’ve come back to this video at least once per year since it came out. ever since i played last light on my 360 all those years ago its been one of my favourite series
Everything you said about fighting the mutants, I see as positive. It makes mutants truly terrifying, as they should be. I never feel cheated, as much as I feel as if these fights are exactly how it would happen irl. Getting hit after you shot them? Yeah, they got claws and weigh a ton lol. I know it may be frustrating and seem like bad game design, but if we're going to say its bad design, then we have to say Pathologic 2 isnt an amazing game, but an unfair pile of bad game design. Obviously, Pathologic is a phenomenal game, and truly genius when put beside every other game released in the past 20 years. I know Metro isnt perfect when attempting to create fair but punishing situations, but it's pretty damn great at making me feel helpless to the point of wondering if I'm even allowed to win lol
Thanks for the video. The Metro series is pretty good, but I think that there's a few defining factors that keep it from being great. Number one is the way that character interactions are constructed from a technical perspective. There's all these weird pauses and then characters nearly talking over each other at random parts of the conversation where it doesn't make sense to interrupt somebody. The second one is the sheer amount of glitches and bugs. The biggest one I encountered was in the first metro, on one of the rail shooting missions My character would automatically put the night vision goggles on as soon as the scene started. Leaving it impossible for me to find the enemies. I restarted my PC and tried everything I could. I even went back about 15 times and tried to just beat the level with the night vision goggles on but it was impossible. I finally had to restart and lost hours upon hours of gameplay. The final one is the stealth or lack thereof. The enemies are way too sensitive, if you drop a pebble out of your pocket all the enemy starts screaming that you're there no matter how far away they are from where your actual location is. If they could just fix those what I assume to be relatively easily fixable technical problems this would be a complete masterpiece.
Oh and a random tidbit, if you find yourself continuing to run out of filters on the higher difficulties, if you don't mind the annoyance, you can just put your mask on for one second, then leave it off for the five or six seconds that makes up the countdown to radiation death timer, put it back on for one second to reset the timer, then take it off for another five or six seconds, rinse and repeat until you're out of the danger zone. I actually ended the game with a filter surplus that way for the first time in my four or five playthroughs on ranger hardcore
Netflix should do an Animated series like they did with Arcane. Would be awesome
Netflix ruin everything they touch.
The reason you cant get the good ending in Last Light is because youre killing the human enemies. Every kill gets you negative karma, outside of the D6 battle sequence.
Honestly after watching the Metro and STALKER videos on two of my favorite franchises I wonder if you’ll ever decide to do a Fallout retrospective type video cause I would absolutely love to see your thoughts on them through the ages cause you have amazing commentary on these game subjects.
You made me go out and aquire this game for the first time by the way.
ITS A THREE AND A HALF HOUR VIDEO. SPOIL IT. NO ONE WATCHING THIS HASNT PLAYED OR CARE ABOUT SPOILERSSSSS I JUST WANNA KNOW THE STORYYYYY
Metro exodus has a better ray tracing implementation than just reflections Ambient occlusion makes a big difference in a game like this that allows light to bounce.
Can I just say that your voice is smoother that the goddamn butter in my toast and I’m not weird for falling asleep to your videos. They’re such high quality and so in depth they’re perfect.
i enjoyed all three metro games, i played all of them through twice, which is rare for me.
Metro surprised me with how good it was. Mostly because I was already expecting it to be good, and it somehow exceeded my expectations.
Metro is also one of the only games out there where the best way to experience it is on the hardest (ranger) difficulties
Man, that final, desperate, ride out of Novosibirsk made me shed a few tears. Reminded me a lot of Arthurs final ride in RDR2.
Same
My first ending was actually the good one, I was super confused when starting last light 😅
If I am being honest, Last Light is my fav because it went into the politics of the metro more then 2033, in 2033 I felt teased with it and Last Light just flat out gives it to you
I always watch a full and detailed walkthrough before playing a new game.
I stared to play this kinds of games 1998 with Fallout 2, later fallout, Stalker, Wasteland, Wasteland 2, Underrail, Age of Decadence and a few others and i think Metro 2033 has the best mix of them all. Truly a Masterpiece.
I won't watch this until I finish the series, but I just want to send my appreciation for your in depth video retrospectives. It's among the best game content out there!
Enjoy! Take your time with Exodus, it’s worth it!
@@24fretsoffury truly I just sat there listening to people speak in this game so much because the character interaction is so good
@@Akechifan can't forget to have a smoke on the Aurora too god knows artyom earned a smoke break lol
Another good retrospective brother. Fellow stalker here, and a ranger :D
I played Exodus on Xbox One and LOVED it, but last light has to be my favorite
I also recommend survival and ranger mode. It's a more realistic version where you die easily. But so do the enemies.
My first time playing Last Light I got the good ending, and my only advice is to knock people out or otherwise non-lethally deal with them as much as possible. The only people I remember actually killing were the nazis, the bandits in the rail car level, and Lesnitskys squad. Also save the mother bear after fighting it
Just beat all 3 in a row within 1 week. they arent the longest games, but the pacing and gun play and story is PERFECTION.
That dig at game journalists gave me a good chuckle. Great video, glad someone can point out how good this series is.
Ahhhh my fond memories flowing through, i remember playing this game till midnight and can't get enough of it sadly i never play metro Exodus.
I played ranger hardcore on exodus and thought all the lockers and boxes were locked because i was tapping the button
Played the games,plus dlc ,2 or 3 times. Read also the books and after that played the games again. One of the most amazing fps out there. Even if u are not intro reading books,the Metro books will blow your mind.