Aren’t they based in Ukraine? I remember a Reddit post where they had shit for resources until THQ CEO had to buy them better PCs and task chairs.
I own Metro 2033 and started playing it years ago but never got very far. I think my graphics card couldn’t quite handle it turned up and for some reason it wasn’t grabbing me. I also have Last Light, and have a new video card too. Is there a strong reason to play 2033 prior to Last Light? If not I may just jump to Last Light and try 2033 again if I get to it.
2033 is a bit better, so I guess there’s that. There are also characters you’ll meet who know you from 2033. And the story is a continuation. But there’s no need to play 2033 first.
OK, I’ll try 2033 again before Last Light. Thanks for the input.
2033 offers a lot of diversity after the quite slow start. Some of the levels are absolutely stellar.
Best thing is to:
- Play through 2033,
- Read the Book (Bonus: Learn Russian and read the book in the original language)
- Play Last Light.
4A Games have relocated to Malta.
“Dear motherland,” he wrote, “this morning we’re leaving you for some time. Not because we don’t love you, but because we have to — otherwise 4A Games will cease to exist — it’s really hard to get investors while we’re at war with [Putin]. We can understand publishers, but our hearts are sorrow and we feel like betrayers, because we’re leaving our country in turmoil. We’re not betrayers, we love you, Ukraine and we’ll have with us a new part of Ukraine in not so distant Malta. 4A Games Malta is a Ukrainian company.”
“Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes! Death to enemies!”
Wow, right in the middle of the Mediterranean. I wonder if that will change the flavor of their future games?
Isn’t Malta really, really, really expensive?
Last Light is on sale for $5 on Steam, incidentally. Covering moving costs?
I completely forgot about our game developer friends in Ukraine. I wonder how Vostok is doing.
Oh wow!
I planned to get the Redux pack for around 10 EUR from Steamtrades but I will buy the pack for 20 EUR now on Steam (discount for owning both old versions) to support them!
Wishing them all the best and I cannot imagine having to leaving my home country in Europe for such a reason! Crazy that can happen these days! :(
Digital Foundry: You’ve improved both Metro titles, but the Redux is the same two games at their core. Last time we spoke, you dropped some hints about the future - specifically physics-based character animation. Now you’ve been hands-on with the next-gen consoles, can you tease anything else you’re working on?
Oles Shishkovstov: For the game we are working on now, our designers have shifted to a more sand-box-style experience - less linear but still hugely story-driven. I will not go into details, but it requires some work from programmers as well. Also, we are improving graphics in very different aspects, like recently we did a physically-based global ambient occlusion (instead of local, like SSAO). I will not talk about PBR (physically-based rendering) here, because here we are at the stage when artists are still adapting their mentality to it.
But first, a few words about the games 4A Games. At the moment the team is working on three projects .
The first of them - Metro Redux for PlayStation 4 , Xbox One and PC is almost ready and will be released in the summer of 2014 amending and updating Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light for next-generation consoles took almost 9 months and now both played excellent shooter with a gamepad.
The second project - a new shooter in the universe Metro, radically different from the previous parts of the series . Working on the script author of the novels “Metro” Dmitry Gluhovskij and action games … Here we have to stop. NDA forbids us to give any details , but look at those episodes and technical pieces that we have seen in the office 4A Games, really impressive .
The third project is even more secret . This is a fantastic shooter about space with a very unusual design , structure and idea. Alien landscapes are fascinating - we do this have never seen . Alas , more information about the new game we can not provide
Oh my, please be the open world Metro/Stalker eyegasm we all deserve.
Finished the DLC.
From best to worst
Kshatriya - Polis Ranger Trainee (faction pack)
Spider Lair (developer pack)
Red Line Sniper (faction pack)
Pavel (Chronicles Pack)
Khan (Chronicles Pack)
Anna (Chronicles Pack)
Tower (Tower pack)
Reich Heavy Soldier (faction pack)
The best was Kshatriya, a big level where you play a hybrid open world Metro/Stalker (as Becoming wanted in the post above!), where you explore at your own pace taking loot and valuable artefacts left in the civilization above the sewers, but you have to take care of the radiation and the need of filters (and you won’t find filters left around this time!), which works great with the economy system implemented that allow you to buy new stuff. As you explore you open new pathways that serve as shortcuts that connect with other parts of the sewers, and the semi randomized loot and monsters round up the experience.
The feeling of exploring some unknown dark place with mutants, radiation, searching frantically for valuable books or components while your clock ticking warning your filter will consume soon and you aren’t very sure if the time left is enough to come back all the way or you should push forward hoping the next exit is at the next corner (but it isn’t) is great.
I had to lower the difficulty to medium, it’s pretty tough, even if I played the rest of the game in hard.
In fact, I will venture to say this mission has too much work put in it in comparison with the other missions (though it recycles the famous Library level), I suspect this was actually a prototype for the next Metro game.
Spider Lair was also great, the developers really nail the feeling of being alone in some underground, dark, abandoned, claustrophobic cave/sewer/base/metro passage, illuminating your way with a flashlight, some eww!-worthy monsters and eggs, burning webs with your trusty zippo. It’s all linear, but the atmosphere is so thick and it all works so well you don’t care. In this mission you are given a flamethrower and lots of spiders, and believe if you get to use it well.
The following three missions are all your bog-standard fare for Metro missions. Good, but nothing new.
Are all these DLC included with the new Metro Redux bundle I bought? I’m assuming? And do you access them through a menu or are they part of the main game somehow?
Yeah, Redux includes the DLC. To play it, you have to go to the chapter selection, and the press the “extra” button. or something like that. A bit hidden.
I’ve got the non Redux version of Last Light. I played and finished Metro 2033 and had mixed feelings about it. Does Last Light offer up anything to make it worth while to play if you’re not a huge fan of 2033? Other than the DLC, does the Redux make the game much better in any significant way?
I thought Metro 2033 was fantastic right up until the forced stealth parts then it just became an exercise in frustration.
Why?! why?! - I was really enjoying shooting things and then you had to go and mess it all up. Stupid Metro :)
What forced stealth? The bridge? Up to a certain point you can do it loud.
Last Light is more polished all around and I thought it was overall pretty fantastic. I haven’t yet had the time to consider the redux version but I definitely enjoyed Last Light plenty on its own.