Recent reviews by Laika

I can confirm that this game still crashes like a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

For the ultimate cinematic gaming experience
1) Enable in-game console
2) Start game and open console
3) Type 'r_forceaspectratio 10' and hit enter

In all seriousness though, I don't want to dislike this game, but a number of design flaws (e.g. the horrible FOV, sluggish camera and in-game movement to name just a few) prevent me from enjoying it. This isn't me being some kind of pc-gaming elitist either; I seriously couldn't play this game for more than half an hour without feeling sick to my stomach, and I'm not especially sensitive to that sort of thing. If you can stomach that (pun intended), then more power to you, but this game isn't for me.

This game allows you to plant landmines on the bodies of enemies you've killed. Did you know that this is a violation of international law irl? 10/10 Would commit war-crimes again!

Most people who have read more than a handful of video game reviews come to regard the word "atmospheric" in about the same way that less credulous shoppers at your local Whole Foods regard terms like "all-natural" or "superfood"; too many reviewers seem to use the word to punch up a game review when said game doesn't actually have any redeeming qualities, but the reviewer in question is contractually obligated to review it positively or is too polite to say it sucks.

Is Metro 2033 Redux atmospheric? You bet your ass it is! Practically every NPC in the game, whether important or incidental, seems to have a distinct personality and back-story. The story of the protagonist, Artyom, is just one (albeit very important) story that takes place in the world of Metro, which wasn't built to accommodate him. That said, I don't want to belabor the point of how "cinematic" or "gritty and realistic" Metro 2033 Redux is because the more skeptical readers might start to think it doesn't have any excellent qualities aside from that.

For most of its duration, Metro's play style lives in a gray area between action and stealth without a rigid or discrete boundary between the two. For safety's sake it's usually best to play things quietly, and unlike in most FPS with stealth elements, being quiet isn't a matter of finding a giant sniper rifle and affixing a silencer to it. Enemies will notice when the guy you stabbed during his toilet break doesn't come back to his post, let alone when you perforate the skull of someone standing ten feet away from them. When you do go loud, enemies try to outflank you, flush you out with grenades and even get suspicious if/when you stop shooting back at them. Non-human enemies even have distinct weaknesses, and methods of attacking that vary from species to species.

The game has a morality system as well, but it doesn't keep "points" and is so unobtrusive relative to that of most other games that some players might actually not realize that it's there if they don't look carefully. Being good isn't merely a matter of choosing who to shoot, but requires the player to empathize with characters. Contrariwise, being evil can be as simple as being callous or selfish and doesn't require the player to be cartoonishly bad to gain "naughty points".

It's like Cormac McCarthy's The Road with guns! But seriously, Metro 2033 Redux is probably the best game I've played in any genre, and has a myriad of other positive things I could say about it, but won't for the sake of brevity. Buy it! Even if you have to spend your last round of military-grade 5.45 caliber ammunition!