Metro: Last Light Redux review for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One

Metro: Last Light Redux feels exactly like a really good sequel should, as far as I?m concerned. It continues to be good in the same way as its predecessor, Metro 2033 was, but at the same time it improves on the areas that needed to be improved.

I know I?m not saying much new here. In fact, this very site noted more or less the same thing seven (seven!) years ago, back when the game was just Metro: Last Light and it was first released on PS3 and Xbox 360. But it?s still worth saying, because it?s still true — and just as my colleague noticed it then because he?d recently played Metro 2033, I?m noticing it now because I also just recently played Metro 2033.

What does that mean, though? For starters, it means you get a lot of the same visually stunning/terrifying wasteland. Metro: Last Light Redux is slightly less oppressive than its predecessor, since you get to spend more time outside and in the sunlight, but that doesn?t make it any more pleasant. Really, it just means you can see the nuclear wasteland a lot better under the harsh glow of sunlight.

(And, as an aside, I?ll also note here that the game still looks really impressive on the Switch. Metro 2033 Redux was able to hide any shortcomings it may have had with all that all-pervasive darkness. There?s less opportunity to do that here, but the game still looks — and runs — very well.)

You also constantly still have to worry about your supplies. You can?t just go spraying around bullets at everything that moves. On top of that, you have to worry about the air filter in your gas mask, the batteries in your flashlight — basically, if you can consume it or use it in some way, it runs out, so you need to be judicious. In fact, if you really want to up the difficulty, Metro: Last Light has a Ranger Mode, which takes away almost any chance you have at survival. As someone who enjoys not dying constantly in games, I didn?t play it, but if you?re really out to die frequently, this game gives you that option.

Where Metro: Last Light Redux really improves on its predecessor, though, is the combat. Metro 2033 would occasionally throw you into situations where you were basically just firing bullets and hoped you hit something. Here, you feel a little more in control, and the aiming feels much more precise, and the game is a lot more enjoyable for it. Admittedly, I?m saying this because I?m terrible at survival horror, and the improved combat pushes Metro: Last Light Redux a little more towards being a shooter.

But however you want to classify Metro: Last Light Redux, there?s no denying that it?s an excellent game. Both it and Metro 2033 feel right at home on the Switch, and combined, they make for a fantastic — and incredibly gloomy — experience.

Koch Media provided us with a Metro: Last Light Redux Switch code for review purposes.