Metro Game Series - Complete Chronology and Version Overview

Contents:

• Literary source material based on the game series
• Metro 2033
• Metro: Last Light
• Metro Redux
• Metro Exodus

The Metro game series began in 2010 and almost immediately gathered a community of devoted fans. It also received mostly positive reviews from the industry press.
The secret to this success, among other things, lies in the fact that the series' creators, 4A Games, managed to use the literary source material as a basis to create a dangerous and dark, yet at the same time attractive post-apocalyptic world that you want to explore and are not at all eager to leave. And for those who have been to the real Moscow metro, its virtual version with its dilapidated tunnels and barely surviving stations has become a recognizable setting - this also played an important role in the series' popularity.

The literary source for the game series

The idea for the book, which takes place in Moscow after a nuclear disaster, belongs to science fiction writer Dmitry Glukhovsky. According to the plot, at some point a nuclear war occurs, the largest Russian cities, including Moscow, are destroyed, and life on the surface becomes impossible due to mutants, radiation, and an aggressive environment. The only survivors were those who managed to find shelter in underground bunkers and the subway.
The first book in the series, "Metro 2033," tells the story of what became of a society that spent 20 years underground with no hope of a bright future. People live in various metro stations: some make a living, while others form militant groups and fight for power. A few trained soldiers make rare forays to the surface, but this is hardly standard practice. However, in subsequent books, as well as in the second and third installments of the game series, whose plots diverge significantly from the literary main story, episodes on the surface are given significantly more attention. The third game, Metro Exodus, is entirely dedicated to the journey of key characters across Russia.

However, the debut book did not immediately become popular. Dmitry Glukhovsky wrote the first version of the novel back in 2002, but for a long time the work did not impress book publishers, so the author simply made it freely available online. For that time, this was a very bold and innovative step. The novel was liked by the first readers who stumbled upon it online, and word of mouth also helped. After such success, publishers also took an interest in the book. In 2005, the first printed edition of "Metro 2033" was published, but it was necessary to change the ending and make the fate of the main character Artyom less tragic (in the first version, he died from a stray bullet, while in the finale of the revised version, he survived). The novel became a bestseller, requiring reprints.
The book also caught the attention of several employees at GSC Game World, which was developing the game "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl" at the time. Due to disagreements with management, the aforementioned employees quit to found their own gaming company, 4A Games. The new team's first work was the shooter Metro 2033, based entirely on the book by Dmitry Glukhovsky.

Metro 2033

Year of release: 2010
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
System requirements for PC: dual-core processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz; GeForce 8800 GT video card with 512 MB; 2 GB RAM
Unlike GSC Game World, which conceived S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl as an incredibly ambitious game, 4A Games simply wanted to make a high-quality single-player shooter. And the plot of "Metro 2033" perfectly corresponded to this desire of the developers, because the original story assumed the format of a linear adventure in confined spaces with an emphasis on the atmosphere of the virtual world.
According to Andrey Prokhorov, one of the founders and heads of 4A Games, one of the studio's favorite games is Half-Life 2, and it was from it that the developers drew inspiration when creating the game adaptation of "Metro 2033".

The game's plot follows the novel almost entirely. The protagonist is 24-year-old Artyom, who lives at the VDNKh station. He has never been beyond its confines and barely remembers life on the surface: a global catastrophe that claimed the lives of millions of people, including his parents, occurred when he was only four years old. The orphan was taken in by the station's commander, Sukhoi, who instilled in him basic moral values.
The VDNKh station is regularly attacked by mysterious creatures nicknamed the Blacks. Hunter, a member of the peacekeeping order Sparta, sets out on a mission and gives the hero instructions: if he doesn't return, Artyom must get to Polis—something like the capital of the current underworld—where he can seek help. Of course, Hunter doesn't show up, and Artyom, overcoming his fear, sets out on a long and difficult journey to save his home station.
The game, like the book, follows the principles of a classic road trip. The hero discovers a vast world full of both dangers and surprising situations. Artyom meets charismatic characters: some tell him stories of brutal post-apocalyptic life, adding to the lore of the universe, in others he finds loyal comrades, while still others become his enemies.
Small scenes and in-game situations, which the main character also encounters constantly, help to immerse himself deeper into the world of Metro 2033 and believe in it. For example, a corpse lies alone on a railway line, and next to it is a note with sincere remorse. And here the men are heating up food and remembering how good life was in those distant pre-war years and what a pity that in other cities people didn't have a chance to hide from the missiles in the subway and save themselves.

Metro 2033 is primarily a first-person shooter, and there is a lot of shooting in the game. And this, perhaps, is the main difference between the book and the game: in the novel, Artyom kills only one enemy, while in the game he starts shooting at any source of danger in the first hours of gameplay. However, the shooting mechanics are perhaps the weakest part of the shooter. The weapon has a poor tactile feel, and the impact of hitting an enemy is barely noticeable. The enemy artificial intelligence is also rather a hindrance: bandits often shoot past the hero, and monsters often lose sight of him and stupidly jump nearby.
The game has a much better developed setting. We wander through dark metro tunnels, tensely awaiting an attack by monsters, then enthusiastically survey a populated station and how people adapted to living in difficult conditions, with a shortage of food and water. After the collapse of the old world, the survivors were unable to agree on a single leader, so very different factions emerged in the Moscow metro, each with its own ideology and goals.
For example, "Hansa" specializes in trade and strives to remain as neutral as possible. "Polis" stands for humanistic ideas, but is ready to aggressively defend its own borders—both territorial and ideological. Furthermore, among the survivors were some whose worst traits awakened—radical racists, for example, founded the "Reich," choosing National Socialism as their ideology. And, of course, their eternal enemies are the communists from the Red Line faction. Although they may be blunt, the developers, like the author of the original book, don't shy away from actively criticizing both of these regimes.
The atmosphere of a world irretrievably lost and the difficult lives of those who managed to survive are the main reason to play Metro 2033. The sad and disturbing soundtrack and frightening sounds perfectly complement the picture of a world that has shrunk to the labyrinthine underground. The heroes occasionally emerge to the surface, but things don't get any happier.
Post-apocalyptic Moscow is slowly dying under the weight of radiation and nuclear winter. The scenery looks quite terrifying - the familiar and much calmer tunnels are somehow simpler. And the hero won't last long physically on the surface: a gas mask that protects against harmful air can only be worn for a limited time, because the filters quickly run out.

Dmitry Glukhovsky himself was very pleased to collaborate with 4A Games and the release of a game adaptation of his bestseller.

Metro: Last Light

Year of release: 2013
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
PC system requirements: dual-core processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz; graphics card NVIDIA GTS 250 or AMD HD Radeon 4000; 4 GB RAM
Three years after the release of Metro 2033, 4A Games released a sequel called Metro: Last Light, or "Metro 2033: Last Light" in the official localization. The graphics in the new part were not inferior to competitors, and the shooting was noticeably improved, which made the firefights more dynamic and realistic. Some episodes - in particular the chase for the train with the captured Black and the final battle in the bunker - looked like some of the best in the genre at the time.
The plot of Metro: Last Light continues the "bad" ending of Metro 2033. A year has passed, the hero is now a member of the Spartan order and from time to time comes to the surface to contact the last surviving Black, still a child. At some point, both are captured by the Nazis, where Artyom experiences the horrors of a concentration camp.
After escaping captivity, the hero travels through metro stations he's never visited before—he does this until he's captured again, this time by the communists. In many ways, they prove themselves even worse than the "Fourth Reich"—for example, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the metro, Moskvin, doesn't hesitate to personally torture the protagonist. Having escaped this trap, Artyom tries his best to prevent a bloody war for power in the metro between major factions, but without much success.

This time in the works Dmitry Glukhovsky himself contributed to the game's script: he conceived the main story and wrote the dialogue. He delved even deeper into the critique of radical factions, focusing all attention on this and leaving far less room for Artyom's adventures. As a result, the plot lacked the depth of the first game. There wasn't enough screen time to properly develop the romantic plot: Artyom and Anna's story develops extremely unexpectedly, and Anna's attitude toward him changes too abruptly, which slightly spoils the impression.
Nevertheless, despite the broad strokes of the plot, Metro: Last Light still managed to contain the captivating and atmospheric episodes that made the previous game memorable. This time, Artyom finds himself at Teatralnaya and a group of flooded stations called Venice, where life is noticeably different from the gray everyday life of the rest of the metro.
Locals watch theater performances and go to a brothel, joke about the delicious shrimp that live in the local underground rivers, and cheerfully tell children how many birds there used to be. The mood in these episodes changes with the speed of the metro train: one moment the main character is tortured and has his nails pulled out, the next he is invited to have fun in a brothel.
There are now more scenes on the surface, where spring has arrived at the time of the game's events. And while this is not the spring we are familiar with, the environment in Metro: Last Light contrasts sharply with the nuclear winter of the previous game. The sun occasionally peeks through the clouds, the ice has melted and formed numerous lakes and puddles, and even greenery is breaking through in some places.

4A Games also worked on the gameplay, specifically upping stealth—it came in handy in more open locations that can be traversed via multiple routes. The developers also added weapon customization, which worked well in conjunction with the fact that ammo serves as the primary currency in the world of Metro. Now it makes more sense to explore locations and examine the bodies of killed enemies in search of ammunition and weapon parts.

Metro Redux

Year of release: 2014
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch
System requirements: Quad-core processor with a frequency of 3 GHz, GeForce GTX 480 or equivalent graphics card from AMD, 4 GB of RAM
In 2014, 4A Games Metro 2033 Redux, a bundle containing remasters of the first and second installments of the Metro series, was released. In addition to PC, the updated versions were also released on next-gen consoles—PlayStation 4 and Xbox One—which supported a 60 FPS frame rate. The remasters also addressed most of the originals' technical issues, slightly improved the graphics, and reworked the lighting.
Furthermore, Metro 2033 in the Redux version acquired gameplay features from Metro: Last Light—the remaster of the first installment significantly improved stealth mechanics, added weapon customization, and a mechanic involving wiping a dirty gas mask lens.
The Redux versions of both games also included new modes. "Survival" is suitable for the most hardcore players: resources are limited, enemies are much more resilient and deal more damage, weapons reload more slowly. And in the "Ranger Hardcore" mode, there is no interface, so the number of remaining bullets, for example, must be calculated manually.

Metro Exodus

Year of release: 2019
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X
System requirements: Intel Core i7-4770k processor or equivalent from AMD; GeForce GTX 1070, GeForce RTX 2060 or AMD RX VEGA 56 graphics card; 8 GB RAM.
The third part of the series, Metro Exodus, or "Metro: Exodus" in localization, pleasantly surprised with its innovations. Perhaps the developers themselves were tired of the gloomy dark tunnels of the Moscow metro, but this time the main character, the same Artyom, was sent out into the fresh air and to fairly large locations that can be explored to their heart's content in order to find side missions and caches with valuable resources. The emphasis, however, was still on the narrative, and the developers tried to ensure that the spacious levels do not contradict the central plot.
The story continues the "good" ending of Metro: Last Light. Artyom married Anna and left the Sparta Order. He still believes there are survivors in other regions, and so he hasn't given up hope of picking up a radio signal from distant lands. The game gets off to a tumultuous start: just a few action-packed scenes in and around the metro—and then Artyom and Anna, along with members of Sparta, are escaping Moscow on a modified steam locomotive, the Aurora. They're fleeing because they destroyed the equipment that was jamming outside radio signals, angering the secret rulers of the metro—and there's no turning back. A few hundred kilometers east of the capital, the characters discover they've been deceived for the past 20 years, and beyond Moscow lies not only clean air, but also a multitude of other people. The only thing left to do is find the government, hiding in a bunker beneath the Urals, and try to figure out how to move on.

Dmitry Glukhovsky once again contributed to the game's script: the plot of Metro Exodus occasionally echoes the events and general tone of his bestseller Metro 2035, but isn't based entirely on it. The developers and writer managed to create a personal and dramatic story, despite the numerous shootouts and dynamic episodes typical of modern shooters.
Thus, Artyom and Anna finally become a great couple. She now takes center stage—she's a loyal ally, a great moral supporter, and someone in need of rescue. True, against this background, the main character himself looks strange, who does not say a word throughout the entire game, just like in the previous parts.
Yes, we remember that 4A Games was inspired by Half-Life 2, among other things, where the main character, Gordon Freeman, is also silent throughout the game, but Valve's shooter was released in 2004, when such a plot twist could still be called... well, interesting?
Now, in a modern title, it looks ridiculous: the members of the order are arguing heatedly with each other on board a locomotive, a matter of life and death is being decided, and Artyom, whom they consider their leader, simply looks at them and does not react in any way. The developers were criticized for using this archaic technique even after the release of Metro: Last Light, and it was even more so mentioned in reviews of the third part.

But what was beyond reproach was the graphics: they are highly detailed, and the lighting is realistic thanks to ray tracing technology. It's no surprise that NVIDIA advertised its RTX line of cards, showing off their performance in Metro Exodus, among other things.
The picture has become much more beautiful not only thanks to technological advances. Both the artists and level designer at 4A Games contributed to the high-quality recreation of post-apocalyptic Russia and Kazakhstan. The main characters visited the mouth of the Volga River, where technophobic sectarians had settled, ran through the desert near the Caspian Sea, and saw the natural beauty of the taiga, which was much less affected by the nuclear war than other regions.
The game rapidly shifts characters from one location to another, alternating the pace and instilling a sense of true adventure. First, Artyom spends several hours exploring the swamps of European Russia, fending off huge mutated catfish, and soon after, embarks on a short linear run through a government bunker in the Urals, where the country's once-high-ranking officials, now common cannibals, have taken up residence. They were forced into this situation by the country's rampant corruption—food warehouses suddenly found themselves empty at the start of the war.

The gameplay is largely reminiscent of previous games, but it has been adapted to the spacious locations. Now you can enter enemy territory from any direction, day or night, in clear or inclement weather. Each factor affects the balance of power, which is especially important when playing on higher difficulties.
For example, during the day in good weather, you face more enemies who have excellent visibility of the terrain. In rain or thunderstorms, some of them hide indoors, and your footsteps are practically inaudible. Enemies' intelligence has also been improved: they've learned to flank the hero, pin him down, and use other tactics, making them engaging to fight.
Artyom's arsenal, as before, includes firearms, throwing weapons, and airguns. You can attach a silencer to almost any weapon, allowing you to sneak up on your opponent. A significantly expanded crafting system has given you plenty of room for experimentation: Metro: Exodus is ideal for those who enjoy homemade weapons. You can also craft ammo yourself, as well as first aid kits with filters - now an inquisitive player who carefully explores locations in search of resources is unlikely to encounter a shortage of consumables.

At the same time, unlike other modern games with large open locations, Metro Exodus has no markers or pre-marked points of interest, so you have to find adventure yourself - say, after exploring the area with binoculars. You look around, notice landmarks, find an object that stands out from the rest - and go there.
However, despite its many merits, Metro Exodus lost some of the very atmosphere that made the series iconic. Having escaped the dungeon, the hero discovered a new world that was both beautiful and terrible. But everything is different here; the expanses outside Moscow lack the oppressive claustrophobia that distinguished Metro from other games in the genre. 4A Games' shooter has become a world-class game and, arguably, the best in the series, but in the process it has lost a piece of its identity.