So... getting close to 300 watchers, yay, hehe.

As I went through the list of journals, I've noticed that there are a few people who give out good informations about games they have rescently played and if it is worth it to buy.

I have a huge admiration towards the original Metro 2033. With two friends who ready both books, I've discussed a lot about the Metro universe and its meanings.
I loved the gameplay and that there was a hidden ending you'd achieved if you explored almost everything and tried your best being as kind as possible with killing as few enemies as possible.
So, as a strong supporter of this game, I was of course rather excited to say the least when I heard they are making a remake with the latest engine. Quite awesome if you think about it when they can do something like that this easily without redoing the entire game.

So far, I have played 1h of each side by side (switching to the other game every 15min or so).

My first impressions of Metro 2033 redux:
First of, the menu itself. Showing off all the publishers and dev teams and engines and whatnot takes a lot longer than the original. To skip that, you have to replace an empty copy of a file called legal.ogv under 2033 folder. .../Metro 2033 Redux/2033/legal.ogv (you can look up in the steam community forums about this in more detail).
You have the options in there, which is nice. Nothing to complaim about there. There is just one thing I am missing and that is the exit button which was usually the exit door in the menu screen with a guy standing next to it. You have the door in the redux version as well, but it's just for the looker. The exit the game, you just have to simply press esc. It might be simpler, but I still liked the charm in the original one. It's something I don't mind missing, though.

The gameplay itself didn't change it all. I've started both with ranger difficulity. And it is rather identical to each other. Same enemies... maybe different spawn points than usual, but otherwise, same amount. (Maybe a tad easier to kill them in easy ranger in the original game than in redux).

The gunhandling is the same as Last Light. And that's what made me a bit disappointed. You can only carry two weapons at a time. In the original, you had a slut for machine guns, heavier guns, and pistols. You could even just equip the knig alone. In redux, you only have the shortkey for that.

Then there is the issues with the GUI in the redux version. So far, I only could count how many ammunition I've left through walking around in the village where I don't have my guns out in my hands. Otherwise, I wasn't able to check while in the metros. Maybe it's a bug, I don't know. (don't forget, ranger removes usually all the GUI you have unless you just picked something up or switch weapons. Last Light didn't have ranger mode as difficult as 2033, so maybe there were a few glitches when they've tried converting it into the new engine, I don't know exactly).

So far, all the cutscenes in the remake are from first-person-perspective. The original was a bit more cinematic as it caught different camera angles. Now this... is actually decent. Both versions have their cons and pros. So the change, I would say, is well thought out and makes sense.
However, in the redux, you have some cutscenes taken out, others put it. One of which that were put in makes me feel a bit dum-witted because the game thinks I couldn't have seen it coming. It tried to be more cinematic with that. Other cutscenes it took out you can just walk around while the two are talking. I feel the reason why they've made a conversation into a cutscene in the original is because it was a discussion that would raise questions to the gamer. If you don't make it into a cutscene, the gamer might think it is not important or they don't pay attention to it.

Graphics... well... Redux is a lot better with that, no doubts. However... only issues I have are the character models are a bit iffy at times and the flare of various light sources are annoying. Would have loved if they had an option to turn that off.


Conclusion:
It's nice they made a remake of it in their updated engine. It's not only a nice treat for the fans, but also a good marketing strategy. Because they can make more money out of it since they haven't released a new game again. With the gained money, they could make a new game with a higher budget. So I am all up for that.
However... If you are someone who prefered the 2033 over Last Light, you will most probably not like the Redux version. Unless you want to see 2033 in better graphics.

My recommendation: if you loved Last Light, you will love the Redux versions of both of them - 2033 and Last Light. Or, if you are a console fan and prefer gamepad controlling, redux would be better as well. Otherwise, stay or get the Metro 2033 original version. It's cheaper and in my opinion is still a bit better. (That's just an opinion, not a fact)

I hope you enjoyed this little first impression of mine ^^