Really, this is between 4 and 4.5 stars for me. Pretend it's 4.2. Ratings are arbitrary, who cares?
You can basically copy over the stuff I said about gameplay, atmosphere, and structure from my review of Metro 2033 Redux. I could Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, but that would be a waste of bandwidth.
But the STORY, dear God, the STORY makes 2033 feel like mere groundwork for this. The first game, if you recall, was a simple "deliver X to Y, and Z, A, B, C, etc. happens inbetween" structure. At the end of that game though, the Dark Ones are annihilated. Except they aren't. There's a Dark One that's only a kid that the weird mystic I didn't mention in the Metro 2033 review due to lack of space wants you to make contact with. Meanwhile, D6, the wacky secret Soviet bunker (they must make them by the dozen!) is preparing for a possible Hoover Dam from Fallout New Vegas type scenario. But ALSO, a traitorous ex-Ranger is delivering a mysterious container to the Communists. There's also a hinted love interest for Artyom thrown in for good measure. He deserves it, I'd say.
The interlocking nature of all these narratives, and the overarching mystery, makes for better setpieces than the first game, in my reckoning, and in these first two games, it's all about linear setpieces. The environment design is also as good as the first, if not slightly better, given there's a Super Mario 64 style endless oneiric hallway near the end. I won't spoil the context. In short, 4A does it again, although I'm confident the next game will kick my brain in the ass, still, comparatively speaking.
You can basically copy over the stuff I said about gameplay, atmosphere, and structure from my review of Metro 2033 Redux. I could Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V, but that would be a waste of bandwidth.
But the STORY, dear God, the STORY makes 2033 feel like mere groundwork for this. The first game, if you recall, was a simple "deliver X to Y, and Z, A, B, C, etc. happens inbetween" structure. At the end of that game though, the Dark Ones are annihilated. Except they aren't. There's a Dark One that's only a kid that the weird mystic I didn't mention in the Metro 2033 review due to lack of space wants you to make contact with. Meanwhile, D6, the wacky secret Soviet bunker (they must make them by the dozen!) is preparing for a possible Hoover Dam from Fallout New Vegas type scenario. But ALSO, a traitorous ex-Ranger is delivering a mysterious container to the Communists. There's also a hinted love interest for Artyom thrown in for good measure. He deserves it, I'd say.
The interlocking nature of all these narratives, and the overarching mystery, makes for better setpieces than the first game, in my reckoning, and in these first two games, it's all about linear setpieces. The environment design is also as good as the first, if not slightly better, given there's a Super Mario 64 style endless oneiric hallway near the end. I won't spoil the context. In short, 4A does it again, although I'm confident the next game will kick my brain in the ass, still, comparatively speaking.