Solid third game in the series. One of the strongest aspects of the Metro franchise was its atmosphere, as for post apocalyptic games there is nothing that comes close. In the transition to an open-world game I did not feel as the quality of the atmosphere dropped, but rather improved upon it. The hand-crafted environments give the appropriate emotion for each setting. From crazed swamp hicks to cannibals the game made each with respect to how it would be in post-Russia.

Story: 8/10, That story is straight forward but its grounded connection to the relationships between characters is what creates the immersive atmosphere. For a silent protagonist (besides journals) I think they did a great job of putting you into the character, with an emphasis on dialogue and everyday actions. Compared to the previous games this one strays away from the "Dark ones" and focuses more on the dreams and aspirations of Artyom and Miller, which for better or worst, makes the world closer to reality.

Gameplay: 8.5/10, Another one of the strongest aspects of the game is its first-person survival horror elements. For someone like myself I love the small touches of cleaning your gun, gas mask, and charging your batteries. Playing this game on Spartan hardcore (the one that gives some HUD), contributed greatly to the immersion of the game, and while I see only around 3% of people finished the game with this setting. I would recommend at any skill level to play on this difficulty. While you die in a couple of shots the AI is rather easy to manipulate and gives you a sense of urgency and avoid bullet sponge tropes. Gathering and collecting resources to craft ammo and survival equipment also added the sense of scarcity, this conservative mindset changes the dynamic of interactions, should I stealth past? Or risk some of my ammo to take this fight. My only downside to some of the combat was the boss battles which took away from some the creative ways to solve problems from the game and changed it to a simple firefight.

Music and Sounds: 9.5/10, another must have in the franchise, I'm very happy with the soundscape considering the differences with environments in previous games. The music added to the setting and worked in conjuction with the ambience. Having to work with such a diverse set of environments was a challenge and I believed they did a great job transitioning out of the "metro". No complaints from me.

Graphics 9.5/10, I have a 2070 Super which at the time of release was one of the top cards, I didn't play the enhanced edition considering it would reset my progress, but with how good the base game looked. I am very happy even without RTX mode on. This makes me want to save up for a 4080 when the budget allowed me! Also, depending on what monitor you have will greatly affect how the game looks. I have a nice 1440p LG monitor for around $500 however, this monitor sucks with dark environments which was a total bummer since it gives a "bleached" look. Regardless, the game still looked good with this defect.

Overall 9/10: I'm happy to see that even after two games of similar nature, they still managed to make a refreshing post-apocalyptic title. Compared to previous games, getting different endings was much easier than last light (which is bollocks). Pick this game up whenever now since its relatively cheap! Looking forward for the sequel!

Solid third game in the series. One of the strongest aspects of the Metro franchise was its atmosphere, as for post apocalyptic games there is nothing that comes close. In the transition to an open-world game I did not feel as the quality of the atmosphere dropped, but rather improved upon it. The hand-crafted environments give the appropriate emotion for each setting. From crazed swamp hicks to cannibals the game made each with respect to how it would be in post-Russia. Story: 8/10, That story is straight forward but its grounded connection to the relationships between characters is what creates the immersive atmosphere. For a silent protagonist (besides journals) I think they did a great job of putting you into the character, with an emphasis on dialogue and everyday actions. Compared to the previous games this one strays away from the "Dark ones" and focuses more on the dreams and aspirations of Artyom and Miller, which for better or worst, makes the world closer to reality. Gameplay: 8.5/10, Another one of the strongest aspects of the game is its first-person survival horror elements. For someone like myself I love the small touches of cleaning your gun, gas mask, and charging your batteries. Playing this game on Spartan hardcore (the one that gives some HUD), contributed greatly to the immersion of the game, and while I see only around 3% of people finished the game with this setting. I would recommend at any skill level to play on this difficulty. While you die in a couple of shots the AI is rather easy to manipulate and gives you a sense of urgency and avoid bullet sponge tropes. Gathering and collecting resources to craft ammo and survival equipment also added the sense of scarcity, this conservative mindset changes the dynamic of interactions, should I stealth past? Or risk some of my ammo to take this fight. My only downside to some of the combat was the boss battles which took away from some the creative ways to solve problems from the game and changed it to a simple firefight. Music and Sounds: 9.5/10, another must have in the franchise, I'm very happy with the soundscape considering the differences with environments in previous games. The music added to the setting and worked in conjuction with the ambience. Having to work with such a diverse set of environments was a challenge and I believed they did a great job transitioning out of the "metro". No complaints from me. Graphics 9.5/10, I have a 2070 Super which at the time of release was one of the top cards, I didn't play the enhanced edition considering it would reset my progress, but with how good the base game looked. I am very happy even without RTX mode on. This makes me want to save up for a 4080 when the budget allowed me! Also, depending on what monitor you have will greatly affect how the game looks. I have a nice 1440p LG monitor for around $500 however, this monitor sucks with dark environments which was a total bummer since it gives a "bleached" look. Regardless, the game still looked good with this defect. Overall 9/10: I'm happy to see that even after two games of similar nature, they still managed to make a refreshing post-apocalyptic title. Compared to previous games, getting different endings was much easier than last light (which is bollocks). Pick this game up whenever now since its relatively cheap! Looking forward for the sequel!