Resident Evil 2 (2019)

Like the original, the time required to beat the Resident Evil 2 remake can be deceptive for first-time players. You can easily breeze through a single character’s story in ten hours, six if you’re good enough. However, getting the entire story requires playing as Leon and Claire, complete with exploring both routes. Still, if you want an incredible survival horror with great gunplay and visuals, this is more than a given.

Signalis

Known for its cryptic story-telling, Signalis from rose-engine is a survival horror throwback, with players investigating a strange facility for answers. Despite the overhead perspective, it has manual aiming, plenty of back-tracking and a retro aesthetic that’s gorgeous to behold. Perhaps best of all, you can finish it in less than 10 hours, though there are some additional extras and endings.

Sunset Overdrive

Before Insomniac Games became the Marvel’s Spider-Man game studio, it released Sunset Overdrive. The bombastic art style, the approach to movement and style over straightforward third-person shooting, and best of all, the enjoyable setting all made for an incredible experience. You’ll want to complete the story for its set pieces and boss fights, but there are tons of optional challenges, side quests, and collectibles in Sunset City.

Cuphead

Studio MDHR’s Cuphead is the perfect mix of challenging and run ‘n’ gun action, replete with memorable bosses. Each has unique hooks and mechanics, whether you’re fighting Grim Matchstick through the skies or experiencing Sally Stageplay’s lethal drama. It’s all brought to life by the rubber hose-style visuals rife with details and an incredible old-timey soundtrack. Even if you ignore all the secrets and Expert Mode, it’s a tough but worthwhile action platforming journey.

Mafia Definitive Edition

The Mafia series faced scrutiny when 2K Games released Definitive Editions for the second and third games, effectively introducing new bugs and worse performance. However, Mafia Definitive Edition is a proper remake that added motorcycles, a rebalanced difficulty (and Classic for those who wanted it closer to the original), and Free Ride Mode. Don’t go into this expecting a Grand Theft Auto-scale adventure, and the narrative should more than carry you through.

Metro: Last Light Redux

Before Metro Exodus offered bigger levels with crafting on the go, Metro: Last Light Redux built on what the first game did best: A post-apocalyptic setting with tout pacing, terrifying mutants and excellent gunplay. As Artyom, players are caught up in a civil war weeping the metro and must sneak, assassinate and slay their way to survival. Be careful, though, as a morality system will influence the ending.

Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

MachineGames’ sequel to Wolfenstein: The New Order has some nagging concerns with its level design, but the story-telling, characterization and gunplay are fantastic. The campaign sees B.J. Blazkowicz on a journey, once more, to battle the Nazis by unloading copious amounts of bullets into their foot soldiers (whether you play stealthy or not). From Manhattan to Venus, there’s much to see in this epic campaign. Perhaps the only real downer is that it’s followed by Wolfenstein: Youngblood.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

You can complete Nintendo’s acclaimed Super Mario Bros. Wonder within 10 hours or so, and that’s very much intentional. The side-scrolling platformer is rife with incredibly designed levels and excellent new power-ups like Elephant Form and the Drill Hat, while the Wonder Flowers dramatically change levels in trippy and exciting ways. Still, those who want more can collect all the Flower Coins, Wonder Seeds, and more while experimenting with different Badges.

Gears of War 3

Gears of War 2 was beloved but came dangerously close to jumping the shark at many points. Gears of War 3 brought things back on track while introducing new mechanics, weapons, enemies and impressive set-pieces to set up the potential end of the world. If you’re only in it for the story-telling, there’s more than enough great content. However, the revamped Horde Mode and its tower defense-like mechanics also provided plenty of reason to stick around.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

From a confused project under Kojima Productions to one of the most beloved hack-and-slash titles under PlatinumGames, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is unmatched in many ways. The boss battles, the characters, the story, the memes, the parry mechanics and Blade Mode allowing players to dismember enemies – it all came together so well. Its length was criticized, but those who want more nowadays can pick it up with all the DLC and armor sets for even more fun.

Dishonored

Dishonored is Arkane Studios at its finest. An imaginative setting with astounding visuals rife with political intrigue and betrayal, not to mention a plague threatening to overtake it all – perfect for a supernatural assassin. As Corvo, the framed bodyguard to the slain Queen of Dunwall, players were tasked with discovering the truth. It meant lots of sneaking and slaying, but you could get creative with your approach, acting chaotically or bypassing missions without ever being seen. It’s an essential title for stealth fans that’s as tightly paced as they come.

Ori and the Blind Forest

As beloved as games like Hollow Knight can be, it’s nice to have options that don’t demand around 30 hours to experience the story, like Ori and the Blind Forest. Of course, it also doesn’t hurt that the aesthetics and music are simply awe-inspiring or that the level design is meticulous and the controls responsive. Whether on a mission to restore the forest or going out of your way to unearth all its secrets, Ori and the Blind Forest is a tight-knit journey.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

With Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 being about as long as the first game and promising a focused narrative, it’s easy to forget just how great Senua’s Sacrifice is. Roughly six years later, it still boasts cutting-edge visuals and facial expressions with an emotional narrative centred on Senua’s tortured state. Hellblade is precise, unforgettable and powerful, telling its story without overstaying its welcome.

Batman: The Enemy Within

Before its bankruptcy and eventual reformation, Telltale Games’ titles varied in quality. Batman: The Enemy Within is a standout though, improving on the first season’s writing, narrative and decision-making. Its take on the Joker is surprisingly refreshing as he works with Batman as a vigilante, depending on the player’s choices or against him. The gameplay may still feel more rigid compared to some more contemporary narrative adventures, but Batman: The Enemy Within is still worth playing.

Quantum Break

Will a standard playthrough of Quantum Break offer all the answers for its time-bending adventure? Probably not, but it’s an enjoyable journey regardless, backed by Remedy Entertainment’s penchant for gorgeous graphics and an immaculate presentation. Opinions are mixed on the TV side of the story, yet the third-person combat and abilities are on point. It’s not Remedy’s finest work, but it still provides an intriguing narrative with some solid performances by Aiden Gillen and Shawn Ashmore.

Dead Space

The sequels may have leaned further into the “action” but Visceral Games’ first title in the Dead Space series will always remain its most significant. In one fell swoop, it combined excellent shooting mechanics, a strong narrative and stellar Metroidvania level design with abject terror. It’s not easy to compete with Silent Hill or Resident Evil when creating an atmosphere of dread but Dead Space pulled it off while delivering its own unique hooks like limb targeting, stasis and so on.

This week’s free titles on the Epic Games Store are now available, and include some familiar names. IronOak Games’ rogue-like RPG For the King and 4A Games’ Metro: Last Light Redux can be claimed for free until February 11th. All you need is an Epic Games account and the Epic Games Launcher to play them.

For the King essentially takes place in a procedurally generated world with different quests and events to complete. Combat is turn-based and there’s even co-op for up to three other players. With several free DLC packs and an intriguing aesthetic, it’s definitely worth checking out. As for Metro: Last Light Redux, it’s the second title in the FPS franchise and features revamped visuals and quality of life improvements.

After completing it, those keen on continuing the story can check out Metro Exodus, also available on the Epic Games Store. Next week’s free game will be Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition, a strategy RPG focused on crew management, random events and much more. It’s from the team behind the recent Star Renegades and may be worth looking into for some FTL: Faster Than Light-style gameplay.

https://twitter.com/EpicGames/status/1357388450983518208

Microsoft holds the exclusive marketing rights for the upcoming Metro: Exodus, and apparently, they’ll be leveraging them to the fullest, because they have announced a brand new Xbox One X bundle to go along with the release. The Metro saga Xbox One X bundle leverages Xbox One’s strengths by including not just the best console version of the game, but also Metro 2033 Redux and Metro Last Light Redux—meaning the whole saga (as the name suggests) is accessible to buyers of the bundle in one place.

The bundle will come with 1TB of storage space, one controller, a month’s subscription to Game Pass, and a month’s subscription to Xbox Live Gold, in addition to the console and games. It will cost $499, and can be bought now on the Microsoft Store, as well as at participating retailers (though you will only get it on February 15, which is when the game itself is due to release).

If you are excited for Metro, make sure to check out the newest, thrilling trailer for the game, which sets up the stakes of the game’s story and its world.

Metro Redux which was recently released on the PlayStation 4 runs at 1080p and 60fps on Sony’s console. Given that Sony’s first party studios like Naughty Dog have somewhat struggled to achieve consistent 60fps in their games, it’s surprising that such a demanding game is running in full HD on the PlayStation 4. So how did 4A Games achieved it?

“There is no secret. We just adapted to the target hardware,” 4A Games’ chief technical officer Oles Shishkovstov said in an interview with EuroGamer. “GCN doesn’t love interpolators? OK, ditch the per-vertex tangent space, switch to per-pixel one. That CPU task becomes too fast on an out-of-order CPU? Merge those tasks. Too slow task? Parallelise it. Maybe the GPU doesn’t like high sqrt count in the loop? But it is good in integer math – so we’ll use old integer tricks. And so on, and so on.”

He also added that eSRAM itself  is not a pain to work with but the amount of eSRAM on the Xbox One is actually challenging. Regardless it’s sufficient performance wise. “Actually, the real pain comes not from ESRAM but from the small amount of it. As for ESRAM performance – it is sufficient for the GPU we have in Xbox One. Yes it is true, that the maximum theoretical bandwidth – which is somewhat comparable to PS4 – can be rarely achieved (usually with simultaneous read and write, like FP16-blending) but in practice I’ve seen only a few cases where it becomes a limiting factor.”

Metro Redux is now available for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and it’s pretty solid remaster. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Metro Redux is a remaster of both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. In both games you play as Artyom, a resident of Moscow’s underground metro system. As Artyom you are immune to the psychological side effects of “Dark Ones”, the humanoid residents of the surface. The Dark One’s fate as well as your own are entwined over the course of the two games culminating in a dark adventure with themes of redemption and atoning for past mistakes. It is a sophisticated narrative that is unfortunately hampered by some awkward voice acting and writing.

" Living on the surface is impossible, and so the only chance of survival is to take shelter in the ruins of the Moscow underground metro system. "

Both Metro games create a dark nuanced atmosphere, with classic eastern European horror aesthetics. The tunnel system is old and run down due to years of neglect, tree roots from the world above permeate the ceilings and water from burst pipes pools in low areas. Stations are now overcrowded villages divided by miles of dangerous track filled with bandits and monsters.

In stark contrast to the damp and claustrophobic feel of the underground tunnel system, the world on the surface is bright and open. And although this is the case, it contains some of the single most isolating areas in both games. While on the surface the player must wear a gas mask and constantly keep track of how much time they have left before needing to change the air filter. Air filters are limited throughout the game and they deteriorate quickly. If you run out of them while still in an irradiated area you run the risk of suffocating to death.

Because humans have been forced to live in the metro for 20 years the weapons they use are old, and a lot of them homemade. Revolvers and submachine guns are common place, but finding an actual AK-74 is considered a treasure. Other weapons such as the Helsing, and Tihar rely on pneumatic air tanks to fire homemade arrows and ball bearings. These pneumatic weapons must be manually pumped full of air before they can be used, adding a unique dynamic to using them in combat.

"While on the surface the player must wear a gas mask and constantly keep track of how much time they have left before needing to change the air filter. "

Weapons can be sold, traded, and modified at the various vendors in the game. There is a wide array of attachments available for each weapon, and some can augment certain weapons for extremely specific situations. For instance, in Last Light you can modify the Lolife pistol to become a mid-range silenced rifle while still using pistol ammo. I used this weapon a lot to pick eliminate enemies at mid-long range before they were aware of my presence. Modifying a weapon in a transformative way can become necessary to conserve ammo.

The currency Metro uses is a little unorthodox in the realm of video games. Instead of standard gold or cash, you pay for things using bullets. These aren’t normal bullets however, they are pre-war military rounds The player can choose to either keep them for weapon upgrades and items, or use them in their assault rifle for a damage boost. This adds an interesting dynamic to the game, as ammo is often scarce at the best of times and you may need to use these rounds to survive.

The gunplay in 2033 has been improved from the original version, but unfortunately that doesn’t make much of a difference due to the combat encounters feeling outdated and ill-conceived. Last Light largely features the same gun mechanics, however it is elevated by the fact that the combat encounters are better designed throughout the game.

" The gunplay in 2033 has been improved from the original version, but unfortunately that doesn't make much of a difference due to the combat encounters feeling outdated and ill-conceived. "

Certain situations in both games encourage you to take a more stealthy approach, which allows you to use silencers and night vision attachments for your weapons.  Unfortunately the areas in 2033 just don’t seem to be set up properly for this sort of thing. On the other hand, Last Light’s stealth segments make the player feel like a knife in the dark among enemies. Using the darkness to your advantage will become a needed skill, and it’s augmented by the advanced lighting engine implemented in these games.

For me, these were among the strongest segments in Last Light. At one point in particular you are given a rail car to advance through the tunnels, along your journey you encounter a group of refugees from the communist regime. Choosing to help these refugees gain safe passage, you are tasked with clearing outposts on the rails up ahead. Before each outpost, you can stop your vehicle and shut the lights off allowing you to take a stealthy approach. Some of the outposts have back entrances you can advance through and catch your enemy off guard using close range knife take-downs or longer range silenced shots.

Encounters are not always that satisfying, as the Nosalis enemies are spongy and come at you in packs. At certain points this seems to be used as a way to deplete the player’s ammo before entering a station, causing them to spend military rounds to replenish stock. I could just be overly cynical about that, but it seemed to be the case for the majority of 2033, and a few times in Last Light. These encounters were tedious, with the enemy only focused on attacking the player character and never any surrounding NPCs. If you let more than one Nosalis get too close to you it can mean certain death while just trying to reload one of the many clips you will be dumping into each group. As stated above this was more of an issue in 2033 than it was in Last Light, which doesn’t use this enemy type as often.

"Last Light’s stealth segments make the player feel like a knife in the dark among enemies. Using the darkness to your advantage will become a needed skill, and it’s augmented by the advanced lighting engine implemented in these games. "

There is a moral choice mechanic that determines one of two possible endings in each game, but the player is never told of it’s existence. This may lead to some confusion when starting Last Light after 2033 because there is only one canon ending that Last Light takes into consideration. On my playthrough of 2033, I was completely unaware of this system and wondered why the game made me choose between some things, never getting an explanation. Its not like the system needs to be completely telegraphed, but even the slightest hint would have given me a better understanding.

The newest additions to this package seem to be new play styles the player can choose before starting each game. The two new play styles are Survival, and Spartan. The former of which plays more like a survival horror game in the vein of the original 2033, with the latter playing more like Last Light. I experimented with both and found that the Spartan style was more in line with how I tend to enjoy shooters, but survival will be fitting for people who appreciate a struggle. Add to that the return of the classic Ranger difficulty mode and you will find a unique and immersive challenge that will test the survivability of even the most storied fans. If I had one complaint about these playstyles it would be that the descriptions aren’t quite clear on what they will be before starting the game, and unfortunately once you have chosen there is no going back. The difficulty however can be changed at any time.

" There is a moral choice mechanic that determines one of two possible endings in each game, but the player is never told of it’s existence. "

Ultimately Metro Redux is the best way to experience each of these games. Last Light stands out as the star of the package providing a well paced journey of redemption through the dreary and isolated world. In spite of it’s vast improvements, 2033 just doesn’t hold up as well and can feel like a slog due to tedious encounters and repetitive enemies. I would recommend playing them both but if you have to choose, go with Last Light. The story does a good job of recapping 2033 and it is a much better game.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Update 2: Metro Redux will run at 900p on Xbox One, DeepSilver has confirmed to GamingBolt. Title has been updated to reflect the story.

Update: There are reports that the Xbox One will be running at 900P. We decided to get in touch with DeepSilver’s PR agency again. The PR said that the last they heard is that it’s not final at all but that the PS4 was running at 1080p. We will update this story if we hear more.

Earlier today DeepSilver and 4A Games announced that remastered versions of Metro Last Light and Metro 2033 are launching this summer. The games will launch across the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC with a whole range of improvements to gameplay and graphics.

The games are confirmed to be running at 60fps on both the PS4 and Xbox One and it was confirmed via the PlayStation Blog that the PS4 version will also run at a full 1080p resolution. GamingBolt got in touch with DeepSilver for clarification regarding the resolution for the Xbox One version.

“We don’t have final numbers yet,” the PR agency handling DeepSilver told to GamingBolt. The PR also confirmed to us that the Xbox One resolution is being worked on and will be revealed at a later date.

Since 4A games are masters in pushing systems to the limit, we are hopeful that the Xbox One version will also be running at 1080p.  We will keep you updated on this front. In the mean time, what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments section below.

DeepSilver and 4A Games have announced that Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light will be remastered and will release on the PS4, Xbox One and PC this summer. Players can pick either of them for $24.99 or a bundled edition simply titled as Metro: Redux which can be picked up for $49.99.

The PS4 and Xbox One version will run at sixty frames per second, however the former will run at 1080p resolution. We have no updates regarding the resolution of the Xbox One version but we have reached out to DeepSilver for a clarification. We will update this story when we hear from them.

The Redux versions include “re-mastered visuals: advanced lighting, dynamic weather, more detailed characters with improved animation, more dynamic destruction and improved smoke, fire and particle effects,” according to the press release that GamingBolt received.

The remastered version will also include gameplay enhancements like better melee animations, and Check Watch’ and ‘Check Inventory’ features.

We also have new screens from the game which you can check below.