The Metro series, based on a series of Russian novels, has become a widely-loved video game series for its unique take on post-apocalyptic life and its excellent atmosphere.
Jumping into the series is a little tougher than you might think, though, since the series’ entries are not numbered and the existence of the Redux games makes it hard to figure out where each fits into the chronological order of the story.
Fortunately, following this order can help you make sense of the series’ story and figure out how to play the games in the right order.
So, let’s see the best order to play the Metro Games below:
1) Metro 2033
Though the game has been remade and enhanced, it still makes sense to start with the original version of Metro 2033.
Released back in 2010, this first person shooter has aged remarkably well and does a good job of telling the story of Artyom, a man who lives underground in Moscow many years after a nuclear attack.
The game is a first-person shooter that is heavy on atmosphere and was widely praised for both its setting and for the horror elements of the game.
Many people who played through the game the first time found it to be a good mix of some of the most beloved elements of the Fallout series and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
The unique atmosphere certainly made it stand out in a field that seemed to be moving towards more Call of Duty-like games, with a strong single-player story that never felt like it let up. The game does look graphically dated now, but it is perfectly playable.
2) Metro: Last Light
The next step in playing the Metro series is, of course, to follow along in chronological order.
This will take players to Metro: Last Light, a game that was released back in 2013. This game follows on from the story of the first and improves on the original game in many ways, creating a nice feeling for anyone who is going through the series in the first time.
Though Last Light doesn’t get quite the same praise of originality as 2033, it’s still solid.
Last Light really is a game that benefits from being able to build on the first game.
Critics at the time loved the same things about this game as they loved about the original game and had the same complaints about the game’s AI as they had about the original.
Last Light is definitely worth playing in its original form, especially if you’ve never gotten to play through it before.
3) Metro Exodus
Finally, there’s Metro: Exodus. A thematically similar game to the first two, it has a very different kind of atmosphere and a major overhaul of some of the mechanics.
While the game was quite successful on its own, it remains the most controversial title in the series simply because of the changes that it made to the usual Metro formula.
How much this will bother any given player depends on his or her attachment to the original games.
Exodus is a game that takes place largely above ground and in varied environments.
There are plenty of scavenging and sneaking opportunities, of course, but the game doesn’t have quite the same kind of claustrophobic atmosphere that helped to make the original games so popular.
Still, the enhanced graphics and improved scope of the game did make it quite popular among many fans
Other Games in the Series
Let’s also see the other games that came out in the Metro series below:
1) Metro Redux
If you’re not in the mood to play the older versions of the game or you don’t have access to the hardware to do so, you may want to check out Metro Redux. The Redux series is technically two games long, as it includes upgrades of both Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light.
As to whether you should play these games instead of the originals, it really depends on your point of view.
Of the two games, 2033 is the game that received the most major overhauls.
Not only is it a huge graphical improvement over the original game, but it also takes some excellent quality of life improvements from the sequel.
Last Light, on the other hand, only gets a slight graphical face lift. As such, there’s not much difference between playing Last Light Redux and the original version.
2) Metro 2033: Wars
Metro 2033: Wars is a side title in the Metro universe that’s available on mobile devices.
Unlike the main games, which are first-person shooters, this iteration is a real time strategy game that mostly focuses on players building up various buildings on their platforms so that they can harvest resources, build new units, and fight against other players.
This game has some of Metro’s atmosphere and uses a few of the base game’s conceits, but it is largely identical to many of the other licensed strategy games that you can find on mobile devices.
