Wrapping Things Up
Metro Redux brings enhancements to the post-apocalyptic shooter that present a greater challenge for today's GPUs. When playing at higher resolutions, the Radeon R9 290X's average frame rate dropped to 39fps from 58fps when playing at 2560x1200 versus 1920x1200 using the same quality settings. For reference, when we first tested the R9 290X with the original Last Light, those figures were 46fps and 70fps.
On the CPU side of things, we found similar results with Metro Redux as we did with the first version of Last Light. Overclocking doesn't help boost performance all that much as Metro Redux is predominantly a GPU-dependent game, and as is often the case, gamers would be wise to invest in a Core i5, though AMD's FX-8000 series held its own in this title with the FX-8350 lingering behind the i7-4770K by 10fps.
For visual quality, Metro Redux is right up there with Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, Battlefield 4 and Watch Dogs. The only problem appears to be its price. 4A Games wants $50 for the bundle or $25 per title. There is no question a huge amount of work went into this project, but for gamers who have already invested in the original titles and DLC, spending another $50 for the enhanced versions seems a little rich to us.
Still, if you were into the original releases, especially Metro 2033, then the Redux versions are probably worth the investment. It likely hasn't been too difficult for 4A Games to coax cash out of diehard fans while everyone else waits for a Steam sale, which is particularly advisable in the case of Metro: Last Light Redux because the visual upgrades are far less substantial due to the original title being modern anyway.
Until the next one, you can check out more PC gaming benchmark tests here, including Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Battlefield Hardline, Dying Light and more.