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Metro Redux on Switch: The Digital Foundry Tech Review

kingbean

Member
Last light was excellent. Dunno if I'll pick it up on switch though. Good on them for making it work though.
 

Fbh

Member
As far as a Switch port goes it seems like a really solid one.
Decent resolution, looks really nice in portable mode, good quality audio and while the framerate was cut to 30fps it does at least consistently stick to it.
 

Saber

Gold Member
I was afraid it was one of those blurry fest, low ass pixalated textures and whatnot moments. But it looks pretty solid, I agree thats a good port work.
 
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-Arcadia-

Banned
This looks awesome. Cross-gen probably helping a fair bit, but still fantastic port work nonetheless, especially given that it’s the current-gen Redux version.

I’m okay with making sacrifices for ambitious games to have a portable counterpart, but it’s really nice that this one, like Alien, has great looking image quality and not that typical Switch port blur.
 

Evilms

Banned
quick summary

  • Switch port made internally by 4A Games.
  • As it's the redux version, so better lighting, textures, models, rewritten scenes...
  • As a reminder, the Xbox 360 versions had framerate drops and suffered from screen tearing.
  • The game in its Switch version uses the Nintendo/Nvidia NVN instead of the Vulkan or Opengl api.
  • The game was in 1080p native on PS4 and 912p native on XB1, here on Switch the dynamic resolution is the solution.
  • The Switch versions use temporal super-resolution.
  • The number of pixels in docked mode is usually 720p even if in reality it's not that simple.
  • Portable mode is also in 720p, but again the game uses temporal reconstruction to increase the number of pixels.
  • The definition can sometimes drop to 480p but that's rare.
  • Strangely the game looks better in portable mode.
  • The LCD screen ruins a little bit the blacks in this game.
  • Overall this version compares to the PS4 version, it's close to 1:1 except for a few textures.
  • Light but present clipping.
  • As the input latency is minimal the sensations are good.
  • 5.1 surround sound with minimal compression.
  • It was 60 frames per second on PS4/XB1, most of the time very stable.
  • Here it's 30 fps in docked mode and also very stable.
  • In portable mode there are some small jerks but nothing dramatic.
  • In both cases it's still a solid 30 fps.
  • Loading times are variable, sometimes slower, sometimes faster when loading from a game over.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Too bad they don't say which microsd card they use because I've seen various read speeds ranging from 80 MB/s to 160 MB/s.
 

Siri

Banned
There are people who haven’t played this yet? Or is there some kind of a new thrill because you can play the game away from your desk - on the shitter, say?
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
30fps for.a lastgen game? lmao.
Just like Alien: Isolation on PS4/Xbone/Switch :)

Of course it still looks and runs better than the last gen versions, being Redux which is current gen only in fact in this case (but still 60fps on the other systems).
 
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Fbh

Member
There are people who haven’t played this yet? Or is there some kind of a new thrill because you can play the game away from your desk - on the shitter, say?

Usually seems to be a mix of both. People that either don't own other consoles/gaming systems or people that do but just prefer to play on the go

30fps for.a lastgen game? lmao.

Switch is basically last gen hardware so I don't get why that's unexpected.
You get the improvements of the redux version as well as no horrible screen tearing like the last gen version and a more stable framerate plus the ability to play on the go.

That's basically the best you can expect from a last gen port on Switch.
 
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Usually seems to be a mix of both. People that either don't own other consoles/gaming systems or people that do but just prefer to play on the go



Switch is basically last gen hardware so I don't get why that's unexpected.
yea i thought it ran 60fps on 360. i don't remember it looking that great compared to COD games which ran 60fps.
 

Fbh

Member
yea i thought it ran 60fps on 360. i don't remember it looking that great compared to COD games which ran 60fps.

Yeah the last gen version was pretty bad. You have to keep in mind though that this franchise probably has a way smaller dev team and budget than COD. Metro last gen felt like a franchise that was primarily made for PC and they just got it running as well as they could on consoles for the extra sales.
 
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daveonezero

Banned
There are people who haven’t played this yet? Or is there some kind of a new thrill because you can play the game away from your desk - on the shitter, say?
Of course there are. I have not played any Metro game. I did not own any of the current gen consoles until a week ago I bought a switch. I have not had decent gaming PC since before I had a Wii.

There are always going to be more gamers that haven't played certain game than there are that played it.

This is why rereleases, remasters and remakes are popular. No one could possibly ever play everything. I'm glad for the variety. Not sure I'd play this on Switch but maybe.
 
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Whew, so glad someone examined a 10 yr old game on a device with tech that is only 2 yrs old, but with only the capability of a device from 5 years ago. Amazing info.
 

Romulus

Member
People are actually saying this is bad because it’s running one of the most technically impressive games of last gen at a locked 30 on mobile hardware...

Good lord...

I'm impressed with their work effort, but let's be real Switch has more room than a typical "mobile." Its a decent sized slab of hardware. Not only that, the resolution drops between 720p-420p *30fps. Its exactly where it should be imo. It's a solid port on weak hardware.
 
I'm impressed with their work effort, but let's be real Switch has more room than a typical "mobile." Its a decent sized slab of hardware. Not only that, the resolution drops between 720p-420p *30fps. Its exactly where it should be imo. It's a solid port on weak hardware.

Switch has more room than a typical "mobile." - Apparently you never heard of Razer?

720p-420p *30fps.- What is this 2007?
 

Romulus

Member
Switch has more room than a typical "mobile." - Apparently you never heard of Razer?

720p-420p *30fps.- What is this 2007?

Razers aren't as popular and don't have all their dedicated weight focused for gaming tech like a switch.

I didn't say 720p was impressive, it's expected for the hardware.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Video almost makes me wanna reinstall these since I was disappointed with Exodus and didn't stick with it to the end :d

I enjoyed their Half-Life-esque setup and linear yet atmospheric progression more and to me they were closer to that high caliber tier game than stuff like (the still great and enjoyable in a B movie style manner, I'll always recommend it) Singularity.

Exodus was just uninteresting, I'd like to see all the sandbox fluff neutered with the best bits of each area combined into one more condensed linear narrative rather than having to spend a lot of time looking for said cool stuff per area, with some of them not having any or just fleeting moments.
 
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DrNeroCF

Member
Whew, so glad someone examined a 10 yr old game on a device with tech that is only 2 yrs old, but with only the capability of a device from 5 years ago. Amazing info.

I read posts like this and I know I shouldn't have to ask but are there people out there who don't understand that the Switch is a portable system?
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
People are actually saying this is bad because it’s running one of the most technically impressive games of last gen at a locked 30 on mobile hardware...

Good lord...

No it is not bad, but a bit like Doom 2016, this is heavily sacrificing frame rate for a genre usually heavily dependent on fast paced action, and thus needing 60 FPS, for visuals that sell more in screenshots and videos.

Often on Switch the discussion is “gameplay is king, who cares about weak HW” yet like with Doom’s port we are often praising gameplay worsening alterations that enable a great visual tech demo over gameplay.
 

rofif

Banned
This package is AWESOME. I only wish getting the true ending for these games wasn't so frustrating, it's literally the only flaw here.
Exodus is terrible about that. I did everything and still got bad ending(which is kinda better imo anyway).
Just shoot away and see good ending on yt. The games are great
 

rofif

Banned
No it is not bad, but a bit like Doom 2016, this is heavily sacrificing frame rate for a genre usually heavily dependent on fast paced action, and thus needing 60 FPS, for visuals that sell more in screenshots and videos.

Often on Switch the discussion is “gameplay is king, who cares about weak HW” yet like with Doom’s port we are often praising gameplay worsening alterations that enable a great visual tech demo over gameplay.
Metro is fine at 30fps. Its a slow game
 
You mean like a phone? Phones that can do gaming at 1440P? Yea, its not impressive at all.
Yea it's annoying as fuck. 360 came out 14 years ago. switch is more powerful but not a huge step up. Keep hearing I cant believe this is running on portable like technology has stopped advancing for some reason to make switch seem impressive.
 

Zannegan

Member
Ya on a 850+ dollar phone.

Let me know which 199-299$ phone runs 1440P current gen games.
Are there phones playing current gen games at 1440p? For that matter, are there phones running last-gen games at 1440p (native res)?

I'd like the Switch to be more powerful. I think we all would. But people keep bringing up these disingenuous, apples-to-oranges comparisons (handheld form factor v. full console, $300 handheld v. $800 phone) to explain why the Switch *should have* been more than it is without providing any real alternatives. Half the time I can't figure out whether they're trolling or just ignorant of how gaming hardware works (which is rich, coming from me).
 
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