Metro 2033 Redux day-one patch adds volumetric lighting to some scenes

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Metro 2033 Redux hit Steam on Tuesday, and developer 4A Games is still improving how it looks. A 1.2GB day-one patch added volumetric lighting to a few specific scenes in the game. This isn't a dramatic overhaul of Metro 2033 Redux's entire lighting engine: we compared the patched version of Redux to footage we'd previously captured, and noted that most scenes in the game and most light sources looked identical pre- and post-patch. The changes 4A Games have made, though, are striking.

4A Games specifically added volumetric lighting —powerful light rays emanating from somewhere in the environment—to a few locations that we checked early in the game. We also noticed that in at least one location, 4A Games added more environmental detail to a scene that had previously been drab and barren.

Eagle-eyed Metro players in the Steam forums and on NeoGAF have noted that volumetric lighting effects present in the original Metro 2033 were missing in Redux when it launched. 4A's patch has added those effects back in some locations, though not all of them, according to posters on NeoGAF. Players have also noted that the PS4 and Xbox One versions of Metro 2033 Redux do not have the lighting effects 4A Games patched into the PC version.

Note: you can right-click each video to view it in a separate tab at 720p.

Metro 2033 Redux unpatched

Metro 2033 Redux patched

Metro 2033 Redux unpatched

Metro 2033 Redux patched

For a look at how Metro 2033 Redux compares to the original game, check out our side-by-side video.

Wes Fenlon
Wes Fenlon
Senior Editor

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.


When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).