A visual tour de force on its release 16 years ago, Metro 2033 returns along with its sequel Metro Last Light with a free upgrade for PlayStation 5 and Xbox. There's value in buying these games if you've not tried them before, but if you already own them, there's a wealth of current gen enhancements: a push for native 4K at 60fps, with a 120fps performance mode too. 4K textures with PBR support, improved lighting, ambient occlusion, geometry, particles, post-processing and screen-space GI are also added along with updated animation.

So, having spanned three console generations, just how substantial is today's upgrade to Metro 2033 and Last Light over the previous PS4 Redux versions, and indeed the original? Playing Metro 2033 today it's striking how well it holds up. Of course, the new PS5 and Xbox Series X editions bolster the package with a suite of upgrades, but even back in 2010 its technology was ahead of the curve. The 4A Engine pushed many features we take for granted today like cloth simulation physics, detailed motion capture, and dynamic shadows and lighting. Each material across its tunnels, the cracked concrete, rust, and overgrown moss build a convincing, apocalyptic space.

And each of these textures reacts beautifully within 4A Games' lighting system, whether that be from a lighting strike, a torchlight, or a gun's muzzle flash. Interplay with light feels satisfyingly dynamic here, up to and including the way a player shadow casts based on distance to a local light. As the cherry on top, Metro goes in hard with screen-space effects - simulating frost, water, and mud build up across the player's mask with a crisp transparent element.

There were limitations to performance and image quality but 2014's Redux edition of both games arrived on PS4 and Xbox One, boosting texture quality and resolution with a push for 60fps. Until now, this is the version PS5 users would have been playing and while a big leap over PS3, PS4 did have some lingering rough edges, namely in lacking a temporal AA technique to treat all that sub-pixel flicker on foliage at 1080p. Otherwise, it represented a colossal leap over what we had before.

Today's PS5 and Xbox Series X releases finally address that gripe. Firstly, there's enough GPU horsepower to crank the game to a native 4K as promised. It's a good start, and to seal the deal, base PS5 and Series X use a temporal AA solution that treats all those swaying foliage elements. Especially outdoors, TSR is much more adept in treating flicker on thin transparent elements, aligning image quality with modern standards.

The only snag to this TSR approach is traces of ghosting in some cases with busy textures. As for Xbox Series S, all the visual upgrades are maintained from the other current-gen consoles, but it has unique limits. First, that 4K target drops to just 1080p - which combined with TSR, in those rare instances, produces more obvious trails as a result of a lower base pixel count. Secondly, Series S loses the 120Hz support - so 60fps is the best you'll get from this version.

While we're talking about image quality, let's tackle the PS5 Pro situation. The enhanced console runs at a native 4K resolution just the same as the base PS5, but using PSSR helps to further sharpen fine details. Individual hair fibres on beards, text, and swaying grass all see a welcome boost in definition. Since base PS5 and Pro both render a 4K frame in the first place, PSSR's benefits are mostly seen at long distances, and in the way details in motion are handled, both of which show a respectable Pro advantage if you know where to look.

Surprisingly, the rest of the promised settings boosts are more subtle in practice. Chief among them is the boosted texture quality, which befits the higher 4K resolution window. Material quality for wood, skin textures and the metals of the Metro all get a boost that now sits much better in close-ups. 4A Games has comprehensively reworked each surface, which means from PS3, to 4, to 5, there's a step up in asset quality.

Shadow resolution is also tweaked, and while the shadow outline of the player has always been heavily filtered, it's clear there's now less aliasing on PS5. Elsewhere, ambient occlusion is drastically improved in accuracy. Generally the geometry upgrades are tough to appreciate in isolation, but flipping between versions underlines which objects get the upgrade. One final highlight: the post-processing also gets a boost in quality. Again we're venturing into subtler tweaks but the higher res lens flares and frost effects are a welcome upgrade given the game gives them such emphasis.

Rounding out with performance, let's start with the 60fps mode. In short, PS5 and Series X are typically right at the top of the graph, while running at 4K no less. The outlier situations are worth circling though because, in battles, both can suffer dips into the 50s. These lurches are easy to spot in cases where alpha or post effects dominate the viewport. So, while the ambition to push a true 4K image is to be lauded, I can't help but feel it's a stretch too far to hold 60fps as well - including all the other settings upgrades.

There's no dynamic res solution either it seems. It fixes at 4K, which means there's no flexibility to adjust for GPU load. Funnily enough, the lock at 60fps is worse than the older PS4 app, even on an actual PS4 system. In terms of stability at 60 it's a surprise to see a downgrade on current-gen consoles, and the only consolation here is VRR support - which will help Series X and PS5 to smooth out these odd 50-60fps spells. Overall, not ideal and not what I expected.

As for Xbox Series S there's a similar problem, even at its scaled down native 1080p. Again, it's mostly at the 60fps line, but in outdoor shootouts especially - with mutants splashing effects over the screen - Series S can at times lurch into the low 50s. It also seems to struggle more-so with NPC-dense spots around the hub area, which is a lesser issue for PS5 and Series X.

On a positive note, PS5 Pro blitzes through at 60fps with none of the drops seen on base hardware - which is great news. Even with the addition of PSSR, which isn't cheap at 4K, this is a welcome bonus for going with Pro hardware on this one.

In a console first, we also have 120Hz support in both games. Targeting 120 frames per second does involve sacrifices and on base PS5 that means a drop to a native 1152p. The reading is surprisingly steady though. Barring a few single dropped frames in battles (barely perceptible in practice) PS5 is filling each refresh with a new frame, and it feels a lot better for it.

By comparison, Series X impressively ups the ante in both image quality and performance. Series X comes in at a higher 1296p pixel count, with outlier performance drops on PS5 no present here. The rest of play - the shoot-outs on the surface - show only a few sparing dropped frames similar to PS5, but nothing too egregious.

Finally, there's PS5 Pro. This pushes the boat out with an even higher resolution of 1440p, with PSSR again in place as the upscaler. Alas, that mixture is a mixed blessing because while image quality is sharper and cleaner than base PS5, PS5 Pro pays the price in frame-rate stability - it's not quite as solid as the standard consoles. Generally it holds up fine but battles are also more prone to dropping to 110fps on Pro hardware. What we have then is a reversal of the Pro advantage seen at 60Hz, and at 120 you'll see more lurches.

In anticipation of Metro 2039, this next-gen patch gives newcomers a perfect jumping-on point to the series. Image quality issues are addressed, assets are sharpened, and the rest of the settings get a welcome - if subtle - boost. Issues locking at 60fps are the only real sour point. As infrequent as the drops are, it's not an issue we had on the PS4 app. It suggests 4A Games relies on VRR displays to disguise drops in a bid to keep a crisp 4K image in place. PS5 Pro owners are well served here, with a sharper PSSR image and a tighter 60 lock - but weirdly, a less table 120fps reading on high refresh displays. None of this detracts too greatly from the experience though. Despite being 16 years old, there are moments in both games that still shine brightly even today - and accepting the highly linear structure of each game there's no better time to jump in.