Metro 2033 Redux free to download on Xbox, Steam and GOG until April 16

One of the more memorable shooters of the last 20 years is free to claim on Steam, GOG and Xbox.

Metro 2033 celebrated its 15th birthday on March 10 and is free to download until 4pm UK time on Wednesday, according to the game series’s X (formerly Twitter) account.

“In celebration of #Metro15 Metro 2033 Redux is FREE on #Steam #GOG and #Xbox for the next 48 hours!” The MetroVideoGame account posted on X.

It’s not the original Metro 2033 we can claim, but the Redux edition, released in 2014. This version features improved visuals and incorporates several gameplay tweaks introduced in the series’ second instalment, Metro: Last Light.

If you visit the Xbox store website to buy the game, you will likely find it appears at £15.99. You should see the option to install it to your Xbox console without paying using either the Xbox phone app or the Microsoft Store interface on the console itself.

We had no trouble finding the free download on the PC platforms, GOG and Steam. PlayStation owners don’t get Metro 2033 Redux free of charge, but the game is available for a reasonable £3.99 until April 23 as part of the PlayStation Spring Sale.

Metro 2033 is an atmospheric first-person shooter set in a world where people are forced to live underground following a nuclear war. You work your way through the metro system, fighting mutants and other humans, to tell what is the closest thing the world has to a government about an incoming threat.

The game was developed by 4A Games, whose founders worked on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. While the two series share a similar apocalyptic vision, Metro 2033 is more approachable than those intimidating survival shooters. It’s a largely linear experience you can finish in around 10 hours — a typically digestible length for a game that first launched in 2010.

Once you've finished Metro 2033, you’ll have two more main-line titles to check out. Sequel Metro: Last Light came out in 2013, with a Redux edition in 2014. And in 2019, 4A Games released Metro Exodus, which has larger and more open levels than the first two titles.

4A Games was founded in Ukraine and is now based in Malta.