Metro 2033 Redux is 4A Games' 2014 rebuild of the 2010 original, moved onto the engine used for Metro: Last Light. It follows Artyom out of the VDNKh station and across a post-nuclear Moscow underground of 7 chapters and 27 levels, ending at the Ostankino Tower. The Redux version added two play styles: Spartan, which hands you enough ammunition to fight, and Survival, which starves you the way the 2010 original did. Military grade rounds are both the best ammunition in the game and the currency you buy everything with, which turns every trade into a decision about whether you would rather be rich or well armed.
This walkthrough takes you from your first session to endgame content. Each phase has specific goals, priorities, and milestones. New to the game? Start with our beginner's guide first.
Quick Progression Summary
| Phase | Area | Focus | Role | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | Exhibition | Gas mask filters and surface time basics | Survival style | 1-2 hours |
| 2. Early | Riga | Military grade rounds as currency mastery | Survival style | 3-5 hours |
| 3. Mid | Dead City | Universal charger and light discipline + gear | Spartan style or Survival style | 5-10 hours |
| 4. Late | Front Line | Build optimization | Spartan style | 5-10 hours |
| 5. Endgame | Polis | Min-max | Spartan style or Heavy assault loadout | Ongoing |
See our maps guide for detailed area breakdowns.
Phase 1: Getting Started (Exhibition)
The VDNKh station where Artyom lives and where the campaign proper begins, in the chapter titled Let The Journey Begin. It is the game's calm reference point for what a functioning Metro station looks like before everything else goes wrong.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 1, Let The Journey Begin Key Rewards: Starting loadout, first trader, the mission that sets up the whole journey
What to Do in Exhibition
- Learn Gas mask filters and surface time. Anywhere on the surface or in a contaminated tunnel, Artyom breathes through a mask on a timed filter. Spend your first session getting comfortable with this.
- Pick Survival style as your starting role. See our builds guide for why.
- Redux reorganised the original level list. There are 7 chapters across 27 levels, and several 2010 chapters were merged, so a walkthrough written for the 2010 release will name levels that no longer exist as separate loads.
- Acquire your first weapons upgrade: Revolver or whatever's available.
- Clear all main content before moving on.
Phase 1 Checklist
- Understand Gas mask filters and surface time fundamentals
- Survival style selected and functional
- Exhibition main content cleared
- Ready for Riga
Phase 2: Early Game (Riga)
The opening level of the Bourbon chapter and the first proper trading hub, where military grade rounds become visibly a currency rather than just ammunition. Spend carefully here, because filters get scarcer later.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 2, Bourbon Key Rewards: Weapon attachments, filters, first serious shopping decision
What to Do in Riga
- Work on Military grade rounds as currency. Pre-war military grade rounds are both the highest damage ammunition and the money every trader accepts. This system becomes critical from here on.
- Farm for Revolver if you haven't already. It's the key upgrade for this phase.
- Military grade rounds are money. Shooting them at a nosalis is spending the price of a filter on a mutant that dirty ammunition would have killed just as well.
- Complete all objectives before pushing to Dead City.
- Consider whether Spartan style might suit your playstyle better than Survival style.
Phase 2 Checklist
- Military grade rounds as currency integrated into gameplay
- Revolver acquired
- Riga fully cleared
- Ready for Dead City
Phase 3: Mid Game (Dead City)
The surface section closing the Bourbon chapter, and the game's first sustained lesson in filter management. There is no safe air, the watch is counting, and the route matters more than the fighting.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 2, Bourbon Key Rewards: Filter caches, surface navigation practice, demon encounters
What to Do in Dead City
- Master Universal charger and light discipline. The flashlight and night vision run on a hand-cranked charger with an audible whine. This unlocks a new layer of gameplay.
- Start working toward Bastard. It's the best weapon and becomes accessible around now.
- The wristwatch is the whole HUD on Ranger Hardcore. It carries the filter countdown and a visibility indicator, and learning to read it at a glance is what makes the no-HUD run survivable.
- This area is the main skill check. If you can clear it, you're ready for late game.
- Start investing in Spartan and Survival play styles for the tactical depth you'll need going forward.
Phase 3 Checklist
- Universal charger and light discipline mastered
- Bastard acquired or in progress
- Dead City fully cleared
- Ready for Front Line
Phase 4: Late Game (Front Line)
The opening level of the War chapter, dropping Artyom into the fighting between the Reich and the Red Line. It is the largest concentration of human enemies in the game and the best place to practise stealth or abandon it.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 4, War Key Rewards: Military grade round caches, moral point opportunities, human stealth encounters
What to Do in Front Line
- Finalize your build. You should be running Spartan style or Survival style with optimized gear.
- Bastard should be your primary. If you don't have it yet, prioritize getting it.
- Pick up every filter regardless of your current stock. Dead City and the later surface sections are much longer than they look, and the game does not warn you before a filter run.
- Moral points and the two endings optimization starts here. Small improvements compound into massive advantages.
- Farm this area for the resources needed to push into Polis.
Phase 4 Checklist
- Build fully optimized
- Bastard upgraded to max
- Front Line fully cleared
- Ready for Polis
Phase 5: Endgame (Polis)
The opening level of the Hope chapter and the largest, most civilised station in the Metro, home to the Rangers and the Brahmin. It is the calm before the Depository and Archives levels and the last real chance to resupply properly.
Level/Difficulty: Chapter 5, Hope Key Rewards: Ranger equipment, major story beats, the last well-stocked trader before the endgame
What to Do in Polis
- Polis tests everything. Come prepared with your best build and gear.
- Unscrewing bulbs and shooting lamps is the main stealth tool in human sections. Enemies react to light rather than to a hidden detection meter, so darkening a corridor changes the encounter before you have fired a shot.
- The endgame loop: run Polis, optimize gear, push harder content.
- Experiment with Heavy assault loadout for a fresh take once you've mastered the standard builds.
- This is where Moral points and the two endings mastery separates good players from great ones. See our tips guide for advanced strategies.
Phase 5 Checklist
- Endgame content on farm
- Best-in-slot gear acquired
- Polis fully cleared
- Ready for challenge content
Common Progression Mistakes
- Loading military grade rounds into a weapon for ordinary fights, then arriving at a trader with nothing left to buy filters with.
- Running the flashlight constantly. The charger noise and the light itself both give you away in human sections, and the charge does not last.
- Treating Ranger Hardcore as a damage modifier. Losing the HUD entirely means you have to count ammunition and filters manually, which is a different skill from aiming better.
- Sprinting through stations. Moral points come from listening and exploring, and rushing past every conversation quietly locks you out of the alternative ending.
- Relying on the Duplet at range. Its damage falls off almost immediately and its reload leaves you defenceless for longer than most mutants need to close.
Key Tips for Smooth Progression
- Redux reorganised the original level list. There are 7 chapters across 27 levels, and several 2010 chapters were merged, so a walkthrough written for the 2010 release will name levels that no longer exist as separate loads.
- Military grade rounds are money. Shooting them at a nosalis is spending the price of a filter on a mutant that dirty ammunition would have killed just as well.
- The wristwatch is the whole HUD on Ranger Hardcore. It carries the filter countdown and a visibility indicator, and learning to read it at a glance is what makes the no-HUD run survivable.
- Pick up every filter regardless of your current stock. Dead City and the later surface sections are much longer than they look, and the game does not warn you before a filter run.
- Unscrewing bulbs and shooting lamps is the main stealth tool in human sections. Enemies react to light rather than to a hidden detection meter, so darkening a corridor changes the encounter before you have fired a shot.
For more advanced strategies, see our tips & tricks guide.
More Metro 2033 Redux Guides
- Metro 2033 Redux Metro 2033 Redux Overview
- Metro 2033 Redux Best Builds
- Metro 2033 Redux Tier List
- Metro 2033 Redux Beginner's Guide
- Metro 2033 Redux Tips & Tricks
- Metro 2033 Redux Weapons Guide
- Metro 2033 Redux Combat Guide
- Metro 2033 Redux Boss Guide
- Metro 2033 Redux Maps & Locations
- Metro 2033 Redux Crafting Guide
- Metro 2033 Redux Classes & Characters
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