As I type this I'm walking to the store to pick up my copy of metro last light, so I am running out of time to make this decision. I want to play this game in Russian because I think it would feel more authentic and help to immerse me in a world that I am unfamiliar with. The thing is, I also don't want to be trying to read subtitles when I shod be paying attention to gameplay, either searching for stuff or dealing with threats. I also do not have time to learn Russian.

Are those of you who do not speak Russian going to play the game in your native language or the game's? What should I choose? Why?

I played the original game in English to avoid basically what you are saying and still found myself immersed, the english voices had good russian accents to them generally so i found no problem getting into the mood and atmosphere. On the other hand i never did play the game in Russian so hay maybe its better, but still reading subs sucks to me when i want to look at what is happening and thats a fine trade off for me.

If you do not want to have sub titles just use English.

I'll do as I did in 2033, English first then Russian with subtitles then again just Russian no subtitles. Muh immersion.

I played the first game in Russian for about an hour then switched to English because I wasn't getting any enjoyment out of not knowing what was going on.

I played 2033 on Ranger Hardcore using the Russian language track, totally worth it. The Metro games are crazy linear with some cringe worthy dialogue with poor English language delivery. The dramatic moments were completely deflated by the wooden delivery. I can't imagine playing in English, you can pretty much figure out what to do using common sense. There were a few times I got lost but I just switched the language track to figure out what it going on. I didn't have a problem with focusing on subtitles more than gameplay, although I played slow and stealthy so there wasn't much running and gunning to miss the dialogue.

Giant text at the bottom of your screen is not exactly what I'd call immersive.

Playing it in Russian is not authentic, it is silly. You are playing a russian character. He would understand the languange.

Remember, no Russian... derp.

But no seriously quite the opposite. When given the chance, always go with Russian. The authenticity it enhances to the game should be worth the added bit of required attention to the screen I'd say.

@kedi2: I agree. I have been playing BLOPS 2 and I understand the spanish that is not subtitled and there is a lot missing without accurate subs.

I'm with this guy.

@wrecks: @killacam: You two have convinced me.

Thank everyone for the prompt responses.

Russian with subtitles for me. Definitely better than fake Russian accents throughout. Didn't quite like the first game though, so I might never get around to it.

Having to look at subtitles during gameplay was already enough to make me want to play in english, but yeah, that's a pretty good point.

Probably going to play it in Russian this time around. Played Metro 2033 in English. Kept thinking, "Why are these Russians speaking English in a Russian accent?"

I don't think I would have figured out the secret ending in the last one if I had been in Russian. If this game has a similar way of hiding story details in Ambient dialog I think you would be doing yourself a diservice.

Personally, I find visual immersion better than aural immersion - that is to say, I don't like having subtitles on.

Russian with Subs.
Mostly because the voice actors are terrible.

I say go with Russian and subs. I just feel like everything would sound more badass in Russian.

I have to echo what others have said and say that the English was fine and for certain characters rather enjoyable. The simple fact that you hear all the ambient dialogue and the character would ostensibly in that world, I found it made sense to play in English. Rather, I never found it too much of a problem and so never switched.

I can't play a game where I have to constantly read subtitles to understand what is happening. I don't know how playing with subtitles makes a game better as I tend to just read it and ignore everything else so I just never use them. Playing a game in a different language seems hard to me.

I remember the brilliant way Polish publishers handled the same problem with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series - they put in Polish subs and left the Russian voices alone, but overdubbed a voice-over done by a TV lector. I thought it was great, since you always had these Russian voices in the background and it gave the game an almost paradocumental atmosphere.

No Russian.

Russian all the way.

I played it in french...

I really, really, REALLY wanted to play this with Russian voices on - but my below-average eyesight makes reading the subtitles while playing difficult. I read very slowly. Eventually had to switch back to English after the first 30 minutes.

Had subtitles in english and the dialogue in Russian. I think it adds to the atmosphere of the game.

Dont really need to understand all of the dialogue that is spoken.

The first time through, I'll play it in English. The second time on Ranger Mode, I'll do Russian with the subtitles.

I played 2033 Russian, but had to switch to english because the delivery was simply horrible.

I tried playing it in Russian but always reading the subtitels was extremely immersion breaking for me. I'll probably play it a second time though.

Rented it and played it in Russian with English subs. It was ok. For me, some of the subtitles just scrolled way to fast and I missed some of the translated lines. If I rent it again, I'll probably switch it back to English voice acting just so I can catch everything.

Its probably a matter of being used to watching movies and tv series with subtitles. In Finland we have finnish subtitles for all movies and tv series.

So I am pretty used to reading subtitles.

With the English voices you can play a fun drinking game where you drink every time you hear Steve Blum.

I played the first Metro 2033 in Russian. It was very immersive but some npc's dialog didn't have subs, so I think I missed out a bit.

I'm playing it in Russian w/ English subs. Not sure I'd do it again, because I'm missing out on some NPC dialogue and trying to read while running away from spiders is distracting. If anything, it can take away from immersion, because Artyom would be able to understand Russian whereas I cannot.

This is the main reason why I switched, the accents are not as god awful as the first game but they still suck.

probably would've gone with Russian with English subtitles if only all the neat ambient dialogue was subtitled too. maybe if i replay it. also the acting isn't as terrible as people make it out to be. sometimes i think the kneejerk reaction is dubs=shit, regardless of the actual quality.