Metro 2033

Unlocks very early, during your first proper combat in the opening levels. Nothing to do but play the intro - it pops on its own as you cut your teeth.

Kill 30 nosalises, cumulative. Nosalises are the common clawed mutants you fight constantly in the tunnels, so this ticks over well before you finish the story. Nothing to plan - it just accrues.

On the 'Cursed' station level you set off charges to blow the tunnel and airlock, sealing off the mutant swarm. This is a scripted step of clearing the level - just progress through 'Cursed' and detonate the charges when the game hands you the plunger/trigger. Unlocks as part of the story there.

Destroy the Fascists' Panzer (tank) during the armoured push on the Fascist front. When the tank appears, use the mounted heavy weapon / rockets the encounter gives you and pour fire into it until it blows. Follow the set-piece and take it out to progress and pop this.

Complete both the 'Ghosts' and 'Anomaly' levels without dying. These are the eerie, low-combat levels - Ghosts has the phantom visions, and Anomaly has the deadly moving anomaly you must flee and time your movement around. Play patiently: in Anomaly especially, watch its pulses and only move when it's safe. Die and you can just replay the level via chapter select and try again.

The hard-nosed choice: when the young boy (on Black Street in Riga, early on) asks for a bullet to guide you to Bourbon, refuse him rather than paying. The cold shoulder pops this. Handily, you can still track the boy down afterwards to claim the moral point, so refusing doesn't cost you the guidance or the morality - useful if you're also chasing Enlightened. It's the opposite gesture to Generous.

Kill 20 lurkers - the small, fast scuttling mutants that dart around on the surface and in dark tunnels. They show up in enough numbers that 20 accumulates over a normal playthrough; a shotgun makes short work of them.

Kill 30 enemies with revolvers, cumulative. The revolver is a solid, common sidearm - just make it your go-to pistol and rack up kills over the game. Upgrade it (longer barrel, scope) if you like; the kills count regardless.

Complete the 'Armory' level without getting caught - a stealth level in a bandit hideout. Stick to the shadows, unscrew or shoot out lights, take guards down quietly (throwing knives or stealth melee), and never trip an alarm or get spotted. Move slowly and wait for patrols to pass. If you're seen, restart from the last checkpoint (or replay the level) and try the room again.

Kill a Librarian - the huge ape-like beasts in the Library levels. They're tough and normally you're meant to back away slowly (they only attack if you run or break eye contact). To kill one you'll want serious firepower: unload a heavy weapon (the Abzats/heavy shotgun or plenty of military-grade rounds) into it, ideally while backpedalling, or bait it and hit it hard. Bring ammo - they soak a lot.

Kill 5 amoebas - the floating jellyfish-like creatures in the flooded/swamp sections (the 'Dead City' and marsh areas). Just shoot five of them as you pass through those levels; they're fragile.

Kill 5 enemies with the flamethrower. You pick the flamethrower up in the later mutant-heavy levels - torch five enemies (the swarming mutants are perfect fodder) while you have it. Easy to knock out in a single flamethrower section.

On the 'Depot' level, silently kill the first guard and slip into the Fascist station unnoticed. Approach the opening guard from behind for a quiet stealth takedown (or throwing knife), then keep to the dark and avoid detection as you enter. Douse lights and time the patrols. Being spotted fails it, so reload the checkpoint and redo the approach cleanly.

The standard, canonical ending - you let the missiles destroy the Dark Ones. It's the default: if you haven't banked enough moral points, or you simply don't shoot the guidance control at the final tower, you get this one. Easy to get by just playing to the finish. Mutually exclusive with Enlightened in a single run, so the clean approach is one careful moral playthrough for Enlightened and a fast replay (or an end-game reload) for this.

Kill 10 enemies with explosions, cumulative - grenades, or shooting the red explosive barrels/tanks near enemies. Lob grenades into groups, or pop a fuel tank as foes pass it. Ten adds up quickly if you make a habit of grenading clusters.

On the 'Hunter' level, kill the nosalises before they smash through the ventilation grilles during the defence. It's a timed shooting-gallery moment - watch the grilles, and gun each nosalis down as it appears and starts clawing through, before any of them break in. Keep a fast weapon ready and prioritise whichever grille is closest to giving way.

Kill 30 enemies with the double-barreled shotgun, cumulative. The double-barrel is one of your earliest weapons and hits hard up close - keep it handy for tunnel mutants and close human fights and the 30 comes naturally. Farm a mutant tunnel if you're short at the end.

Save a group of 'Reds' (Red Line soldiers) held in Fascist captivity. During the Fascist-front levels you come across prisoners about to be executed - intervene and kill their captors before the prisoners die. Move fast when the scene triggers and drop the guards to free them.

Kill 2 demons - the large winged mutants that swoop from the sky on the surface levels. One famously carries you off in a set-piece; beyond that, shoot two of them down with sustained fire (a rifle or shotgun as they dive). They appear on the surface stretches, so keep an eye up.

Land 25 headshots, cumulative. Take your time against human enemies and aim for the head - a scoped rifle (the Bastard/rifle with a sight) makes this easy. Stealth sections where you can line up unaware guards are ideal. 25 accrues over a normal playthrough if you aim high.

Kill 10 enemies with throwing knives, cumulative. Throwing knives are a silent one-shot on humans and recoverable if you walk over where they land, so they're great for stealth. Pick off 10 unaware guards with thrown knives across the game - a stealthy or Ranger run makes this trivial.

Hold 500 military-grade rounds at once (the pre-war 5.45 ammo that doubles as currency). Rather than spending them as money or firing them, hoard them: pick up every stash, avoid using MGR as ammo (use dirty/handmade rounds in combat instead), and don't spend them at traders. They'll build up to 500 if you're disciplined about saving them.

On the 'Outpost' level, reach the radio tower and broadcast the commander's message. This is the level's objective - fight or sneak your way up to the tower and use the radio when prompted. Just complete the objective to pop it.

Kill 50 enemies with the heavy automatic shotgun (the Abzats), cumulative - a big number, so make this beast your main gun once you have it. It chews through ammo but shreds everything; use it on mutant swarms and human groups. If you're short by the end, farm a mutant-heavy level with it.

Make 10 deals in weapon shops - i.e. 10 separate buy/sell transactions with the traders at stations. Just visit the shops as you pass through stations and buy or sell something ten times (small purchases count). Spread across the station hubs you'll hit 10 easily.

Get 50 kills with the Volt Driver (the electric-dart pneumatic pistol), cumulative. Once you have it, make it a regular pick against humans and smaller mutants. 50 is a chunky total, so keep using it throughout - or farm a level with it. Its alt-fire feeds the separate Stunning.

Break the support and drop the chandelier onto a group of enemies within 20 seconds. There's a scripted spot where a big chandelier hangs over a room of foes - shoot out or break its support quickly, before the timer, to crush them. Line up the shot in advance so you can trigger it the moment the enemies gather underneath.

Disarm 10 wire traps. The tunnels are strung with tripwires rigged to grenades or shotguns - instead of shooting or tripping them, walk up and disarm each by hand (the disarm prompt on the wire). Keep your eyes low in bandit and mutant tunnels; ten across the game is easy once you're spotting them.

Be charitable to everyone who asks: give a bullet to the boy who guides you to Bourbon, two bullets to the man buying medicine for his sick son in the Exhibition marketplace, and a bullet to the vagrant on the stairs nearby - plus any other beggars you meet. Even if you're out of military rounds, going through the motions of giving still counts. Helping everyone also banks moral points for Enlightened.

The 'good' ending, and the trickier of the two - you spare the Dark Ones. It hinges on your hidden moral points: bank enough across the whole game (give to beggars, listen to NPC conversations, spare human enemies, explore the optional areas - see Generous, Metro dweller, Explorer) so that at the very end, on top of the tower, Artyom snaps out of the vision in time. When the moment comes, shoot the missile-guidance control to stop the strike. Too few points and the option never triggers. Mutually exclusive with If it's hostile, you kill it. in one run, so build morality from the very start on this playthrough.

Kill 15 enemies with a stationary/mounted machine gun. There are several fixed MG emplacements in the combat set-pieces (defending a position, on a rail cart) - jump on one and mow down 15 enemies across those moments. Easy on any of the big defensive shoot-outs.

Soak up the life of the Metro: linger in the station hubs and take in every optional conversation, performance and vignette (the theatre, the drunks, the arguments, the kids) rather than rushing to the exit. Seeing everything the stations have to offer unlocks this and quietly banks moral points toward Enlightened. Slow down at every station.

Kill 30 enemies with pneumatic weapons (the air-powered guns - the Tikhar rifle and Helsing/Volt Driver), cumulative. Keep a pneumatic weapon in your loadout and use it regularly; pump it up for power. 30 accrues over the game. Overlaps with Air Bender (which specifically wants humans).

Track down every hidden Ranger stash across the 'Dead City 1' and 'Dead City 2' surface levels - little caches of gear and ammo tucked off the beaten path. Explore thoroughly (rooftops, side buildings, basements), or follow a stash-locations guide since a couple are easy to miss. Grab them all across both levels; chapter select lets you go back if you missed one.

Kill 20 enemies with the knife, cumulative - counts toward the bigger Sterling Effort. Just melee your kills when it's safe: sneak up on humans for a stealth knife kill, or finish weakened mutants with a swing. Accrues naturally, especially on a stealthy or ammo-light run.

Complete the 'Frontline' level without killing anyone - a pure stealth/pacifist run through the war zone between Red and Fascist lines. Sneak past everyone: stay low, stick to cover and shadow, and don't fire on a soul (knocking enemies out with non-lethal stealth is fine, killing is not). The opposite of Hedge-hopper, so you'll want a separate run for each. Save often and reload if you slip up.

Complete the 'Black Station' level without killing any Fascist Soldiers. Get through the level's fighting without a single Fascist kill - sneak past them, or use non-lethal stealth knockouts, and let the level's scripted events carry you rather than gunning the soldiers down. Reload a checkpoint if one dies by your hand.

On the 'Frontline' level, kill every enemy Red Army and Fascist Soldier - the exact opposite of Invisible man. Sweep the whole level and make sure no soldier on either side is left alive before you finish. Because it's the inverse of the pacifist run, plan a separate aggressive playthrough (or chapter-select replay) for it. Comb the level so you don't leave one straggler.

Poke into every nook - the side rooms off the tunnels, the apartments and buildings on the surface, the optional detours off the main path. Many of these are also moral-point spots, so thorough exploration doubles up with Enlightened and Metro dweller. If you want to be certain, follow a level-by-level exploration guide so you don't leave an optional area unvisited.

Complete the whole game on Ranger Mode (Easy). Ranger Mode hides the HUD and makes ammo and filters scarcer, but your weapons also hit harder - combat is deadlier both ways. Ranger Easy is the gentler of the two Ranger tiers. Note a full Last Man Standing (Hardcore) run also completes the game on Ranger, so check whether your version still needs a separate Easy pass.

Complete the game on Ranger Mode Hardcore - the toughest achievement here. No HUD, no crosshair, no ammo or objective indicators, brutal scarcity of filters and ammo, and everything dies fast (you included). Play slow and stealthy, conserve every round, lean on throwing knives and stealth takedowns to save ammo, grab every filter, and learn to read the environment without the HUD. The harder-hitting weapons mean stealth kills are usually one-shots, which is your friend on a careful run.

Kill 30 humans specifically with pneumatic weapons, cumulative. Same guns as Air gunner but the kills must be on human enemies (bandits, Reds, Fascists) rather than mutants. Use the Tikhar or Helsing on the human levels - keep it pumped for one-shot stealth kills. Do the two pneumatic achievements together by favouring these guns against people.

Cumulatively exchange 500 military-grade 5.45 rounds at the trade kiosks - the counterpart to Scrooge. Whenever you pass an exchange kiosk, convert military rounds into dirty/handmade ammo or gear; it all adds toward 500. You can have both this and Scrooge: reach 500 held at some point for Scrooge, and over the whole game spend 500 total here.

Kill at least one enemy with every weapon in the game - pistols, revolver, shotguns, the Bastard SMG, rifles, the pneumatic guns (Tikhar, Helsing, Volt Driver), the heavy shotgun, flamethrower, knife, throwing knives and grenades. Keep a checklist and make a point of blooding each weapon at least once as you find it; buy any you don't naturally pick up from weapon shops, and mop up the rest on chapter replays.

Get 25 kills with the Volt Driver's alternative fire (hold to charge a bigger electric burst), cumulative. Switch to alt-fire and use the charged shot for your Volt Driver kills - it's stronger, good against tougher foes. Separate counter from Shocking, so deliberately alt-fire when you're farming Volt Driver kills to feed both.

Find every hidden gold (military-grade) ammo stash tucked away across the game's stations and levels - squirreled into out-of-the-way corners, drawers, bodies and side rooms. There are a lot, and several are very easy to walk past, so a collectible-locations guide is the sane way to get them all. Thorough exploration (see Explorer) covers much of it, and chapter select lets you clean up any you missed.

Kill 50 mutants with your knife/melee, cumulative. The small fast mutants (lurkers, small nosalises) go down to a melee hit or two, so wade into a swarm and knife them rather than shooting. A Ranger run (where ammo is precious) naturally racks these up; otherwise farm a mutant-heavy tunnel.

Kill 15 enemies with sticky grenades, cumulative. Sticky grenades stick to surfaces (and enemies) before blowing - lob them into groups of humans or at a charging mutant. Fifteen adds up if you favour stickies over frags when you have them; farm a group encounter if you're short.