Metro: Last Light is the second game from the Ukrainian team 4A Games and a sequel to Metro 2033. The project's fate was not easy: the developers had to work in a cramped office, face financial difficulties, and postpone the release date. Just a few months before launch, Metro: Last Light even changed its publisher. However, this did not stop 4A from releasing a quality product that can outshine much more well-known projects.
From the very first minutes, Metro: Last Light grabs you by the soul. After the heavy opening cutscene, you begin to realize just how illusory human superiority is. One press of a button—and the whole planet plunged into chaos, with humanity teetering on the brink of extinction. Yet even Armageddon couldn’t make people unite in the half-ruined metro for the sake of survival. On the contrary, they continued to kill each other in ever more twisted ways, for they lack any sense of self-preservation.
Apocalypse Now
This is what the story of Metro: Last Light is all about. Having eliminated the threat from the Dark Ones and discovered the D6 military complex, people realized that now was the time to push their own ideals and rules of life. There was only one way to do this—by killing everyone who disagreed. Nazis and communists declared total mobilization, putting even children and the elderly under arms. Only these two factions, who had been at odds for years, had the means to unleash a full-scale conflict.
The writers did an excellent job of portraying the essence of Nazism and Communism: two sides of the same coin—a totalitarian, inhuman regime. Both sides spent enormous material and human resources to achieve victory for their now-pointless ideals. With equal ease, they created camps for “subhumans” and “enemies of the party,” abused them, forced them to work in inhuman conditions, and killed anyone who disagreed with the leadership without a second thought.
No one even considered joining forces to keep the Metro running, improve living conditions at the stations, or protect people from the mutant threat. And yet, the moment was perfect for it.
Artyom saw all these preparations with his own eyes and realized that the war could not be stopped. The D6 complex was too tempting a prize. The warring sides wanted too much to become the sole masters of the entire Metro. But as Ranger Khan said in one of the missions, the Metro is a living organism that senses danger and resists total destruction. That’s why Artyom is constantly lucky, as if some higher power is helping him escape danger.
Judge for yourself. In the very first mission, he is captured by the Nazis and miraculously escapes certain death. After fleeing and heading to Polis, he is betrayed by someone whose life he saved more than once, and then learns about the communists’ terrifying plans.
With each new chapter, the writers spin the plot ever tighter, revealing so much new information that the player can’t wait to find out how this thrilling story ends. Sometimes it seems that evil has triumphed and Artyom will never reach his goal. But he perseveres through hardships and keeps moving forward. Helping him along the way is a young Dark One, whose thoughts will bring a smile even to the most hardened player.
Overall, the story of Metro: Last Light has room for love and loyalty, tragedy and comedy, friendship and betrayal, as well as the constant struggle between good and evil. Yes, the main feature of Metro 2033 hasn’t gone anywhere. Do good, don’t kill unless absolutely necessary, and interact with characters—and you’ll get the good ending.
Unlike last time, the player now has more opportunities to earn good karma, so keep your eyes open: someone around the corner might need your help. In addition, the developers have set nearly half the story in ruined Moscow, which hides plenty of useful secrets.
Spring Has Come
As you probably know, it’s begun to warm up on the surface. This couldn’t help but bring changes to the post-apocalyptic world of the future: some mutants have disappeared, but new ones have appeared. Among them are even aquatic creatures, so always be on your guard—the game doesn’t forgive mistakes, especially on higher difficulty levels.
The warming has also affected the appearance of the game world. Whereas before, the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, now it has melted, the first vegetation has appeared, and bones have been exposed. Thousands of bones. The surface of Moscow is dotted with places where the world of the dead exerts its harmful influence on the world of the living. As you progress, you’ll witness the last moments of many people and literally feel their pain, as the nuclear blast’s shockwave—hard as diamond—shattered their fragile bodies.
Ruined buildings, twisted earth, mutated nature, a mash of charred human bodies, and radioactive air—all this serves as a reminder of humanity’s former greatness, and a first glance at this devastation brings a groan of despair. This is the fate that awaits those who like to test the mettle of a neighboring power. How? How could anyone have allowed all this to be destroyed?! Truly, humanity has received a fitting punishment for its misdeeds. The level design in Metro: Last Light is simply stunning, and the developers managed to create not only beautiful surface levels but also authentic underground ones.
Whether you find yourself on the surface at night during a heavy rain, or in a narrow, musty metro tunnel, you’ll always be haunted by the horror and fear familiar from the previous game. When you hear the distant howls of mutants and strange rustlings around you, it’s hard to keep your nerves in check. The game is full of moments that can make you lose control. Don’t count on your weapons—there may be more ammo than before, but it still runs out at the worst possible moment, so check every corner and search every crevice.
The excellent graphics contribute to full immersion. Yes, it’s not better than Crysis 3 or the upcoming Battlefield 4, but it’s no worse than those multi-million dollar competitors either. The textures in Metro: Last Light are very high-quality and detailed. The developers didn’t skimp and implemented many advanced technologies that bring the game world to life in new ways. Every area in the game is filled with lots of details that enhance the feeling of desolation and hopelessness.
The PhysX technology fully justifies the resources it uses, allowing for battles that follow the rules of real physics and not the cardboard shooters of the past.
The excellent optimization also deserves mention. The game runs smoothly even on low-end computers, and maximum settings are achievable on PCs built in the last two years. If you encounter any issues, you can visit the relevant thread on our website.
And about the problems
There were some “flaws” as well. For example, when creating characters, the designers apparently put all their effort into making big, beautiful boobs that jiggle nicely as the female characters move. Believe us, we’re not complaining, but honestly, guys, almost all your women look the same.
There was also a bit of a fail with the animation. Facial expressions are barely noticeable, and the game clearly lacks third-person cutscenes. However, animation is one of the most expensive operations in any game’s budget, and in times of crisis, the 4A specialists couldn’t afford to spend money on it, so it’s not really fair to criticize them for this omission.
What’s truly delightful, though, is the humor the developers share with us. Take, for example, 4A Games’ joke about GSC’s closure:
- Who just got carried out?
- Semyetsky, Yura.
- Wow, and he said he’d outlive us all!
As they say, those who know will get the reference. But that’s not the only Easter egg—attentive players will hear modern political jokes and game developer references, all reimagined in the Metro’s style.
Overall, the game already looks great. Just tweak the AI of monsters and enemies a bit so they’re less clueless, improve optimization a little, and you’ll have the perfect horror-action game.
For example, the stealth mode—which was only fixed in the last patch of Metro 2033—works perfectly here. If you want, you can play through the game without spending a single bullet on killing people. Plus, every level is now packed with alternative routes, so be attentive and look for them above and below ground.
To survive shootouts successfully, you’ll have a solid arsenal of all kinds of weapons, as well as a reworked inventory. With it, you can quickly check the number of medkits, filters, consumables like throwing knives or dynamite sticks, and quickly swap a shotgun for a machine gun. The combat system could be improved even further if 4A took note of the weapon crafting system from Dead Space 3—especially since the game has all the prerequisites for it.
***
Metro: Last Light turned out to be truly unique. Despite all the twists and difficulties, the 4A Games team created an excellent, stunning game. There’s a certain irony in the fact that its story, describing the suffering of humanity’s remnants in the Metro, was mirrored in the fate of 4A Games itself, which found itself on the brink several times due to THQ’s financial problems.
However, just like Artyom, the main character of Metro: Last Light, the team at 4A managed to overcome all the obstacles in their path and give us a ray of hope. Hope that they will release another game in this wonderful universe—one where humanity finally finds confidence in itself.
