Metro: Last Light - a post-apocalyptic world comes back to life

On the streets of a greener, deadlier Moscow

From Fallout's jazzy, shell-shocked America to the bleached dust of I Am Alive, the Xbox 360 has played host to a multitude of post-apocalyptic worlds, but this is the first time, to my knowledge, that it's given us a world that's in the process of getting better. Metro: Last Light occurs precisely one in-game year after Metro 2033, the grim yet startlingly rich exercise in tunnel-vision from 2010, and in that time, developer 4A's bedraggled depiction of Moscow has altered dramatically.

The radioactive snow has lifted, the ice has thawed, and the bone-grey colour palette is sodden with new life - yellow scrub and bacteria-slicked water, festering in the glare of a wan but strengthening sun. The transformation is driven as much by the need to show off new technology as plot considerations - in its understated way, Metro 2033 is one of Xbox 360's prettiest shooters, and the sequel should give Crysis 3 a run for its money.

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Somewhat ironically, Moscow's recovering ecology has made life still more hazardous for the metro's ragged population of human survivors. Predatory fins arc from the waters of stagnant pools as our handler edges across a swampy square, eyes peeled for the red flags hung up by Rangers to denote safe crossing points. Gas masks are once again necessary if you want to move around above ground, and the environment's relative size and open-endedness leaves you considerably more at risk of surprise attack. A tense silence falls as returning lead Artyom scampers around, broken by the unearthly cries of unseen horrors. Noisy behaviour on the player's part can be suicide - it's definitely worth keeping a silenced revolver about your person, preferably with a scope attached.

Thanks to the retooled engine, the atmosphere has a texture so thick you can practically chew on it. Clouds of anomalous gas, streaks of drizzle across Artyom's mask (which must once again be topped up with new filters at intervals) and queasy patterns of sunlight are sources of fleeting fascination. Such is the layering effect, that it's occasionally easy to miss the tripwires linking dilapidated car hulks, and the small troves of precious ammo tucked into the crevices, generally accompanied by a corpse.

Our objective is to reach a nearby church, but in order to do that, we'll need to board a makeshift raft by way of a small diesel generator. This entails a couple of things: one, finding the fuel for the generator, and two, surviving the roused wrath of local wildlife once we hit the switch. The fuel tanks aren't too hard to find, though making away with the goods is another matter. As we're recovering the last of them from the cockpit of a downed airliner, something huge, green and reptilian seizes the craft's tail, shaking us around like a fly in a bottle. A few blasts from Artyom's deliciously complex six-shell shotgun put a stop to all this, but the worst is to follow.

The generator coughs and rumbles brokenly, drawing the attention of every living creature nearby like a magnet. While it hauls the raft across with agonising slowness, we're bombarded by screeching bat creatures, spat at by crustaceans and pummelled by the aforesaid huge reptilian something, whose armoured claws prove an efficient defence against bullets. Artyom's visor is soon covered with mud, but an outbreak of civil war among our attackers buys him a moment to wipe it clean.

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The battle ends with surprising suddenness. Our man is left standing on a heap of perforated chitin, breath wheezing unpleasantly through the holes in his mask as he contemplates the remains of his ammunition. On the other side of the screen, by contrast, we're left wanting more. Metro: Last Light's world represents an important evolution of the one we saved from destruction in the original game, and providing the gunplay and level setups have also matured, this should be an unforgettable sequel.

Comments

14 comments so far...

  1. LUCASH525 on 11 Dec '12 said:
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    want it... now

  2. CunningSmile on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    SPOILERS AHEAD

    So which Metro 2033 ending does Last Light pick up from? The cheerful (but difficult to get) one in which you make peace with the alien looking dudes or the bleaker, depressing, very Russian and book accurate one where you start another thermonuclear war?

    SPOILERS END

  3. OXM ETboy on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    I've edited a spoiler warning into that, Cunning - think of the children!

    I'm not sure which ending Last Light picks up from. I'll give THQ a buzz.

  4. CunningSmile on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    Cheers Ed, I'm feeling a bit fuzzy headed this morning and completely forgot about the spoiler warning bit.

  5. FishyGinger on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    That'll be the cold for you. I've only played it once and decided for the latter ending. Possibly because I'm evil in most games I play.

  6. CunningSmile on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    The other ending is actually surprisingly hard to get as it's a collection of small decisions like giving money to specific beggars throughout the game that aren't sign posted and you actually have to hunt out most of the time. You need to have clocked up about 12 out about 20 of these little things to get it and it's really easy to miss most of them.

    And I've been told the darker ending is the one in the book anyway. Love the Russians, never have sunshine and light when you can have soul destroying nihlism.

  7. legendroadkill on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    The other ending is actually surprisingly hard to get as it's a collection of small decisions like giving money to specific beggars throughout the game that aren't sign posted and you actually have to hunt out most of the time. You need to have clocked up about 12 out about 20 of these little things to get it and it's really easy to miss most of them.

    And I've been told the darker ending is the one in the book anyway. Love the Russians, never have sunshine and light when you can have soul destroying nihlism.


    what you on about dude all i did was reload the end of the game and shot the dark one.
    cant wait for this game. and i think it will follow the dark ending like the book.

  8. FishyGinger on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    The other ending is actually surprisingly hard to get as it's a collection of small decisions like giving money to specific beggars throughout the game that aren't sign posted and you actually have to hunt out most of the time. You need to have clocked up about 12 out about 20 of these little things to get it and it's really easy to miss most of them.

    And I've been told the darker ending is the one in the book anyway. Love the Russians, never have sunshine and light when you can have soul destroying nihlism.

    Did you play stalker? No idea how many endings but the 'incorrect' ones I got are so upbeat in the normal russian way.

  9. CunningSmile on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    The other ending is actually surprisingly hard to get as it's a collection of small decisions like giving money to specific beggars throughout the game that aren't sign posted and you actually have to hunt out most of the time. You need to have clocked up about 12 out about 20 of these little things to get it and it's really easy to miss most of them.

    And I've been told the darker ending is the one in the book anyway. Love the Russians, never have sunshine and light when you can have soul destroying nihlism.


    what you on about dude all i did was reload the end of the game and shot the dark one.
    cant wait for this game. and i think it will follow the dark ending like the book.

    That's the normal ending. The other isn't even possible unless you got your 12/20 events along the way.

  10. kronk10 on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    was waiting for oxm to get there hands on this, the last game was brilliant it was rough and the combat was odd but the sense of atmosphere and story was something no FPS has given me since playing half life on the pc. I am wanting to play this before bioshock infinite as i think this will be the better FPS

  11. OXM ETboy on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    I'll have more about the other areas for you later today.

  12. CunningSmile on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    I'll have more about the other areas for you later today.

    Yay thank you :mrgreen:

  13. OXM ETboy on 12 Dec '12 said:
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    Alas, I must break my promise. I've had other stuff to do this afternoon, and now I have to go see Bioshock Infinite. It's a tough life...

  14. legendroadkill on 13 Dec '12 said:
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    I do think your right Cunningsmiles i did play the balls out of that game.