

Artyom feels stronger and faster – as well he should, considering his admittance into and training with the Spartan Rangers. Overall, combat has received a few small tweaks. It perfectly sets up the more human struggles faced by Artyom and the Metro dwellers – a time after the cold, where the new growth must decide whether it will be positive or negative. No less toxic, but it’s a hint of a brighter future on the surface. And above ground, there are storms and rains. Kids are about in the stations, learning and discovering. But there is also a sense of hope, of change, of potential. There is a new edge to the people of the metro system – you can sense a dread anticipation. That means a thaw, and water, and greenery. It’s springtime for Moscow, and Metro-ites. All return, as atmospheric as ever, with a slight twist.

The blasted, toxic wastelands and nuclear winds of post-war Moscow.

Stations, such as Venice station, are breathtaking in their detail, and the stories of survival they suggest.Ĭharacterises the metro stations. The lived-in soup of human desperation and survival that The cramped, claustrophobic interiors draped in shadows, echoing monster cries and distant gunshots.
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What distinguishes the Metro series from its corridor shooter contemporaries is the setting. It’s a mixed blessing – it fits in well with the fresher themes and ideas of the new Metro, but the game is truly at its best when Artyom is alone. Even if they’re not constantly right in front of or behind you – although there is quite a bit of that too – there is always a sense of their closeness. It perhaps isn’t as compelling a mystery as its predecessor, but it compensates with its pace and human focus.įor quite a lot of the 10-14 hour game, Artyom seems to have a companion character.

To add to the ambience, a range of notes can be found scattered amongst the rubble that help flesh out the back stories of the characters involved. It suits the newer direction and themes of Last Light well, and rarely feels forced or confusing. Artyom frequently finds himself behind in the race for power, playing catch-up. Metro: Last Light’s story is a lot faster-paced than Metro 2033’s was. Artyom must balance his quest for his redemption and the rebuilding of the Dark Ones with his obligations to the Spartan Rangers and the human freedom they represent. Around him, the various factions that occupy the metro have heard of the D6 bunker’s weaponry and treasures, and a genuine arms race is beginning. Artyom cannot help but question his decision, and whether he wiped out a peaceful race of creatures under false pretences. Where 2033 was a tale of discovery of the other, Last Light is a quest for personal redemption amongst human destruction. When his former guide Kahn comes to find him at the now-Ranger-controlled D6 bunker to tell him of a child Dark One he has seen on the surface, Artyom must once again journey across the labyrinthine tunnels of the Moscow metro system to undo his genocide, and perhaps find redemption. But he is haunted by the darkness of winter – namely, his decision to launch the missiles that destroyed the mysterious Dark Ones. Artyom, the returning protagonist from the first game, has a home, has friends, has a position among the Spartan Rangers. In many ways Last Light is the spring to 2033’s winter. Now, out of the ashes of the THQ meltdown, 4A Games brings us the sequel, Metro: Last Light, this time published by Deep Silver. Based on the fiction of Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky, it offered a deeply atmospheric, post-apocalyptic linear shooter experience. Metro 2033 garnered quite a bit of critical acclaim when it exploded onto the scene back in 2010.
