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    Metro: Last Light

    Game » consists of 16 releases. Released May 14, 2013

    The sequel to the underground hit Metro 2033. Set in Moscow in the year 2034, the player will be caught between warring factions vying for a doomsday device.

    mystyr_e's Metro: Last Light (PC) review

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    One of best games of 2013, no question

    While I can certainly appreciate the more bombastic spectacles in terms of first-person shooter campaigns (after all, a fun roller coaster is a fun roller coaster), I much more prefer the more story-driven games that have come out. Last year's Dishonored was a surprise and this year's Bioshock Infinite became an early favorite but Metro Last Light was at first a question mark. I sorta liked Metro 2033, with some stellar atmosphere and intriguing premise and world setup yet the gameplay part I always felt was lacking so with Last Light, 4A Games decides to fix what wasn't working and shine up what did. While I did have some gripes with it, the overall package easily makes it one of my favorite games of this year.

    Taking place a year after the events of 2033 where Artyom had nuked the "Dark Ones", people and animals that have been mutated by the radiation caused by the nuclear detonations many years ago. When word arrives that a single Dark One has survived the nuclear bomb, Artyom goes on a quest to hopefully rescue the Dark One and learn more about their existence whereas their leader wants to kill it. And so Artyom travels, with occasional some help from an AI partner, under and over ruined Russia, fighting other factions and other mutated beings as he makes his way to the end.

    While the story itself is interesting enough to keep going by itself and not simply an excuse to kill things, the atmosphere is really where Last Light takes on a life of its own. Using a pretty beefy PC (I couldn't max out any of the aliasing but everything else was full blast), I have no issue in saying Metro Last Light is easily one of the most gorgeous things you can have on your hard drive. From some stunning vistas and great weather effects when you're on the surface, great textures and attention to detail such as the smearing of water/blood on your gas mask's visor, and that's in addition to some stellar lighting, getting the game to its full graphical peak is a sight. And the atmosphere it's presenting is certainly incredible too as you make your way through ruined tunnels, abandoned stations, swamps and near destroyed cities, the feeling is one of eeriness and a bit melancholy. While I felt, whether just due to difference in graphics or presentation, that 2033 had a more desolate feeling when in came to people's living conditions, you can feel just how run down and cobbled together things are.

    While the gameplay of 2033 was serviceable if a bit undercooked at best, Last Light drastically improves on it and primarily that's in the gunplay. You know those kind of games where the shooting is so bad you'd do the sneaking route just to avoid the combat? That was 2033 but thankfully that's not an issue here. A lot more fluid and responsive, fighting isn't a chore. The gas masks return since certain areas are too irradiated, a working gas mask and extra filters are a necessity to keep going with even a button solely designed to clean off your visor (since blood has a tendency to smear). But then again some things have been introduced or kept that can drop the game down a peg. I had to literally restart one chapter because a boss fight left me not only lacking in supplies but one minute left of air, and these bosses are a bit bullet-spongey. They also seem to have some damn good reach so expect to run your ass off only to get hit once or twice in the back anyway. The standard werewolf-like enemies are also a pain since they like to charge you and slash you...repeatedly...in groups. Pro-tip: bring a shotgun.

    Speaking of, you can modify your guns to have whatever style of gameplay you want to pursue, from laser scopes to silencers to extra magazines, all these cost the more nicer bullets, which have extra damage but are used as currency as well. While I never got attached to a particular gun (except for this one shotgun which was a lifesaver), there's a nice range of firearms at your disposal and being able to customize how you want to use them is welcome. You can also use some specialty equipment such as incendiary and timed grenades, throwing knives and claymores. Though the game's ending is a bit dependent on you not killing a lot of stuff, you're certainly capable of handling yourself this time around. As for the extra damage bullets, they were barely noticeable. It's a cool gameplay hook: do you use these bullets for more damage, or use them as cash to refill ammo or re-stock? But the opportunity to use them never became an issue and had I not looked in the options menu towards the end of the game, I probably couldn't even tell you the key-binding to use them.

    While the gripes are noticeable, I felt the overall package was strong enough to either make them just small grievances or not impactful enough to make the game worse. Featuring a respectable 10 hour length, some additional DLC to keep you interested and an intriguing story and worth-the-admission atmosphere and graphical prowess, I can say Metro Last Light is one of the finer games I've played this year.

    Other reviews for Metro: Last Light (PC)

      Metro: Last Light: A game where the biggest issue is that it is so good, that by the end you want even more 0

      The Metro series has been one of the strongest post-apocalyptic games to come out of the last decade, up there with the greats such as Fallout and STALKER (Which it will inevitably be compared to, even though STALKER isn't even really a post-apocalypse game despite echoing the many themes of the subgenre). The original was a great atmospheric shooter but a bit lacking in some elements. Still, its heart was in the right place, so its mistakes were easily made up for.Last Light not only fixes thos...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

      A beautifully rendered world that unfortunately breaks the immersion in several ways 0

      The world of Metro: Last Light is a horrifying one. It takes place after a nuclear apocalypse has rendered the surface uninhabitable, due to radiation and mutant creatures who have made it their home. All the remaining humans, at least the ones in Russia where the game takes place, live in the underground Metro system, using the tunnels to cross between various outposts scattered throughout the old rail lines. Several factions have risen within the Metro in the years since the bombs; you play a...

      1 out of 1 found this review helpful.

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