Metro Last Light Review

Metor Last Light By THQ
Metro: Last Light
By THQ

Another romp in the Russian Underground system Metro: Last Light – but the question is “is it any good?”

Plot

It’s time to grab your improvised gun, your gas mask and your flashlight and get attacked by all and sundry…

From the box

It is the year 2034.

Beneath the ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow, in the tunnels of the Metro, the remnants of mankind are besieged by deadly threats from outside – and within.

Mutants stalk the catacombs beneath the desolate surface, and hunt amidst the poisoned skies above.

But rather than stand united, the station-cities of the Metro are locked in a struggle for the ultimate power, a doomsday device from the military vaults of D6. A civil war is stirring that could wipe humanity from the face of the earth forever.

As Artyom, burdened by guilt but driven by hope, you hold the key to our survival – the last light in our darkest hour…

Gameplay

I actually found myself losing my usual, completionist attitude of going everywhere and finding everything.
Carrying on from it’s predecessors ending – where you launched missiles at the ‘Dark Ones’ nests, It’s the usual gun-play in this First Person Shooter, but with some great stealth elements.

The Rangers, who you have now joined, have settled in an underground bunker known as D6 where a mysterious shaman type character tells you that a single Dark One survived the missile strike and it’s up to you to make peace with it as he believes it’s the key to the future; your leader, Colonel Millar, decides that it’s better dead though and sends you out – along with a rather smart-mouthed female sniper to kill it.

You pretty much know where this is going from here; weapons, upgrades, darkness, bad guys and monsters and the like, mean you get to shoot stuff, in an almost linear fashion.

Review

For me this was a time filler until something better crops up, and it never felt like anything new was introduced.

The linear nature of the gameplay was a huge detriment to me. I actually found myself losing my usual, completionist attitude of going everywhere and finding everything. Something unusual in my gaming; I just wanted to see where the story was going, and there were environments, enemies and stuff in the way.

The graphics in the game are very good though, and do give a great view of post apocalyptic Russia after the bomb fell. Venturing outside has you walking through decimated parks, and cityscapes, all rich in detail and well crafted destruction.

There was also much talk of the improved AI (Artificial Intelligence), though I personally thought it wasn’t that good – having a silenced weapon, and picking off the bad guys from darkened corners was all too easy, I’m sorry to say. Even on the higher difficulty I found it not too challenging.

Quite a few times I found the monsters just looking at me, awaiting the inevitable head-shot.

It is however still quite a fun romp through the Metro system; and if you can look past its flaws, I’d certainly give it a go.

Overall I’d give it a 6/10