Metro: Last Light Review
Game Emblems
The Good
This is surely one of the best games of 2013 (singleplayer). Don't miss this.
Uh... DLC Ranger Mode is the last of Metro's problems. Waste of money. I recommend STALKER over this **** any day.
Metro: Last Light is an astonishing and moving postapocalyptic journey.
Even a single breath is a valuable commodity outside of the metro. You must don a gas mask to stay alive, but masks require filters, which have limited life spans. You discover more filters by exploring your environs--but exploration takes time, which means watching your available supply of healthy air slowly diminish. If you don't value each minute, the pace of your mission could suddenly change from slowly methodical to terrifyingly urgent, as you sprint towards your destination, gasping with increased desperation and hoping against hope that you might cling to life. Unfortunately, you could encounter one of Last Light's uncommon but annoying invisible walls during such a circumstance, thinking that you might be able to leap over a small obstacle or follow a narrow path, only to discover how wrong you were.
The air is healthier in the metro, but the dangers are no less real. You still confront misshapen mutants in the tunnels, but the darkness plays an important role. One type of creature recoils from the beam of your flashlight, eventually flipping onto its back and making itself vulnerable to your bullets. Battling several at once results in a rhythmic dance as you use your flashlight to keep your distance between you and the mutants' pincers, firing only when you do the most damage. You often find such critters in the blackest of passages--passages you aren't forced to investigate. Yet the lure of such places can be irresistible. The glow of mushrooms and the possibility of valuable ammo beckon you inwards, as does the chance of rescuing an innocent captive held hostage by the enemy factions that also lurk in the tunnels.
You aren't required to go toe to toe with human opposition. You can use darkness to your advantage, twisting light bulbs and flipping circuit breakers to keep yourself hidden, and then sneaking through bases to avoid combat altogether. You can be silently murderous, sidling up behind a guard and slicing his throat, and then quietly flinging a knife into another's back. Human enemies go about their actions in realistic ways; they follow patterns, of course, but they aren't always so regimented as to seem unnatural. As a result, the stealth is fun and tense, though you can always shoot your way out of a bind if you need to.
Firefights can be tough, depending on where and how you're caught sneaking around. You could find yourself cornered, wishing you had put a silencer on that sniper rifle rather than drawing everyone's attention with a single shot. Your enemies are uniformly aggressive when alerted, though hardly the sharpest tacks in the box. Several might get stuck in place, their weapons' barrels clipping through each other and the wall as they twirl about. Others might run about in nonsensical ways or fail to notice your presence as quickly as you'd expect. Yet given the close confines in which you normally face these soldiers, AI issues aren't great distractions, as you'll often be too busy staying alive to notice the oddities. It's when you get stealthy again that the discrepancies become most obvious.
Metro: Last Light's battles and sneaky sequences are tense delights, but what makes the adventure truly sing are how such scenes flow from one to the next--and how the detours between them make battles more impactful. Last Light frequently disrupts its own pace, going from terror to relief in a heartbeat, and putting you in one atmospheric location after another. At one point, you get a short look into a room before you drop into it from the vent above. The room is full of corpses, but it's the sight of one corpse in particular that fills you with unease: that of a little boy. Last Light doesn't linger here; there is no internal dialogue that tells you that Artyom is driven to anger in that moment. But the visual enrages you nonetheless, making the upcoming action and plot points more than just about warring men, but about the consequences that conflict has on the future of the metro.
The surface brings a tenuous visual warmth, even though though the sunlight is diffused through dreary gray clouds. Out here, one companion in particular brings the harsh exterior an unexpected humanity, while diverse sequences, like one that has you escaping the brash onslaught of the wind, keep the pace from ever becoming too predictable. And even in this wasteland, there's visual variety that keeps Last Light from becoming too overbearing. There's beauty in its indigo skies and battered cityscapes, and even in the sunken, asymmetrical angles of a watcher's face. Battling several such beasts at once without any noticeable frame rate drops requires a beast of a machine, however; owners of ATI video cards in particular will notice that Metro: Last Light, while beautiful, is not beautifully optimized. But even if you're forced to lower the resolution (possible) and turn off advanced physics (almost certain), this ruined world is too grotesquely gorgeous not to appreciate.
Metro: Last Light is not an endless barrage of bullets and beasts. It takes the time to let you breathe in the choking atmosphere and allow the chilling fog to seep into your bones. And when it finally comes time to aim your shotgun at mutated fiends, the payoff is grander for the eerie silence that came before. Last Light is notably superior to its predecessor, merging storytelling, shooting, and sneaking into a remarkable and cohesive whole. And through this harmony of game design comes the caustic dissonance of a world so torn asunder that a single possibility can bring with it endless hope.
By
Kevin VanOrd, Senior Editor
Kevin VanOrd is a lifelong RPG lover and violin player. When he isn't busy building PCs and composing symphonies, he watches American Dad reruns with his fat cat, Ollie.
1376 comments
This game has actually been a lot of fun to play. If not for it stopping a few times and the room in the Revolution section where 85% of the enemies just stood still like invulnerable models, I'd call it an excellent game. Not sure what caused the bug but it has been a great game and story all the same. Quite enjoyable!!!
It's one of a few games which GS gave it a proper score , luckily its name is "metro" and not "resident evil",otherwise the GS editors may gave it an awful score too!
1 Like Please please stop trying to be the Longfellow or Whitman of game reviewers and tell me how the game plays. Is this just another WASD walkaround first person shooter, or are there new options or ways to play. For God's sake, is it an open sandbox or linear levels or some unique combination? That last point alone is more important than all the descriptions of the ambiance and the plot. Those who love open games like Bethesda makes are often not into games that are too linear. HOW DOES IT PLAY? Is it unique? Even if it is not, is it close to some other game that those who played it would love to try this one? Does it stick close to a realism that is believable for those who like it gritty and lifelike, or does it reach into the fantastic for those who like mind-blowing special effects and completely unexpected revelations?
3 Like A great game, surely not a 9 but an absolute gem still. Story is ´meh´ in my opinion but most points are scored with atmosphere & setting and immersive gameplay. I praise the originality in gameplay. Pumping pneumatic weapons, putting on gasmasks and scouting for new filters, wiping blood or moist from the mask after a kill or some windy rain, well skip wiping if an enemy cracks the mask, playing with enemies view, upgrading weapons, choosing between flashlight or nightvision, running through irradiated zones, slowing down in heavy wind or on poor soil... In sum, it really feels your are interacting with the environment. Something worth building on in future gamedesign.
Well I've gotta say, I think this is my favourite FPS ever. The shooting is satisfying and tight, the story is narrated well enough to remain gripping, and as KVO pointed out the pacing is just right. Great game start to finish; had a genuine blast. The atmosphere/visuals on capped (no, you don't need a Titan) are just breathtaking at some points. I actually fell off a bridge staring at the landscape. The fact that this had a much smaller budget, team, and so on really astounds me - where does the money go in AAA titles when this pulls off that which so few others do? MUST BUY.
(Small disclaimer: Yes, I've played Bioshock Infinite - amazing game in its own right, but just falls short of this as an entire package, great story though!)
Just finished Metro 2033 and replaying it once again just to recap the story once more (the game is only 7 hours long). The story and atmosphere of the game is excellent. Some gaming mechanisms and pace could have improved but still it is a detailed game. I am looking forward to Last Light. Good job A4 Games.
Metro 2033 has a lot of features to make it a great game and I believe they will carry the same with this game too.. and I was right after all :D
so i was able to track down a limited edition in my country
what does it have beside the obvious ranger mode? cause it costs 300ILS instead of the regualr edition that costs 250ILS
holy crap guys...KVO is never wrong...in my book perhaps with the one exception and we all kinda know what that is.
got this game. omg reminds me of Stalker Chernobyl or whatever mixed with a few other classics regardless its incredibly unique in its own right. This game is incredible thats all i know
1 Like @philMcCrevis if you watch the 1979 movie Stalker, they make a huge reference to it in the game. The part / spoiler alert / where in that special place the ´river´ takes you to where you think on... And that phone ringing... Copy paste from the film.
5 Like They need to update the bad part of the game cause there are no more performance issues on ATI cards
wow.they fixed everything from 2033..i recommend to everyone PLAY 2033.the story takes time 1 year after the first one events and you have the same character....
Goes back to playing Quake 2 on pc let me know when you dumbasses finally can create skill based games again dumbfucks
@casualdumbasses im not a fan of the hand holding games either. They're all too prevalent in games these days.
1 Like THIS IS WORST REVIEW SINCE RE6!!! lol JK. I do have to say I'm probably about half done with the game, I have AMD 6870, and its running pretty damn well 98% of the time. We will see how it goes. Its AWESOME so far tho, best horror game around. JEZZZ GAMESPOT I know you were paid off to not give this game a higher score or something..... lol :)
Beat this last night alot to like here my only pet peeve the AI is beyond retarded when facing human enemies.
Odd, Eurogamer did a piece that states the ps3 version has the better performance vs the 360 one.
1 Like I just downloaded Metro LL yesterday through Steam. And I was blown away by the graphics. I play the game 1680*1050 on HP 21inch 16:10 LED Screen.
Everytime I plan to upgrade my system, I change my mind when I find these high end games can be played with all settings max out using my current Rig.
My Rig is 3 years old, Quad 9600, GTX570, 4GB RAM. 1TB HDD
Yet I manage to get 30-40 FPS with Very High settings, Tessellation Max, SSAO 2X, Advance Physx.
I just dont find any reason to upgrade my Rig.
May be I should wait for GTX770 :)
Now that's a well optimized game. It runs perfectly on my M14x R2 (900p) on high settings with SSAO and Tesselation disabled. Getting 45-50 fps. Great Sequel and loving it so far. Thanks for the great review.
6 Like This game is a good example of what can be done with great graphic blended with good story and gameplay
Do anyone can give me a suggestion, im planing to play this game once im getting gtx 680 is it strong enought to play this?
Yup. You will be absolutely fine with a GTX 680. I'm playing Last Light with a GTX 670 Signature 2 card @ 1200p, AAA (default), very high tessellation, all very high settings, advanced physX. I get anywhere from 45-60fps.
2 Like I remember my first time playing the first metro and it was super, I was so amazed by this solid game, I cant wait to play last light, its downloading now.
@sadeed I'm playing Metro 2033 for the first time now so I'll know whats going on before I play last light.It is really good.
i am now playing metro 2033 (i 1m at chapter 5) i hope this weekend to finish with it and start last light.
1 Like Maybe he just heard of the series, or decided to play it now. Metro 2033 received solid reviews, but it had many flaws. Last Light improved just about everything.
It's the reason why I play games. Exceptional atmosphere, storytelling, great gameplay, great gunplay, great voice acting, and it's well optimized (at least for Nvidia), but I read that they already updated the game and some AMD users are already seeing a huge performance increase and improvements all-around.
@williebazerka @Elann2008 @thequickshooter Yeah, I got it for free in a THQ promotion advertisement, goodness what have I been missing.
Fantastic game, can't wait to play Last Light.
1 Like @Elann2008 @thequickshooter I'm playing Metro 2033 now and it's so good.I can't believe I never played it before.
1 Like It's a really fun, atmospheric game... I was totally immersed in its depressing, dark world. There's a nice balance between stealth and action too, for every taste.
This is one hell of a game. Its amazing with a fast action gameplay. Please buy it and play. Let us save THQ by buying this game and supporting them to
@vikieinstein LOL where the hell have you been? THQ closed its doors last year! The reason this game was released was because it was bought at auction. All of their IP's have been bought....DOH. Crytek bought HOMEFRONT, Ubisoft bought South Park, Darksiders and Red Faction was bought by Platinum Games, and Koch Media bought Saints Row and Metro.
1 Like @vikieinstein THQ is already dead. Let's support A4, the ukranian developers instead.
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Metro: Last Light (Limited Edition)
Not Following
- Publisher(s): Deep Silver
- Developer(s): 4A Games
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: M
Metro: Last Light Navigation
