Artyom. That's the name of the character you play as in Metro: Last Light. A man who is a well respected fighter in the faction, Spartans. There are two other factions, the Reich and the Reds. The Reich consisting of Nazis who are trying to create a master race of non-mutated people--the Reds consisting of communists. Needless to say, both of these factions are sort of evil, while your faction, the Spartans, are more neutral. The Spartans just consist of highly trained Rangers who have come about owning a base called D6. This base is rumored to have enough food and materials to last for a long time, so the Reds wants to take D6 over.
This isn't the only element of plot too, as there is another thing--the dark ones. These are some alien like creatures that appeared in the first one--which I actually didn't play but the game informed me of everything--which you had wiped off the face of the earth, or so you thought. In the beginning of the game, you are told by someone, presumably from the first game, that there is a Dark One left and that you should try to communicate with it as you are the only person that is capable of communicating with it. Your commander desires the opposite and he tells you to kill the Dark One. So thus begins your journey out of the Metro into the surface.
It's a journey full of interesting characters, an interesting story, intriguing dialogue, powerful weapons, and an amazing world. The game truly feels alive. It's a game that's full of heart whether it's from the beautiful story or just from the wonderfully crafted world. It's easy to be seen in the hopeful story, but I was amazed at what the people did with the world. It's so full of content for a linear FPS. The developers really took their time on trying to add as much detail as they could whether it be in the meticulous environments you travel through or by the many conversations between people that you hear. These are always interesting and it makes the world feel alive. All of this made me take my time throughout the game in complete patience because I wanted to fully absorb in the desolate world.
Although I called the game a linear FPS, it has some amazing non linear elements--I just called it linear because it doesn't have the freedom of say Dishonored or a Bethesda game. The level design is fantastic and it provides the player with many options on how to get past the level such as not killing the enemies, you can actually complete the game with only killing one human the entire game; creeping up behind them and taking them out with a knife or knocking them out; or just going with a full frontal assault. Either of these options is just as fulfilling as the others thanks to the developer. I always tried to sneak up behind people because it was insanely satisfying to complete levels like that, but when the tide was changed, I would just as eagerly pull out my six round shotgun to finish the job.
Also take in the exploration in the game. Exploration is key because you need to search for gas mask filters and ammo, or even the currency in the game. There's a lot to explore in this game and it didn't really become a numbing task for me as I thought it was interesting seeing all the different places. You see in the game what use to be of humanity before the war, and there's just something haunting about that. Seeing shadows--people that aren't actually there but are still lingering in a ghost like form--creeped me out while I was exploring; and I wanted to get out of there as fast as I could, but I pushed on to see if there was anything there.
This game proved to me something: that FPS's can have a good story driven single player. There is so much garbage out there right now--I'm looking at you COD and Battlefield's single player-- that playing this game just filled me with hope. I always focus on playing third person shooters, but this game is just as deserving to be in my collection. It's a passionate display of what a FPS game can be. A game with beautiful story filled with a vast arsenal of interesting, powerful weapons. While I experienced a few bugs in the game, they were so minor they couldn't diminish the value of the game. This is FPS gaming at its finest, which should be played by anyone who has been disappointed by what FPS games offer today.