I have to be honest, before being allowed to review Metro: Last Light, I had really no clue what the series was about. Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised and disappointed that I discovered this series earlier. Metro: Last Light picks up directly after the events of Metro 2033, although fans of the book series might be interested to know that the story deviates almost completely from Metro 2034. Once again you play as Artyom, who has been tasked to track down a "Dark One" survivor, the last of his kind. But during his pursuit he is hunted by all sorts of horrors including man and mutants.

Taking in the Sights

While playing through the game, one thing that kept standing out to me was the great detail 4A Games went to bring the world of the Metro alive. Each of the stations of the Metro have a distinct look and life to them, from the artisans of the Theater, to the waterways of Venice. In between those stations are some seriously creepy, and dark tunnels. Not only will you contend with enemy soldiers, but mutants, and visions of the dead. Even with all of this detail the game ran smoothly on my aging gaming laptop. Granted, I wasn't able to crank the graphic settings up beyond LOW, but it still looked fantastic and the frame-rate was pretty solid throughout the game. The only hiccup that I had experienced was during the final battle which caused my frame rate to drop quite a bit. Although, I suspect that is more to do with my older laptop, and less with the game, but it's worth mentioning.

How Does It Play?

The game follows up sensory candy with solid gameplay. The AI never feels dumb and will try to seek you out and flank you. While you can charge into combat guns ablaze, the level design encourages stealth. You can shut off or break light sources to sneak by or perform stealth kills or knock outs. You'll find a variety of weapons for sale from vendors at the stations or on the corpses of your enemies, although I stuck with almost the same 3 guns the entire playthrough. I never really felt the need to purchase or pick up different weapons since the weapons I chose fit my play style. Even though they can be fitted with different modifications, I do wish there was more interesting designs for the weapons.

Keep 'em Coming Back For More

The playthrough through the story took me about 9 and 1/2 hours, and I earned about a 1/3rd of the achievements in the process. But Metro: Last Light does offer up some great challenges including Ranger Mode, which increases the difficulty without cheapening the gameplay with bullet sponge enemies, and removes the rest of the already limited hud. The only downside is unlike the original Metro 2033, this mode is not included by default with the game and instead is being offered as part of the Limited Edition launch version or a separate $5 DLC purchase. That is a little disappointing. Beyond that there is an pacifism achievement, Shadow Ranger, which challenges you to complete the game without killing any humans, which sounds incredibly difficult.

The Verdict

Overall, I enjoyed my stay in the Metro. The game reminds me a lot of another FPS series with a great story that I'm quite fond of, Bioshock. Metro: Last Light shares a lot of the positives from that series, including the compelling story and characters, detailed locales, and fun and challenging gameplay. I can easily recommend this game despite some somewhat minor gripes.

Price: $59.99 PS3 & XBOX 360, $49.99 PC (STEAM)
Version Reviewed: PC
Acquisition Method: Promo code provided by publisher