Metro: Last Light hit the shelves in May 2013 and got some decent looking reviews from the usual game magazines and reviewists around the world. I'll be in honest and say that until it was released as part of the PS+ February update I had never heard of the game.
It's set in a post-apocalyptic Moscow in which the majority of survivors live in the Metro. It's an adaptation of the events after the novels Metro 2033 and Metro 2034 written by Dmitry Glukhovsky (and rumours of this game being adapted into a third book in the series).
The game gave me a good 12-14 hours of gameplay, it may be shorter for a better gamer, and could be longer for someone whose willing to explore some of the levels a bit more. You play as Artyom, an individual who agrees to a missile strike on the world above the metro to rid it of the post-apocalyptic monsters. The game centres around an area called D6, an unexplored and unknown area that the factions of the underground Moscow want to acquire for their own devices. You go through many different levels accomplishing many different objects. One of these objects is the finding, seemingly befriending, and interacting with a young dark one, which is very important to the story (I am trying my best to avoid spoilers!)
I'll start off with the bad aspects of this game. One annoying thing for me was the on-screen inventories. The game is set during a post-apocalyptic time, so venturing outside and certain parts of the metro need the assistance of a gas mask. You access it by holding a button and then selecting the gas mask. Much of everything else you need is also fount through this system. It's a good idea in theory, sadly for me, it felt clumsy at times. The game is designed to be as immersive as possible (more on this soon) so when panicked it becomes an absolute pain to change or alter something as you press every button to try and get to the right menu!
To the immersive elements of the game, this is both a good and a bad point, sometimes the attempted immersive game play slows it all down to a bore. I can be very attentive but I found myself struggling at times with this game, especially at the start leading me to sometimes 'play' (as you can do a chapter without doing anything but listening) chapters a second time to make sure I've got everything. The game also tries to use this to emphasise a love story, and by love story I (bit of a spoiler coming here) mean what feels like a quickly put together sex scene. I can appreciate that sex can happen at any time in the real world, but it just feels a bit weird in a video game dimension, and it feels like it's just been thrown together without any real thinking. It starts, then it ends. Very strange. I'm always up for a good sex scene (being a massive Game of Thrones fan proves that sex scenes don't have to be weird or uncomfortable because they are done so well) but the one in Metro is just mind boggling. I do understand why it's there, in the grand scheme of the story but fucking hell, it's enough to put you off sex (even in a post-apocalyptic underground Russia!)
And now to the good. Graphically this game is beautiful. Regardless of the environment you are in the developers have obviously put in some time and effort into making sure that the places look like you would expect of a ruined Russia or a populated metro tunnel. These graphics may contribute to the game sometimes freezing and other environment issues but it's one of them things where the good far outweighs the bad. If a game freezes once or twice because it's struggling with graphics that look as good as Metro's then fine by me. I'm from the 16-bit age, the fact that these guys have visible laugh lines is a fucking plus! Overall, the level design is interesting and it doesn't look like anything is just simply copy and pasted from past levels (apart from when you visit the same place twice, obviously!).
Another good aspect of the game is the storyline. I briefly mentioned the storyline earlier in this review and do not wish to go on about it. To really learn about it I would seriously suggest reading the books and playing the game. I'm really interesting in acquiring the novels. Once the initial struggle I had getting into this game was over, I really bought into the story line and the interaction with the Dark One really brings out the emotion of Artyom during the snippets where he talks during loading screens (another good touch). You really get a sense of importance, sadness, fear and happiness throughout the story by little things. I think I'm a positive gamer so was able to buy into the story easily and am so pleased I stuck by it despite it's slow start. I'm not sure if the Dark One you encounter can be seen as a sidekick but his inclusion really brings out the game. It happens toward the latter part of the game but you meet him quite early. Just thinking about the relationship really makes me happy!
The best aspect of this game, despite me stating it being a bad point earlier, is the attempted immersive ideal of the game. This is helped by the good aspects already mentioned. The graphics make you take in the area as best you can and the storyline helps you really believe you are Artyom and you are walking, shooting, running and gasping for air as you can't work out the button layout! Some of the most immersive segments of the game come from just walking around civilian areas. The amount of detail used both visual and sound make you feel as if are there. From pictures to conversations, it really makes you think and live it. You're not really doing anything at these points either, just seemingly walking from A to B, but it feels immersive. You can listen in on peoples conversations that go on for about 5 minutes, these conversations can be fairly mundane stuff to heated discussions allowing you to act the hero after the conversation has ended for some moral points. There are also parts of the missions where the game takes over, it essentially goes to a cutscene but if you're like me, you don't realise because the same engine is used for cutscenes and game play. Yes I have sat there 'playing' when I have had no control whatsoever. This game wins on the immersive levels in this respects. It can get quite weird though, but I suppose that could be seen as a good point but it just freaked me out!
Overall, I feel the game is quite rewarding. Despite it's sloppy game mechanics and weird sections, the ride of emotion and fun you have taking down different factions whilst going through the linear, character based game is well worth your time. I'm not ashamed to say that I got sad at points of this game, got happy at other parts and was truly confused by some of the twists and turns that the storyline has you going through. I am happy that by the end I totally bought into what was going on and can see the back of this game with a happy memory.
Would I play it again? Well because I got it on PS+ I will always have it on the PS3. Apparently there is a PS4 version in the works and I am very interested in this. I don't currently own a PS4 but hope this game is out when I finally out on it. If they fix the minor issues this game could be seen somewhat as a classic, the added power could mean extra levels and a less linear experience. I am definitely interested in getting it on the PS4 and will more than likely revisit the PS3 version.
Inabit.
SJ.
