Review of Metro: Last Light

Metro: Last Light is a part of a long line series of books and video games about Post - Apocalyptic Russia. The surface world is covered in radioactive areas and mutated animals. People live underground in abandoned subways and you play as Artyom. A man who seems to have a history with the main mutants called the Dark Ones and he is the one man who can be the bridge or the destroyer of the link between the surviving humans and the new creatures of the world. The game plays a lot like Rage in the sense that you run a linear story-line and simply run about and shot or "flashlight" bad guys. The game plays on that there are dark areas and that there are creatures that will like nothing more than to rip your intestines out from your abdomen and wrap them around you like necklaces ... or a noose. Either way, strange things want to kill you and you have a primary, secondary, sidearm and flashlight to return the favor. Why flashlights? Not entirely sure. I am sure that they explained it but I fight like a solider. They point and I tend to shoot bullets, throw grenades like things or use whatever interesting mechanic to eliminate my enemies without really knowing how it works. The story is slightly interesting but when I found out there were books prior to the games and I skimmed through them ... I realized that the books were better ... but isn't that always the case? The game assumes that you know some of the backstory so it doesn't explain much of why or how things are really happening. Things just are and you have to accept it and if that is okay by you ( since you are a solider like myself ) then enjoy ... well actually I can't say that you do a lot of shooting.

Now, I am not saying that there isn't shooting but the game gives you the strong ( STRONG ) suggestion to sneak around to make things easier for you. Turn off light switches, stay in the shadows, quiet takedowns, these things and more allow you to slip through human defenses and some mutate ambushes to make it easier. It goes so far as to award you Achievements for getting through areas without raising alarms nor killing anyone. In that sense it feels like a First Person Splinter Cell game without the tech but it does add to the gameplay. There is no map or bad guy indicator so you have to keep your eyes and ears open to your environment to make it to your objective. All in all, the game is fun regardless if you want to sneak around or to shoot your way through everything that moves, if that is what you are looking for. And it does a decent job at involving you into this particular installment of the Metro series but, like I said, if you aren't familiar with the other installments, you will feel a sense that you might be the last guy in on what's going on. With that being said, I strongly believe that this game is more of a rent than a actual purchase. Borrow from a friend if you like it more than 3-4 days but I doubt that you'll return to this game once defeated. It will probably collect dust like the Apocalyptic subways featured in the game.

#metro #postnuclearwar #fps #adventure #series #postapocalypticrussia #postapocalyptic #darkones #artyom #rage #rent