Spoilers only discussed at the very bottom

Metro: Last Light is a case of one step forward, one step back: it makes a lot of improvements to its predecessor at the expense of some of its more unique elements, and while I ultimately enjoyed things more, I can definitely see said changes being viewed as derogatory by ardent fans.

Let’s start with the good, though: anyone who’s read my thoughts on 2033 knows my biggest gripes with it were the pseudo-sandbox schemes. See, much like Mirror’s Edge, 2033 boasted long-open playpens that ended up being fraudulent window dressing -- what originally appeared to be a wide array of opportunities quickly outed themselves as a glorified round of Minesweeper wherein any wrong move off the predesignated path landed you in hot water. It was annoying, it was cumbersome, and most importantly it made no sense- I remember once veering towards an adjacent tunnel only to get swallowed up by a vine critter, and it begged the question of why the devs even bothered granting such agency if they were just going to punish players who exercised it?

Well, luckily, Last Light has done away with this format, replacing things with fully linear-levels chock-full of soft and hard blocks. There are times where you can wander off a bit, but I always found these led to some enclosed barrier ripe with hidden caches rather than a secret death spring drummed up by some sadistic coder (and yes, this applies to the surface as well).

Another issue that’s been fixed is the lack of environmental variety. In 2033, you were tasked with traveling to a number of metro stations that didn’t look dissimilar from the other in spite of their ideological variance (this homogeneity, in turn, making you wonder whether you were actually progressing forward in the story). Now, however, 2A’s artisans have really kicked things into gear, drawing sharp lines amongst the Nazi and commie-inspired divergents, as well as all other factions in-between. Whether it’s the prisoner-of-war machinery of the Reichland, crimson-hued propaganda of the Red Line, or pleasure-district vibes of Venice, your travels will verily come across as continuous in-scope.

Finally, the plot is a lot more nuanced -- whereas 2033 occupied the Man vs. Monster schtick of B-Movie fame, Last Light strives to provide greater characterization to not only its humans, but also its forebearer’s antagonists. That’s right, to recap for those who forgot, the Dark Ones who assaulted Artyom’s compound are back, a member of their race having somehow survived his missile barrage. Because of this, Artyom’s boss orders him to eradicate it once and for all, and as you may expect, things don’t quite go according to plan: there’s more to this Survivor than meets the eye, and the other Metro sectors have a vested interest in capturing it too.

Unfortunately, this is also where I have to start bringing in those aforementioned “step back” motifs as Last Light’s story carries as many flaws as it does pros. For starters, there’s no real ethical grayness to any of the situations: yes, the Stalinists wanting a more unified Metro for easier rebuilding is admirable; however, their methods quickly render them mustache-twirling banditos morally-indistinguishable from their neighboring Reichsters. In addition, given that Artyom’s primary obstacles are Nazis and Communists, Last Light, as a whole, can’t help feeling like a conventional US military game at times (I know Metro author Dmitry Glukhovsky, who helped with the game’s script, is Russian, but I stand by this claim).

More importantly, though, I just did not like the complete role-reversal of the Dark Ones(+). While 4A’s expansion of their inner mythology and origins is cool, you’ll be hardpressed to find their motivations consistent with what Artyom underwent in his first title. Don’t get me wrong, the writers did a good job balancing this plotline with the discovery of the aforestated Red Line shenanigans, but because it consists of so many retcons, you’d think the game had a different scripter from 2033.

For my part, however, the biggest chink in Last Light’s story has to be its sufferance from TLOU problem of narrative impetus being at odds with world events. As you may expect, Artyom, objectively-speaking, has no time to rest-or-stop lest tragedy befalls his people, yet the writers concocted SO MANY optional conversations and situations for him to listen in on/participate in, that it makes you wonder whether there was a disconnect between the assistant and head writers: if the former were told to pen to their heart’s content whilst the latter secretly conspired to ascribe their work purely to player discretion. One of the worst moments, for example, sees Artyom find these targets he’s after, only to then be offered a lap dance by some stripper when, logically-speaking, he would’ve F%CKING FOLLOWED the bad guys he FINALLY found (and yes, I did partake in it, but tu quoque my dear).

You may retort, well Red, if it’s not-mandatory, what’s the big deal? Well, because the vast majority of eavesdroppable convos expand on the lore of the series, you’ll be missing out on a ton of stuff by avoiding them: whether it’s soldiers reflecting on a haunted situation that occurred earlier or civilians relating their immediate histories to their peers, these genuinely go a long way towards making the setting feel filled-in. The Metro series has always been universally praised for its atmosphere, and I wouldn’t be surprised if such banter played a part in that praise, especially given that the first game had moments where you’d be allowed to take a break and just explore the various hubs. Here, though, to see Artyom just dick around whilst his compadres and mission patiently wait for him to continue….I don’t know, it really affected my OCD. But, for those of you who care for a more tangible reason to be upset, know that rubbernecking apparently plays a role in the ending you get (more on that later).

Compounding these issues is the annoying fact that Artyom, once again, remains a pointlessly-silent protagonist, and I seriously don’t understand what the rationale behind this decision was. Not only is he an explicit character with his own thoughts and feelings, but 4A already went through the freaking process of casting a voice actor for the opening level scrolls, so what was the issue? I’m not saying Artyom had to speak constantly; however, there were so many instances where a few simple words would’ve gone a long way towards making his progression more organic than the hackneyed-nonsense you witness on hand(++).

And it’s a shame because there are collectable diary entries strewn throughout that highlight his keen intellect/observations regarding current events: how he interprets the Dark Ones as possibly deific; how he sees the continuing conflict between surviving humans as futile. Yet because it’s shoved into dispensable material and not explicitly-depicted, the man is fundamentally rendered a mute imbecile too ball-less to cogently express himself ala Link. To add salt to these wounds, those same journal scraps often contain vital story revelations & explanations, meaning if you missed out on any, there’s a chance you’re going to come away from a scene outright confused.

I don’t want to sound overly-negative as Last Light can get pretty compelling at times, but because its interesting philosophy was stripped from the mainline narrative, what you’re left with are a bunch of standard wartime thrills that end-up dragging the pace.

Furthermore, fans of the first game will be disappointed to learn of the diluted horror here in favor of generic Call of Duty-inspired action. Now look, as someone who didn’t find 2033 particularly frightening (and outright disliked its action beats) I actually consider Last Light’s newfound approach to be for the better: not only did it result in the diminishment of gimmicky suspenseful moments, but it also led to a number of finely-crafted missions entailing Artyom duking it out with some foe or foes. Don’t mistake me, there are a few spine-tingling jiffs here-and-there, but if you’re going in expecting a stage akin to the Library from Metro 1, you’ll be sorely disappointed.

Gameplay as a whole is largely the same as its predecessor’s, albeit with two major fixes to the stealth. One, vision cones have been completely tempered, meaning enemies are now capable of actually seeing you if you’re within a light source. And two, compared to Metro 1 where killing vs knocking-out thugs were indistinguishable actions, Last Light adds a noise appraisal differentiation wherein killing has a greater chance of alerting adjacent foes (reportedly, it also contributes to the type of ending you get, though, again, more on that later).

My only real continuing complaint has to do with the human AI whenever they’re alerted: I’m not sure if this was intentional or a case of the game code breaking, but upon getting frenzied, they start to dash about a 4x4 grid as though injected with amphetamines, this heightened state permanently preventing them from returning to a pre-alert manner. Now you may be thinking, well Red, isn’t that more realistic than most conventional games wherein thugs act like a buddy of theirs wasn’t haphazardly offed ala Assassin’s Creed? Sure, but the problem is they don’t switch to a search-and-destroy mode either: it’s literally as though their pathfinding has collapsed, preventing them from roving away and you from being able to outmaneuver them amidst the fever. Compare this to Arkham Asylum, a game that came out four years prior, wherein goons swapped-up patterns the moment they realized Batman was after them, and you’ll see what I mean.

Interestingly, despite, as I said before, Last Light tossing out most of its horror atmosphere, it does semi-double down on its survivor aspects: on the one hand, masks and filters can only be scavenged from the world; weapons need to be upgraded for tougher enemies, and vendors are much more expensive. On the other hand, though, finding new guns and ammunition (at least on Survival - Hardcore mode) isn’t an arduous task, and while you could just amp up the difficulty, this has the side effect of making Artyom pathetically-vulnerable to damage, which is not something you’ll want to deal with in light of the boss fights….

Yes, that’s right; in addition to your standard waves of enemies, Artyom will occasionally come across specially-designated foes that pack a greater punch, and though the gunplay is solid, the movement system simply isn’t up-to-par to accommodate these faster beasts: Arty has a short jump, limited sprint, and no strafing of any kind, meaning you’ll probably have to repeat these encounters through no fault of your own.

Besides that, 4A’s ability to craft a HUD-less display remains a superb feat, and, best of all, I really liked the subtle sense of Artyom growing stronger as you get used to the world, its fauna, and the types of situations you’ll encounter.

Graphically, I’m not going to go too in-depth due to 4A reusing their proprietary engine (as well as every asset) from the first game. This is an absolutely gorgeous world baked in Nuclear Winter dread, the titular tunnels a conglomerate of musty contraptions as protective as they are claustrophobic. While humans have successfully staved-off extinction, the presence of viridescent water, run-down interiors, and eerie volumetric fog indicate the fight for survival is far from over.

In my review of the first game, I noted the developers didn’t do much to spruce-up the surface beyond your usual post-apocalyptic candor. Well, this time around, the outside is a LOT more versatile courtesy of them indulging in extensive flora decor, scripted weather sequences, as well as good old-fashioned grey-scale. Whereas in 2033, you were primarily stuck with urbicidal cityscapes plucked out of your standard dystopian templates, Last Light opts to show the ecological-side of things, and it truly is admirable witnessing Mother Nature try and reclaim what man took from her: elements pelt everything indiscriminately, plants concurrently look dead-and-alive, and buildings are semi-biotic specimens seemingly wrought out of the ground. Combined with the player spending less time there compared to 2033, and you can bet the virtuosity continues to be persistently fresh with each “resurfacing,” the visuals on par with the best of fictional post-nuclear wastelands.

Even the more faulty aspects tend to have some counterpunch which partially alleviates them. For example, monsters occasionally glitch out and teleport, but at least their death animations are more organic compared to the jerky switcheroos of 2033; fire sprites appear 6th generation-ish, but man does their autumnal blaze light up the subway interiors; bricks are improperly texture-streamed, yet every other veneer is excellent; the top halves of faces manifest as paralyzed, but their bottom halves stand as crisply-synchronized.

For me, the only inexcusable defects were threefold: one, hair modeling is noticeably-unfinished compared to the gorgeous textile and skin work (you’ll be glad the majority of characters wear a buzz cut/hat); two, cutscenes hold a stutter to them (at least on PC), and three (and most importantly) the amount of overly-dim areas. I understand the Metro is underground, but there were times where I literally had to turn-up the brightness just to see my way around, and while you are given a flashlight and lighter, such tools are impractical during stealth portions where the player (obviously) needs to stay hidden. Night vision goggles do technically exist, but unlike the first game where you get them as part of the story, here they’re only obtainable during a certain section, meaning if you missed out on them (like I did), you’re SOL.

The sound trifecta, unfortunately, is worse-off, beginning with the voice acting, which is truly hit-or-miss. On the one hand, all the major NPCs sound quite good, with Khan (JB Blanc), Pavel (Mark Ivanir), Anna (Anna Graves), and Moskvin’s (Dimitri Diatchenko [RIP]) VAs, in particular, giving solid performances (their acting, in turn, proving the stupidity of Craig Mazin’s theory that actors who use a foreign accent are incapable of focusing on their craft adequately). On the other hand, though, nearly all the NPCs (as well as Artyom himself) can be cringy to listen to as they clearly spout-off lines half-heartedly (children being the WORST, a problem you’ll learn is particularly grating in Last Light for reasons I’ll leave vague).

Much like Portal’s OST, the score by Alexei Omelchuk is one of those compositions that’s terrific to hear in-game, yet loses its fervor when placed outside that box. It’s built around two concepts: level ambience and in-game events, both of which are heavily-reliant on the specific layouts, actions, and scripted proceedings you experience in game. Don’t get me wrong, Omelchuk is a maestro when it comes to accentuating such atmospheres, it’s just nothing in particular stands out when all is said-and-done.

Finally, the SFX has its pros-and-cons. Regarding the former, you’ve got a variety of impact noises contingent on the item material you’re shooting at or knifing (metal, glass, stone, flesh, even bone!) in addition to this being the first game I’ve ever played to have realistic “squishy” noises for mud stepping. Enemy sonority has been kicked up a notch significantly, and I always found myself tensing whenever I’d discern the howl of a Watchman or the flapping of a Demon’s wings! Lastly, I absolutely adored any reloading din (especially the Duplet’s!).

On the negative side, though, echoes are surprisingly diminished in spite of your subterranean surroundings, and, more importantly, the game is really weird about sound cues. There are three you’ll recurringly hear, and I genuinely never understood what they were programmed for: a set of piano keys, the blaring of a horn, and something that can only be described as a high-pitched version of the Head of St. Denis from AC Unity. Presumably these are tied to your level of awareness/exposure, but there were so many times in the game where I wasn’t seen yet got hit with one of them (or vice-versa, was seen and heard nothing). If it were a one-off, it’d be fine, but because this inconstancy persists, you’re going to have to deal with it from beginning-to-end.

Unlike its predecessor, Last Light came out with a lot of post-launch content, and having (mostly) played them all, here are my thoughts. First-up is the Faction Pack, consisting of three missions adjacent to Artyom’s journey, starting with Heavy Squad, a glorified reskin of the base game’s last chapter wherein you control a Nazi soldier (yay!) defending his base against an onslaught of Soviets. It’s okay, but fails to provide any unique set pieces minus spamming the area with snipers.

Next is Kshatriya, a roguelite mode wherein you’re tasked with making periodic trips to the surface in order to find rare artifacts for this collector, doing so granting you in-game currency (military grade ammo) that you can then use to procure better weapons and/or replenish supplies. All cards on the table guys, I didn’t have the patience to see this DLC to its completion, but from what I did play, there were one too many enemies thrown your way in contrast to the limited supplies on hand, in addition to filters going up in cost each time you purchased one. On top of this, you’re forced to buy a special suit for extensive surface traversal, this design choice coming across as pointless padding rather than a legitimate endeavor. That said, Kshatriya does add the ability to loot mutants, so there are counterbalances in place should you wish to try it.

Third is Sniper Team, a stealth-based excursion starring a Russian infiltrating a compound. Despite the eponymous weapon not having any use past the initial stage, the mission, as a whole, is actually quite fun: its biggest qualm being how unnaturally short it is. See, I feel like more was originally intended as Sniper Team (per the title) features a subplot entailing your partner going on a secret assignment, only for the story to cut to credits the second you both finally meet-up at the end in Nazi disguises: what he was up to you never find out.

Tower Pack was the second expansion, its focus being an arcade-style mode involving you brawling toe-to-toe against waves of enemies. If this sounds like Survival from Modern Warfare 3, you’d be correct, and while CoD has superb shooting that fits such a schematic, Metro’s, au contraire, does not work as well. Like Kshatriya, I didn’t finish this one, but inadequate gameplay combined with a Ready Player One VR set-up may not find much legion even amongst hardcore fans.

In some ways, the penultimate Developer Pack is more of the same, incorporating an MW2-esque museum in which you can admire the vanilla game’s assets, a combat arena to sic two foes against one another, and a shooting rink for standard gunplay challenges. Luckily, though, the Developer Pack stands apart via a handwoven single-player mission called Spider Lair wherein your nameless character finds himself trapped underground amidst a plethora of mutated arachnids. Perhaps done in response to Last Light’s action-reorientation, Spider Lair adopts a survivor horror framework heavily-inspired by the Alien movies in which you’re armed with a flamethrower against overpowered bugs seeking to devour you. With a tense atmosphere and insistence on strategy over combat (supplies and ammo have to be continuously-scrounged), Spider Lair is a definite sign of 2A’s continuous ability to craft memorable thrills. My sole complaints were it was sometimes hard to discern what needed to be done in order to advance, as well as the finale being annoyingly bleak(+++).

Chronicles was the concluding release, boasting a trifecta of missions framed around Pavel, Khan, and Anna, and sadly the quality wavers amongst the three. The worst, by far, is Anna’s, hers being a swift sidequel to one of the mainline missions in Last Light. In the middle is Pavel’s, his objectives emphasizing standard stealth gameplay in a hypogean bunker. Sadly, just like with Sniper Team, it comes across as unnaturally short, namely due to the finale allowing you to purchase new weapons & ammo, only to abruptly cut-to-black as the man enters a boat.

Thankfully, Khan’s is great , if for no other reason than that it showcases why a voiced protagonist would’ve made for a far better game. You star as Uhlman, one of the side characters from 2033, who meets-up with the mystic during a sabotage mission in the subway. As you can imagine, strange visions quickly befall the guy, their presence simultaneously driving the action and providing you insight into Khan’s mysterious background. With decent visuals and some fantastic interplay between its leads, you have an example of what Artyom could’ve been had 4A granted him a voice.

To close out this review, It’s high-time we spoke on the ending. As I’ve been hinting at throughout, Last Light replicates 2033’s binary formula via providing its own dual cappers, and while it is a fundamentally-pointless excursion due to the lack of in-game effects or carryover drama, I know the prospect will entice some gamers regardless.

Unfortunately, you’ll be hardpressed to know exactly what actions generate what results as not only is it left unclear in the game, but 2A themselves (to my knowledge) have never released an official guide clarifying things. Perusing numerous online resources yielded mixed results with few consistencies: some said looting corpses and killing over knocking-out pushed you towards the “bad” one; others stated the truth derived purely from your interactions with the cityfolk; and still more claimed karma was restricted to major choices made explicit during your journey (this makes the most sense, but also angers me tremendously++++).

As such, because there’s no clear-cut route for what needs to be done, you’re better off just playing the game how you want to play it and looking up the alternate conclusion (if you so desire). Like I mentioned earlier, nothing carries over to Exodus anyway, and, regardless, the bad ending is fine as far as providing a sufficient coda.

Overall, I remain mixed on Last Light. It improves a few things, downgrades others, and ultimately stumbles as a fruitful endeavor. I respect the strong fanbase this series has cultivated; however, having beaten two entries now, I feel it may not be for me.


NOTES

-Occasionally ran into some sound editing bugs in terms of volumic-variance from NPCs, though I’m willing to attribute this to my speaker set-up.

-One cool addition is the ability to use Military Grade Bullets as super-incendiary shells, providing you supplemental magazines at the cost of money. On the difficulty I played, I never had to use this, though I can imagine the prospect being necessary on higher challenges.

-I liked the main menu being a control panel for this steampunk vehicle.

-Artyom has a surprisingly-diverse arsenal of knife takedown animations.

-A couple of sections feature unique dialogue between guardsmen whenever they suspect your presence. Yeah, most posts just devolve to them calling you a b!tch (guessing it’s a common slur in Russia), but it was still cool to hear these naturale convos nonetheless.

-Glukhovsky’s books can ironically be found throughout the world.





-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
SPOILERS
+In the very beginning of the first title, they directly attack Artyom’s comrades and kill them. Here, though, they’ve been rendered into peace loving hippies who were just being misunderstood by the humans they assaulted. It’s really lame, and while the connection to Artyom is kind of interesting, it doesn’t change the fact that this feels like a forced retcon.

++Explaining his purpose to the stragglers in the railways over them magically not shooting him, and stopping Colonel Miller from threatening the Dark Child are two scenes that standout in particular.

+++You emerge from the depths only to get immediately killed by some beast.

++++There are instances where this would warrant you sparing two individuals (Lestnisky and Pavel); individuals who have conducted war crimes and will not face any kind of justice. Let me repeat -- to be bestowed with positive karma, the writers want you to let two war criminals (who tried to kill you no less!), go off scot-free. Yeah, you don’t need me to explain why this enrages me.

-This game features one of the most laughably bad sex scene lead-ins I’ve ever seen in a video game since Fahrenheit. Putting this in the spoiler section because it’s obvious who it involves (hint hint, the ONLY female NPC).
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-