Here at SFL, we’re quite used to seeing bleak post-apocalyptic visions of the future, but 4A games have made it an art. In a top secret London location with a small gaggle of gaming journalists, we sat huddled around a giant screen in the basement of the hotel to watch the E3 demo of Metro Last Light.
From the first second of an opening sequence packed with glorious detail that instantly sets the devastatingly desolate tone, it’s clear that the aim of creating the best looking game ideally on any console is still the number one priority here. We’re watching the PC demo and it’s totally absorbing with dark, forbidding tunnels and concrete Eastern European attitudes and environments. Last Light might be a follow up to the events of Metro 2033 but it thankfully steers clear of the art-house thriller that author Dmitry Glukhovsky imagined in Metro 2034. With his blessing, 4A games have kept the bleak, atmospheric elements of his world but have created an entirely new story in a way only the Ukrainian developers would ever have achieved. Last Light is more than just a snappy title. Still confined to the bowels of the Russian underground after the surface of the Earth was reduced to a poisonous wasteland, the civil war between feuding station communities, all seeking control over a doomsday device that threatens to destroy humanity forever continues, though above ground there’s a glimmer of hope in the slowly emerging blue skies.
Below ground, protagonist Artyom begins unscrewing lightbulbs and creeping in the shadows as he picks off one unwitting enemy after another. Stealth and survival were integral to the first Metro game so fans will be happy that they’ll still be required to scavenge for bullets and keep checking their air filters if they want to survive. Chatting with executive producer Dean Sharpe, we learned that they've purposely kept the mood and intensity the same but that the gameplay systems have been built from the ground up in response to comments regarding the clumsy and unauthentic combat which led to Metro 2033 becoming known as a flawed masterpiece. “In Last Light, you can complete an entire level without being detected, it’s tense and methodical but we listened to what the majority of players wanted and have responded with a game that also allows you to go through all guns blazing”. We're happy to let Dean boast about this as we not only witnessed how the destruction of surfaces or use of objects with independent physics can give you the tactical advantage but how enemies are swiftly blasted away with better weapons and core combat that is far more deadly than previously seen.
The best demonstration of this heady covert combat cocktail came when Artyom walks through ranks of rivals during their station rally. Swastika flags drape the walls, he steadily progresses through the rows of armed men as he heads towards the exit and we wait for all hell to break loose. When it does, it’s truly eyes wide open satisfaction as Artyom ducks out through a side exit with his machine gun pounding hot as dozens of angry merciless Russians take up pursuit. Before leaping onto a flaming, speeding tube train, his vision sways, the sound mutes as bullets ring in his ears.
With the additional promise of multiplayer, Metro Last Light is shaping up to be inventive, beautiful and darkly edgy with white hot thrills in this East meets West sci-fi spectacular and we’re convinced gamers everywhere are going to love it when THQ publish it next year.