Gritty, evocative 1st person shooter
Apocalyptic shooter Metro: Last Light places you in the subway network that runs underneath Moscow. After a nuclear war, the Earth's surface is contaminated and uninhabitable, roamed by telepathic creatures and insane soldiers. The game combines a first-person shooter and a creepy, gloomy atmosphere to create a terrifying post-apocalptic alternative reality.
The battle against telepathic monsters
Metro: Last Light is set in a barren wasteland, where Nazi Germany rules and everybody else has been forced below ground. The only people who can survive above ground must wear special breathing equipment, while everybody else takes refuge in subway station townships.
The Metro: Last Light world is beset with mutants and a new race of telepathic humanoids, and it is among them that you must fight. The storyline is loosely based on the novel Metro 1033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky.\n
In Metro: Last Light, you'll play Artyom. The action is interspersed with dialogue that provides you with more information. You'll have 3 weapons to start with, and, as the game progresses, you can build on this arsenal by exchanging ammunition, which serves as the game's currency.
Metro: Last Light is linear and you don't have much freedom to explore. In fact, your biggest choices will probably revolve around whether to attack your enemies rambo-style, or stealthily, under the cover of darkness.
Traditional 1st person shooter
Metro: Last Light is a straight-up first person shooter where you move with the keyboard and mouse and see the action from your character's viewpoint. You can also use a gamepad to play. Pressing the button will allow you to light a torch, which will help keep your photosensitive enemies at bay.
Depending on the situation, you'll need to try different techniques when fighting. Lots of times, you'll find that a stealthy approach will let you sneak up on enemies, saving ammo and avoiding detection in one fell swoop.
In order to survive above ground, you'll need to use a gas mask. Keep an eye out though, because the mask's filter can become blocked, or the eye piece will cloud over with contamination. If either of these scenarios come to pass, it could lead to your demise.
Unnervingly beautiful graphics
The tragedy and pain of the story behind Metro: Last Light is clearly and perfectly reflected in the graphics. Faces are lined with pain and sync crisply with dialogue. The landscape of the decimated world and murky underground are patent and palpable - chipped tiles, rusty pipes, dirty stations and scurrying rats.
Everything in Metro: Last Light is beautifully fluid. The "camera" moves between fights and panorama seamlessly, the music changes from scene to scene, moving from lighthearted excitement to terror and doom. It really is a pleasure to look at.
An exciting stealth terror shooter
Metro: Last Light doesn't do things by halves. The hideous mutants, macabre surprises, creepy atmosphere and awesome soundtrack make for a game that is nothing short of memorable.
We've taken points off for the lack of a co-op mode, which would have been easy to implement. In a sentence, Metro: Last Light is solid - and solitary - entertainment, but lacks re-playability.
