2014 was a year of the past if there ever was one. Remakes, remasters and...Redux's. The Metro games were not exactly high on peoples lists of expected remasters but alas they arrived on a single disc with Metro 2033 having a nifty engine, graphical and gameplay upgrade to boot; but that game is now 4 years old so it was beginning to show its age. Metro: Last Light however released last year for the PS3, PC & 360, so some could argue is there a point to this upgrade, what does the Redux add that the original doesn't? Well...1080p/60FPS is a start, plus all DLC and a gameplay option to make it more survival based like Metro 2033's original release, but besides that next to nothing...so should you upgrade? And more importantly if you have yet to play the game, should you bother?
Metro: Last Light is based off Russian novelist Dimitry Glukhovsky's Metro 2033 & Metro 2034 novels, though is not an adaptation of either unlike its preceding game which was a direct adaptation of the novel of the same name.
Last Light takes place directly after the events of 2033 wherein the player, Artyom, is enrolled with full honours to the 'Ranger' military. After destroying the home of the Dark Ones and allowing the Rangers to occupy the D6 Facility, Artyom is ready to live a life of peace in the Russian Metro tunnels he calls home. However when nightmares involving the Dark Ones haunt Artyom, returning character Khan informs him of a single surviving Dark One, one that he believes is the key to humanity's survival. With said information Artyom heads out of D6 and to travel the Metro and the poisonous, mutant infested overworld to find the Dark One and bring him to Khan.
However this proves to be difficult, with tensions running high in the Communist and Fourth Reich factions of the Metro over the Rangers acquisition of D6, both factions seek to take the facility for themselves, something only Artyom and the Dark One can stop.
Metro: Last Light's story is one word. Disappointing. I should have seen it coming. Due to the plot not being penned by the author himself, it does not delve into what made 2033's story so fascinating. The Metro in Last Light merely becomes an environment, not a world full of activity and intrigue. It has a been there, done that feeling about it. The story is cliché with plot holes a plenty, things happen due to sheer convenience or because nobody else is competent enough to do it, leaving Artyom to do it all. How this game's story was praised as one of the best of last year is beyond me. Slated as a contender against the likes of The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto V and Bioshock Infinite for best story, yet the thing is held together with duct tape and spit, much like the Metro's housing facilities.
Characters are boring and shallow, I cannot remember any side characters names let alone what their story was. Even Artyom comes off as unlikeable in this one. In 2033 he was new to everything, he looked at things for the first time and we got to see his guttural response to it, much like our own. But in Last Light he has a lower, darker tone, as if he has been doing this his whole life and has seen this stuff many times before. A love story is also thrown in from out of nowhere, and I mean out of nowhere, like you will not see it coming, it just happens in a singular scene and then nothing more is said about it until the epilogue cutscene. Speaking of which, don't even get me started on the ending, it completely missed the point of what the Metro series was about. Poor effort 4A Games, I expected better.
Gameplay is Last Light's saving grace, particularly on its original settings, now dubbed 'Spartan' mode. Spartan is a more combat focussed experience, offering more ammo and survival resources to allow you to engage in combat situations more frequently, but still needing to be wary of limited resources. Survival was designed for Metro 2033 and though Last Light has been reworked for that setting in many areas, its in 2033 it should stay as far as I'm concerned. Last Light has a much more action orientated story than 2033 and as such, being severely limited with resources and being forced to opt out of combat whenever possible feels alien and slightly contradictory to the story.
For those who played the original Metro 2033, Last Light's UI is the default for the Redux collection, incorporating a much cleaner HUD and in game item screens. Besides this there are no major changes to gameplay, besides the more action orientated focus, but that will only be noticeable if you do not play Metro 2033 Redux.
Currency is still managed in military grade ammunition, you still need to manage air filters for your gas masks in case of any trips to Russia's wasteland surface and ammo is always in short supply. Metro is a game of getting by on the bare minimum, about knowing your limits and looting everywhere.
The game's larger actions sequences are also much more plentiful than 2033, including a thrilling final third of the game, despite the unnecessarily slow start and middle. If you want a game where you can jump in and shoot things from the word go, Metro is not your series.
Last Light's graphics on last generation hardware were impressive to say the least, particularly Russia's expansive, post apocalyptic surface. This translates well to next gen with faster loading times, better textures, higher resolution and a faster frame rate. Besides that there is next to no difference between the last gen version and current gen in terms of visuals. Its just the minor tweaks that come with a remastering.
What is disappointing yet again though, is the continued lack of quality sound design. Audio panning was again a problem I encountered, where characters voices would be panned at ridiculous distances from where I was facing. Guns also sound pathetic and weak, plus the larger mutants that are much more frequent in Last Light, are capable of creating distortion. Voice action is another botched job with unconvincing performances from all involved and again, subtitles is recommended due to the poor audio mixing and thick Russian accents. Its all well and good having characters that have matching accents t the country they originate from, but if the audio is crap you cant understand it.
On the whole Last Light is extremely underwhelming. As a sequel it lacks being able to provide a worthy continuation of the story that was provided in Metro 2033. This is its main drawback, for a game that relies on the story so much, for it to be so uninteresting is a major major setback.
Its gameplay does redeem it, so long as you can sit through a long 6-7 hour period where little happens before being treated to a solid 3-4 hours of enjoyable, survival FPS gameplay.
Should you buy Metro: Last Light? If you are a newcomer, no. If you are an existing fan then decide how much you like 2033 and decide from there if you want it spoiled by a sub par sequel. As for newcomers, is Metro Redux worth your time? For Metro 2033 I would argue yes, for Last Light I argue no. Toss a coin and see what happens, it seems to be what 4A Games did with Metro: Last Light.
Metro: Last Light Redux – 5/10
+Solid, Unique Take On FPS Gameplay
+Good Graphical Standard
-Poorly Written Story & Terrible Ending
-Uninteresting Characters
-Unnecessary Slow Pacing
-Bad Audio Design
