D6 and its secret military contents have been found. But now all of the factions at battle deep within the metro are trying to gain access to the dangerous weapons the vaults contain. Now it is up to Artyom to stop anyone from getting hold of the weapons and killing everyone left alive in the post-apocalyptic world.
1. Gameplay
I liked the original Metro game but had some issues with it. The game was designed to encourage stealth gameplay yet the mechanics made this practically impossible. Bits of broken glass in the level would instantly alert all enemies in the vicinity to the player’s exact location. Traps were everywhere and nearly impossible to avoid. Fortunately, Metro: Last Light keeps all of the positives about its predecessor while fixing most of the negatives. The player takes the role of Artyom, a young ranger who has managed to survive in the post-apocalyptic world of Moscow. Civilization has moved entirely underground in order to avoid the lethal levels of radiation and the even more lethal mutant creatures that roam the surface. But World War 3 continues to rage on in the underground metro system, with multiple factions all vying for control of what little remains of humanity. The game includes a morality system, but most players would never get this unless they have played the previous game or looked up this information ahead of time. One character briefly mentions that the player should be careful, since decisions can have grave consequences, but there is nothing else specific mentioned about the morality system and the game gives very little indication that the system is actually in effect. Many of the player’s actions will have a direct consequence on the morality-based points. Points are given for often inane “actions” like playing a musical instrument or listening to conversations and are potentially taken away for every lethal action the player makes. But no one knows for certain because the system is so vague. Unfortunately this means that even if the player listens to every conversation in the game and makes every major decision in a “good” way, he can still achieve the “bad” ending. I am always careful to be as morally correct as possible when playing through games (it’s second nature actually), yet I still was unable to achieve the good ending. But after going through some of the sections for a second time I realized how easy it was to go through almost every level without resorting to lethal violence. Once I figured this out, I realized that the good ending should be possible if I manage to kill as few people as I can. Yet for achievements such as “only kill people who the game forces you to kill”, I don’t know what this means because there are often non-lethal methods of taking down opponents that the game doesn’t quite indicate. Metro: Last Light isn’t perfect. Despite one of the most frustratingly vague morality systems I have ever encountered, the excellent story and smooth gameplay made this game a lot of fun. It feels a bit like Dishonored, but in a darker, grimmer atmosphere.
The campaign took me around 10 hours to complete. I didn’t manage to find all of the notes or get the achievements, so there are definitely things I could go back and do. Since there are two different endings to the story, there is definitely motivation to go back and redo the game. This is especially true if you get the “bad” ending. However, without any multiplayer modes, the replayability after both endings have been achieved is relatively minimal.
I never had much problem getting through this game, so frustration is completely nonexistent in a traditional sense. However, there were a couple of things that disappointed me so much that they became frustrating. First, the morality system is extremely vague. I completed all of the major actions in a “good” way, yet because of the number of enemies that I killed or my inability to listen to people drivel on about meaningless subjects for minutes prevented me from obtaining the “good” ending. After replaying some chapters and discovering how easy it is to go through the game silently and nonviolently, I was more disappointed in myself than in the game, but being able to understand exactly who I can kill without consequence and who I should try to avoid or subdue nonviolently would have been extremely helpful. There was also great disappointment at the “ranger mode” being offered as DLC. This is basically the hardcore mode designed for elite players. While I would have likely avoided the mode anyway, I believe that poor judgment was used in deciding to make a difficulty level into a preorder incentive DLC. 2. Parental Notices
The amount of violence the player will see over the course of the game will vary depending on how the player approaches each situation. The game is designed so that the player can kill just a few enemies total throughout the game, and getting the “good” ending seems to be dependent on this. If the player approaches situations non-lethally, the most common form of violence he will commit is knocking out enemies. This is accomplished by sneaking up on them and punching them in the face. If the player chooses a more lethal path, he can knife enemies instead of punching them. However, if the player got this close, there was little reason to knife an enemy since the overall effects were the same. I never used the knife-kill throughout my initial playthrough. If the player chooses to go through the game more violently, there is a small variety of firearms that the player can use. The player can attach silencers to most of these weapons to achieve the same stealthy kills as knives but at a greater range. All of these kills on human enemies will result in no blood at all from what I saw. The only exception would be rare, high-powered weapons such as the chaingun or the larger sniper rifles. Some enemies and in-game cutscenes will show more blood. While this blood seems significant in screenshots, it disappears very quickly and only is present in a few of the scenes. Blood in combat only was significant against animal enemies, since I tended to use the shotgun against them. The player can also use fire to burn enemies. Enemies on fire will run around and scream, trying to put themselves out. However, I hardly used fire grenades since they were extremely loud and obvious to all enemies in the vicinity. There are two sections where the violence level seems to spike significantly. The first is when the player sees the aftermath of a biological weapon attack on a town (discussed in detail in the “Miscellaneous” section). The second is the very end of the game where the player must defend a platform from a horde of highly armored enemies. Aside from the high-powered weapons available to the player, the end of this scene includes one friendly who has his leg severed after being hit by a train.
Sexuality does come up a number of times over the course of the campaign, but each is delivered in some sort of context that justifies the inclusion of the sexuality (though not always the presentation). The first is the cabaret that the player can briefly watch in a large theater hall. This is a fairly straightforward event, lasting less than a minute and just involves girls in corsets and stockings doing the can-can. Considering the fact that the event is a variety show for the mostly male audience, it fits in well with the other acts. In a different city the player must visit a makeshift strip club. Considering the city is designed to be a den of bandits, gangsters, and all around undesirables, I was surprised that this location wasn’t a brothel. Inside, the player can watch a woman dance provocatively on a pole for a small audience. Later, the player will have the opportunity to get a private lap dance from a woman wearing a fishnet dress. While the woman is wearing panties, she is not wearing a bra, which reveals her bare breasts underneath the dress. If the player chooses to pay for her dance the fishnet dress will simply disappear. The player will sit in a chair and watch as she dances in front of and, at times, on him. However, the player is actually discouraged subtly from watching these “performances”. Watching either performance results in a negative morality point, which can lead to a “bad ending” for the player. Unfortunately, as with many other things, the game does a poor job of indicating this. While the previous items are relatively avoidable, there is one scene that all players will encounter. After the main character and his mostly absent female sidekick believe they are infected with biological weapons, the female seduces and initiates sex with the main character. While the scene fades to black before the sex can begin, her tank top falls to the side during the initial conversation, revealing one of her breasts. It’s a rather awkward element to an otherwise appropriate scene. On rare occasions there are also semi-pornographic artworks in the game. I only found these in a few sections though. There is one section where the player has the opportunity to prevent a potential rape. However, because the rape never occurs, it is not a factor in the sexuality rating. This event is discussed in greater detail in the miscellaneous section.
Substances do come up a few times over the course of the campaign. The player will have access to healing syrettes, but I rarely made use of these. The only time I felt forced to use them was during major engagements, and even then this was extremely rare. The animation for use of these syrettes is taking one out of the box and quickly making it disappear towards the player’s chest. Alcohol will also be present in the campaign. Many characters can be seen drinking different types of alcohol (usually vodka), some to the point of passing out drunk. The player will have to drink alcohol in a few sequences. These are usually ways for other characters to drug the player as a means of forwarding the storyline. However, sometimes alcoholic consumption is a voluntary act on the part of the player. The player will have the opportunity to drink at a bar. One drink will cause the screen to sway sickeningly. If the player continues to drink shots, he will eventually pass out. He will be forced to either pay 100 bullets for the damage his drunkenness causes or lose a morality point. Hookah was also present in a minor fashion in this game. The player can see some characters smoking from hookah pipes. There was only one location where I found that I could do the same, which resulted in a swaying screen similar to drunkenness but with a greater variety of random colors.
The only time gambling is even remotely a factor is in one of the towns. The player has the opportunity to present in a very simple shooting gallery. The player pays a certain amount of bullets for an opportunity to shoot rats. If he hits all of the rats before the time runs out, he wins double the amount that he put forward. The initial wager is 10 bullets, which can eventually turn into 80 if the player is successful all three rounds. 3. Other Factors
There are no modding tools available for this game.
In one chapter the player must meet up with allies in a church. While there are clear religious symbols indicating that this was of the Eastern Orthodox sect of Christianity, the religion itself is never mentioned.
Anti-law is not a factor in this game.
There is no multiplayer mode for this game.
Extreme sports are very rare in this game. There is one time where the player has to use a sort of zipline in order to cross a bridge. The line ends up being cut by a demon, causing the player to fall a few dozen feet without much injury. There are also a few sections where the player engages in high-speed rail chases. One of these involves the player shooting at enemies on a different train. Eventually, the player must jump onto that train while his cart matches the train’s speed.
For the most part any sort of magic is completely absent from this game. There are only two exceptions. The first is the “dark one” that is heavily involved in the main story. This creature is able to manipulate people’s minds, talk telepathically, move things telekinetically, and turn invisible at will. While these might simply be biological traits (i.e. an excellent form of chameleon skin), they are not discussed in any detail in the game and, as a result, can only be explained as magical. The second are the various shadows that the player will occasionally see. These seem to be explained as the souls of the people who died from the nuclear blasts. However, I never understood the specifics of the concept, and as a result consider them to be magical in nature.
Rape There is one encounter where the player will hear a pair of men planning to rape a woman in a dark corner of the tunnels. The player has the opportunity to save the woman from her attackers. If he fails to do so, she will end up being accidentally killed by her attackers before the rape can occur. Interrogation In one scene the player is interrogated by the Communist forces who are trying to extract information on the location and contents of D6. One interrogator will beat the player. When unsuccessful, another will attempt to extract information via an unspecified “truth serum”. Execution There are a number of times when the player will watch as people are executed by different groups. The player will even have to stop the execution of an ally by the surviving Nazis. Most of the executions involve murders via firing squad. Weapons of Mass Destruction Weapons of mass destruction come up a few times over the course of the campaign. The entire surface above the metro is heavily irradiated due to nuclear bombings. The actual bombings are shown a number of times via different flashbacks that the player can encounter. These are usually fairly powerful scenes that convey the last moments of peoples’ lives before the bombs killed them. Biological weapons also play a key role in the main plot. A vault hidden underneath Red Square, named D6, holds a number of powerful military weapons including a military-grade strain of the ebola virus. This virus is unleashed upon at least one town, infecting everyone within it. The player will encounter the results of the infection in one scene. The encounter clearly depicts the horrific results of the virus. Suicide There was one “shadow” that looked like it had been hanged or had hanged itself. Other than this, suicide is not a factor in this game. Torture
There are a few locations where some bodies show clear signs of torture. These are part of the environment, though, and are not discussed in any detail.
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