Metro: Last Light Redux

lovely game, played on ps4 years ago and doing a metro replay. gotta say, WHY PAVEL WHY WE WERE BROTHERS IN ARMS! WWHHHHYYYYY?! but yeah good intersting game, great new look on the apocalyse.

One of the best stories in 1st person shooters!

Having played through the Stalker series a long time ago, I got the game for free and decided to dedicate a few evenings to seeing its counterpart. Mind you, I did not play the other Metro games yet, so some of these points may not be as valid. That said, a game should be able to stand on its own, and this one does - mostly. Just finished it and will probably play it again down the road, but there are a few points that did stand out both positively and negatively. First off, I adore the setting. It is intricate enough that I don't immediately see through the shadows, there's clear thought put into the way this world would work, and the characters are (mostly) believeable. Voice acting, direction and sound/music is well done. Graphics are something I tend to ignore, so no comment there. A few parts are silly, where the game expects you to - after a cutscene at the end of the level - walk another 10 steps before ending the level. There are some railroad parts, and a few deaths due to the game being unclear on where to go, but overall they were not overly disruptive. The romance option still stands in my memory as a low point. The love-interest has two 3-minute conversations with the protagonist over the course of the the first half of the game before they do the nasty. It was very obvious what purpose she served to the story, and while her voice acting is fine, the flip in her personality couldn't be more heavy-handed if it was embedded on the page with a maul. I suspect content was either cut, or the 'romance' bit was forced in due to a poor directive order making it mandatory. I personally wouldn't pay the $20,- asking price for it, but with a discount it is a perfectly good experience for the money.

Very surprised by so many negative reviews of this game. For me, it ran perfectly well- there was some sound stuttering when I first started, but this went away on its own and never came back. No bugs, no crashing, achievements worked, everything was very smooth and fluid. The voice acting wasn't mind-blowing but it wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, and the gameplay was engaging enough to carry me through. There is absolutely no way any reasonable person would rate this game 1 star. The only valid complaint I've seen are the long, unskippable intro videos, which really are annoying. The game is a sequel to Metro 2033, though I got it during a GOG giveaway and have never played the first one. You won't be missing anything plot-wise, as the game's setting is quite immersive and provides all the details you could ask for. The game mechanics are pretty fun- in most areas, you can either stick to the shadows and pick off your enemies by sneaking up behind them or shooting them with a silencer, or just go in guns blazing and use cover, machine guns and explosives to take them out. On the surface, it becomes more survival-oriented as you fight off vicious mutants and scrounge for air filters to extend the time you can remain exposed to the irradiated wasteland. There's a good variety of customizable guns and throwing weapons, and despite the entire game taking place in underground tunnels and apocalyptic ruins, every area manages to be distinct and have its own unique character. The included DLC missions are surprisingly fun too, with the exception of Tower, which is just frustrating, and Anna, which is so short you'll wonder why they bothered. The boss fights are also good, with the exception of one near the end, where you need to shoot weak spots on a tank, but ONLY with a particular gun for some reason. This frustration, along with the intro videos, knock off a star. I got this game for free, but if you weren't so lucky it's worth picking up during a sale.

Shooters and post apocalypse games are dime a dozen these days but metro 2033 and Last light both have the IMMERSION ace up their sleeve, let me explain... In a typical shooter game you have enemies, a gun and some fancy level to navigate the shooting gallery, Metro takes the basics and expands them to a fantastic and realistic degree, Artyom the protagonist is thrown into situations where patience and bravery are required to make it through the mission. Every step of this world leaks radiation as much as it leaks good design. By the end of the first few chapters the player is so effectively in the headspace of the protagonist that its almost reflex to scavenge for ammunition, to charge your battery with a hand crank, to monitor the amount of air you have to breathe... Metro takes a tighter approach to its world which makes it feel isolated, the people are on edge and the land is toxic, wildlife especially is known to be a problem and makes the game take a quasi horror tone, if you like tense scary moments then this game is what you need. This is best experienced right after the first game in the series since it is as direct a follow up as you can get, and you should pick both up for the bigger story, neither game feels complete without the other. on a technical level I experienced no issues, all the visuals were great, sound cues worked, controls were tight and the difficulty while challenging was still fun and lead to tense moments. Only gripe i have is the autosaves placing me in awkward situations but that was fixed with either skill or a minor chapter restart. Last Light is a roller coaster and it ends with perhaps one of the best ever final fights I have seen put to a monitor, seriously play this game if you like single player fps's, if you like survival games and most importantly if you appreciate a good post apocalypse.