83| Metro: Last Light

Released: May 14th, 2013

Definitive Version: PC (All major OSes); Also on: PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360

Metro: Last Light is a sequel that is superior to its predecessor in every way. While I admit that the game isn't superior to a significant degree, it is at least to a notable degree. The story is more interesting, the in-game cinematics have more care put into them, the animations are slightly better, and the game has more ambitious set pieces. What's more is that everything from the previous game has been expanded. The player sees more sides of the Metro as towns are much more lively, the different political factions are much more fleshed out, and the encompassing plot is explained in greater detail. It's the classic "more of what you love" sequel.

Truth be told, there isn't much to say about this entry that I haven't  said with its predecessor. The game is essentially Half-Life 2 but with more of a survivor horror touch. Once again players will be traveling the Metro as they scavenger bullets, medical packs, and anything else they can find as they sneak past enemies as in order to get to the next destination. Much of the game has the player isolated from civilization which results in a very creepy and oppressive atmosphere. Often the player will be greeted with in-game cinematics which are very well done and do a fantastic job in immersing the player into Metro's tragic world, specifically during the rare parts of the game where the player is actually in habited town. The graphics are beautiful and could be argued to be the first game released with current generation graphical standards. Unlike the stereotype with most of these technically impressive European PC games, the art style complements these graphics wonderfully, as the game can look like a painting at times.

Unfortunately due to being a sequel that plays it so close to the chest, the game also has the same flaws as the previous title. The difficulty relying on the save anywhere system to fix its faults is still present. The character animations, while improved, are still terrible.There is a way to get a "true ending of the game that is much more satisfactory than the common ending, but it is very cryptic and near impossible to get.

All in all, Metro: Last Light is a great game. It isn't perfect, but it provides more than enough enjoyment for a satisfactory play through. If you enjoyed the first game be sure to pick up this marginally superior sequel.

Foolz said:

I thought one of the few mechanical improvements was fixing that save problem from the first game. Other than that, I preferred the more hardcore gunplay and mechanics from the first game. This was also a great game, though.

Punk Rebel Ecks said:

The graphics are beautiful and could be argued to be the first game released with current generation graphical standards.

It absolutely was. Ruining this gen for me: going from LL and Tomb Raider to games that don't look much better on PS4...

IMO The Witcher 2 was the first game with current gen gfx. That game amazed me in 2012.

I can't believe this is already 3 years old. I have so many games that I still think of as new that I need to get to, that aren't actually NEW anymore. lol

Foolz said:

I'm too afraid to attempt to run The Witcher 2 with my computer, so you might be right...

Just do it!

I actually built my current PC while in the middle of Witcher 2. My old rig had a Radeon 4850 gpu and some type of quad core cpu. I remember being able to run the game great except if I turned tesselation on I think? Then it would be unplayable.