Reviews// Metro: Last Light

Posted 15 May 2013 16:45 by
Companies:
Games: Metro: Last Light
Combat feels like there’s something missing just due to how normal Artyom is other than his bullet-absorbing body. It’s weird playing something that feels so similar to games like Bioshock or Dishonoured, but then remembering once you get into a big fight that you can’t spray bees from your hands or psychically possess people or throw lightning around. All you can do is put bullets in the other guys.

Granted it’s a formula that’s worked for decades but it feels a little underwhelming given how the aforementioned games have spoiled us so. Thinking on it, I imagine most of Last Light’s problems will come from being unfavourably compared to Bioshock or Dishonored.

Even the weapon selection is a little dull. Being so steeped in gritty realism means there are no wacky overpowered options to have a little fun with. Metro Last Light takes itself very seriously. That might appeal to a lot of people. But to me it felt like being trapped in one of those episodes from whichever-Superman-show-your-generation-grew-up-with where he suffers a Kryptonite-induced loss of powers and has to learn how to be a normal guy for a while.

But while the gameplay might be fairly ordinary, the game rises well above mediocrity thanks to the rich and interesting world that is built up around the story of Artyom’s adventures. The surface world has a suitably bleak and desolate feel about it but what I enjoyed the most was how much background activity was packed into the more populated areas you occasionally pass through.

As engrossing as Bioshock was, Rapture was already a desolate and empty place when you got there, save for hordes of insane splicers. The Metro, on the other hand, is a pretty well populated area and the glimpses you get of normal people’s lives really helps solidify the game’s setting.

What’s surprising is just how much of this content is completely optional. Even though you’re restricted to set paths through these areas it’s up to you how much attention you pay to the conversations going on around you. In fact considering how much goes on it seems impossible to really take it all in at once.

At one point I found myself stopping to watch an old man making shadow puppets for a group of children while I could faintly hear another group of people arguing in the background. This is a seriously massive amount of writing and voice acting for something that a lot of players might not even hear and I respect that attention to detail even if some of that manpower could have gone towards making the rest of the game a bit more interesting. Of course if you want to you can just pass all this by and hurry to the next mission, but I really think you’d be missing out considering how much more interesting this stuff is than the game’s combat.

It’s a good job the story is pretty lengthy however, as there’s no multiplayer mode to keep you playing after the end credits roll. This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view, multiplayer modes being tacked on to games like Bioshock 2, Tomb Raider and Binary Domain didn’t earn those games too much added praise after all.

Personally I think it’s a bold move and while I’m always up for cooperative gaming and occasionally up for some serious competition, I’m totally cool with the idea of a game choosing to focus on a compelling single player adventure.

Metro Last Light probably suffers most from being released so late in this generation of consoles. The world and story are both great but when it comes to graphics and gameplay there’s not much that sets Last Light apart from other games in the decidedly overpopulated FPS genre.

At worst you could call it a poor man’s Bioshock 2. It’s a still a brilliant game and maybe I’m just a little jaded, but if you’re expecting Last Light to reinvent the wheel you’re in for a bit of a disappointment.

Pros
+ Great story and setting.
+ Nice balance between stealth and combat.

Cons
- Pretty standard FPS gameplay.

SPOnG Score: 8/10
<< prev    1 -2-
Companies:
Games: Metro: Last Light

Read More Like This


Comments

Posting of new comments is now locked for this page.