Poll: Metro: Last Light Review

[trekkiesailor]

Hello My Fellow Gamers,
So I just finished Metro: Last Light and wanted to share a review. First off, I didn't play the prequel Metro: 2033 so this is more of an outsider's opinion. Second off, this is more of a negative review. I'm not doing it because I hate this game, the concept, or am here to just bash games because I have no life and just like to troll the internet. I actually liked the concept, so here it goes.

Story Line- I really liked the concept, BUT I really thought the story was lacking. It may be because I missed the first game (Metro 2033), but most sequels will bring you up to speed and new comers should be able to follow the story line pretty well from there. But not Metro: Last Light. Even though they didn't really do a very good job of bringing you up to speed, you would think the game itself would be simple to follow. But I had a hard time understanding what I was doing half of the time. You would be walking through tunnels and on the toxic surface to a fortress/colony (what ever you wanna call it) and never understand why you were going there. You would just get out of a sticky situation and then you would have to walk across the world for an unknown reason. I guess they tried to explain on the loading screens through a weird/boring journal/diary entry style read along. The story line just didn't captivate me and make me fall in love with the characters. On top of that there was just really dumb/unneeded love making and lap dances.

Setting- I really did enjoy the beautiful scenery and graphics even in a post apocalyptic world that is decaying and mutating. I did unfortunately get a headache from the screen. I have protective anti-glare glasses for gaming for long periods but the game was really harsh on my eyes. It was overly dark and the flashlight didn't help. I don't like having to turn up the brightness on the game because it is a horror survival game and the darkness adds to the horror! I found myself straining even with the flashlight on and it kind of ruined the beauty of the game. On that note though a lot of the areas (mainly on the toxic surface) looked the same. So I got lost A LOT! Most of the time on the surface you weren't following another character and there were no markers/point of interest OR a map to follow, so you were roaming around the dangerous environment wondering where the heck you're supposed to be going. It was really annoying getting lost every three minutes and then being hoarded by the mutant wolf beasts... then barely make it out by the skin of my gas mask just to get lost and hoarded again!

Weapons- The idea of using military grade ammo as currency was a great new idea! You could use it to buy upgrades or new weapons, for regular ammo OR use it as ammo in a sticky situation. The upgrades were helpful (I especially loved the night vision scopes since the game was harsh on the eyes). You were allowed to have three guns in your inventory at one time which was fair. (I used a souped up pistol, four barreled shotgun, and long range rifle) I did have a hard time finding the ammo I needed... found plenty of shotgun ammo but never pistol or sniper ammo when I needed it... only in the towns I got to. It wasn't that bad though... it was enough I suppose. I know this isn't a weapon but the gas mask was kind of annoying. There was ALWAYS enough filters for it so I never ran out... EVER... I had an abundance of them, so it got to be a nuisance that I had to actually change filters. If they made them a little scarce once in a while to add suspense to whether you would live or die... then it would make sense...

Balance- The balance was TERRIBLE in this game. The creatures were one of the biggest problems when it came to the balance issues. For example the wolf mutants (i'm not sure their exact name)... at roughly 50 feet away my shotgun would take 2-3 shells to kill one... but then two min. later it would take 8 rounds at even a shorter distance... NO CONSISTENCY! On top of that the wolfs would get ridiculously close and claw at you faster than light and would bounce around way to fast for it to be possible to shoot them if there were more than 2. Then the other balance issue with the game was you would go 5 min. walking in a dark tunnel.. a couple enemies here and there but nothing too hard... then out of nowhere there would be 20 mutant wolfs and you would die! I just didn't understand... the game would be boring then overly frustrating then boring then crazy frustratingly hard! There was no in between!

Over All- Other than the above problems I had with the game and the crazy amount of bugs I ran into it was a great concept. The creator's heads and hearts were in the right places creating a really detailed world but had some serious problems connecting the player with the character and story. I was really excited when I got the game the first few missions were super exciting but then the low quality lighting in the game, the inconsistent creature and ammo, and the confusion of the story line and where I was to go in the game got to me. The guns and beauty of the game didn't even things out for me. I was really banking on the ending to answer some questions and bring some closer for me but the ending was extremely rushed and really disappointing (No spoilers so I won't tell you why).

I Rate this game: 6 out of 10.

I would love to see what other people's opinions are about this game, what you all liked and disliked and what you would rate it! Please don't forget to be respectful of each other and each other's opinions. Again I'm not trolling on this game, just sharing my review/opinion.

"I Aim To Misbehave"
-TrekkieSailor

 

[Baron Teapot]

I loved the implementation of a stealth system in this game: you're either visible and in danger or you're hidden in shadow, and get to sneak around the enemy, stealthily dispatching them with a blade from behind.

The whole concept was lovely, with the ruined surface world and the underground metro tunnels. I don't understand how you got lost: you get a compass, don't you? I remember finding it pretty straightforward, but then I followed the plot. It's basically about a giant bunker you and your comrades found the entrance to in the last game. Every other faction then wants access to it, thinking it's filled with riches (food, water, medicine, etc) but in reality it only stores weaponry, like nuclear warheads.

Artyom, the protagonist, was responsible for wiping out a race of psychic monsters spawned in the irradiated post-nuclear wastelands, and after discovering that there's one still alive, he makes it his mission to save its life in order to atone for launching the missiles in the previous game.

The lap-dances were fun: it's a slice of underground life and gives the impression that regardless of their location, life still continues and the soldiers need entertainment. There is no television or video-gaming, and so they get drunk and have lap-dances.

I think that this is a good review and you make fair points, but I think we've all been spoiled with games that show giant, glowing arrows to point you in the right direction every three feet, ensuring you never stray off the pre-determined path or do anything that hasn't been scripted. I personally don't play games to be an automaton walking along an unusually-shaped conveyor belt, but it's a small niggle, I guess.

I would probably have given it a 7 or 8, 'cause I really liked it. The human enemies are easily killed, but the mutant animals are incredibly dangerous; killing them takes skill and plenty of ammunition. There are repeated encounters with giant crab-like aquatic monsters with giant pincers that they hold up to protect themselves - shooting these requires almost all of your ammunition, but of course shooting them in their unarmored parts (getting behind them allows this) means they die in a few shots.

I understood the difficulty as saying "the world is dangerous and deadly, and you stand no chance; you're like a fly caught up in a storm" and that I had to fight my hardest to survive. It's very challenging and a lot of fun to finally beat a monster that's killed you a couple of times. I wouldn't want to deprive anyone of that feeling of accomplishment.

The relationship in this game rubbed me up the right way. Courtship is a lot different in the future, as couples have the responsibility of providing the Metro with its future soldiers, and so it's become a little skewed in favor of sex for procreation, rather than pleasure. Still, I felt like those two were making do with the best that they could, and their relationship went on as the gears of war ground ever closer, potentially extinguishing it all; they had no time to lose, and so came together in a desperate love that, as I said, just felt realistic and interesting.

It was a good game, but yeah it did have a few issues. The lack of objective-markers and glowing arrows can either be a plus or a minus, depending upon what you like, and when the path is small enough for you to miss it, it can be a little annoying. Even so, great game and great review. Thanks!

 

[Robert Marrs]

If I just have to pick one thing that I like about the game the most it would be the atmosphere. The way the game can immerse you when you are all alone is amazing. Playing on ranger mode with a pair of headphones on, the graphics all the way up and the lights off its something everyone should experience.

 

[Cerebrawl]

I actually quite like the game for the mostpart. I had no problems with the combat system or monsters, might partially be due to differences in weapon loadout(I carried an AK, an air-pump rifle, and a shotgun, the pump rifle one-shots most monsters if you keep it pumped up, so does the shotgun at close range, AK with scope is great for human enemies, and ammo is plentiful).

My biggest problem with the game, and reason why I haven't finished it yet comes down to one thing: the thrice-damned checkpoint save system. Way too large segments of the game have to be replayed if you make a mistake(I'm trying to play it stealthy).